Introduction
Hear from History Majors!
[Kelsey Parsons] [Peter Schlesinger]
Kelsey Parsons '13 and Peter Schlesinger '12
History Major All History majors create their own individual paths of study; large variety of interdisciplinary opportunities.
History is at the Core of Liberal Arts. It is concerned with the human condition in all of its manifestations in the past. It relies on reading, research and all forms of analytical and narrative writing. You will not be surprised, therefore, to learn that History is perennially one of the most popular majors at Carleton.
Community engagement for history credit Discuss participating in the SCOPE program with History Professors Clifford Clark and Susannah Ottaway.
New Initiative, Public History Thread!
Four new HISTORY DEPARTMENT off-campus studies programs
- 2012-13: Winter break in Dubai, with Prof. Thabiti Willis
- 2012-13: Spring term in Rome, with Profs. Bill North and Victoria Morse
- 2013-14: Winter break trip at the Grand Canyon with Prof. George Vrtis
- 2013-14: a term in China and Korea with Prof. Seungjoo Yoon
Our Diverse Faculty
The backgrounds and interests of the members of the History department reflect this insistence on diversity. Faculty members were educated at Berkely, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Emory, Harvard, Rutgers, Stanford, UCLA, Yale and the Universities of Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oxford, St. Antony's College, Lahore, Seoul National and Toronto. They are active scholars in the fields of American, African, African-American, East Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern/Central Asian, Environmental, Latin American, Ancient, Medieval, British, French, German, Russian European history and Women and Gender Studies; they have published in Chinese, English, French, German, including translations from German and Russian. Most members of the History faculty are fluent in at least one other language besides English, and several are native speakers of other languages. All have traveled extensively; most have done research outside the U.S. The department strongly encourages students to gain mastery of other languages and enthusiastically supports their travel and study in other countries.
Careers in History: After Carleton What our graduates find in their pursuit of careers and further study are the advantages of a strong liberal arts major in a rigorous academic program: a good foundation in our cultural tradition and in the cultural diversity of the past, and very strong skills in research, analysis and writing. The study of history at Carleton equips students with vital general professional skills and with broad cultural perspectives. They know where and how to find information quickly; they can cope effectively with large quantities of reading material; they can integrate ideas and information from a variety of sources; they can express themselves with clarity, economy, and elegance. The History Department offers an exceptionally wide range of classes. We are home to specialists in many geographic regions who cover a broad array of topics including the history of music, gender, economics, race, medicine, architecture, empire and religion, with a continually growing interests in environmental, public and urban history. Our alums include not only the expected leaders in academia, libraries, teaching and the law, but also non-profit directors, journalists, public officials, documentary film makers, and business owners. From 2000-2010 Carleton ranked first among all baccalaureate colleges in the number of alums awarded PhDs in history. Above all, our majors gain a depth of intellectual curiosity and openness to the diversity of human cultural achievements that will enrich their lives.
See also Grad School Index and Careers
Links of Interest - The discipline of history is unified not so much in its methodology as in its goal: the reconstruction of the past, of the ideas, actions and emotions of men and women in other times and places. Most faculty members and students are engaged in this enterprise for the sheer pleasure of it. It is fascinating to travel through the past, to visit wholly different civilizations and cultures.
