Bachelor of Arts in History

Our graduates can gather and contextualize information in order to convey both the particularity of past lives and the scale of human experience. They recognize how humans in the past exercised agency and shaped their own unique historical moments while also being shaped by those moments. They develop a body of historical knowledge with breadth of time and place as well as depth of detail in order to discern context. They distinguish the past from our very different present, while recognizing the impact of varying interpretations of the past on our present.

Our graduates recognize history as an interpretive account of the human past - one that historians create in the present from surviving evidence. They can collect, sift, organize, question, synthesize, and interpret complex and diverse types of source material.

Our graduates practice ethical historical inquiry that makes use of and acknowledges both primary and secondary sources. They develop empathy toward people in the context of their distinctive historical moments. They develop skills and methods to critically analyze sources for bias, audience, context and historical validity.

Our graduates recognize the provisional nature of knowledge, the essential value of complexity, and ambiguity that history requires. They welcome contradictory perspectives and data, which enable us to provide more accurate accounts and construct stronger arguments. Describe past events from multiple perspectives. They can explain and justify multiple causes of complex events and phenomena using conflicting sources. They can identify, summarize, appraise, and synthesize other scholars' historical arguments.

Our graduates learn how to research and consider a variety of historical sources for credibility, position, perspective, and relevance. They can evaluate historical arguments, explaining how they were constructed and might be improved. They can revise analyses and narratives when new evidence requires it.

Our graduates can craft and communicate well-supported historical narratives, arguments, and reports of research findings in a variety of media for a variety of audiences.

Our graduates can apply historical knowledge and historical thinking to contemporary issues. Develop positions that reflect deliberation, cooperation, and diverse perspectives.