UC News

What is History?

Explore this UC major to find out if it’s the right fit for you

6 minute read June 11, 2024

The study of history in the University of Cincinnati's College of Arts and Sciences gives students the tools to examine and understand the world of the present by examining and learning about the world of the past.

Each student designs a course of study tailored around those elements of the past that most fascinate them, whether a geographic region (e.g. Europe, Asia, the United States, Latin America) or a theme that crosses regional and temporal boundaries (e.g. religion and culture; race, ethnicity and inequality; law and society; globalization and transregional connections; technology, science and medicine).

At UC, students can make the major customizable to their individual interests, allowing them to pull from a wide range of history classes to create a major that matches their specific area of focus. Students may focus on one of these five areas of thematic concentration within the major, or if none of these fit, students can pick a self-directed concentration comprised of courses of selected in consultation with a faculty mentor.

With UC’s vast body of archives, rare books, and a library filled with 4.4 million volumes —making it the 36th-largest academic library in the nation — students have the materials to go into any direction of study.

Notable classes

UC associate professor of history Susan Longfield Karr.

Susan Longfield Karr

Because History is the study of reality, from politics and economics to society and culture, it fits naturally with interdisciplinary interests. It’s common for students to double major or pick up minors and certificates. Common double majors alongside history are international affairs, archaeology, economics, and journalism. 

“UC is unique in the ways our history program is integrated with other programs,” says Susan Longfield Karr, associate professor and director of undergraduate studies. “We take a more inclusive and expansive approach by working with other programs and disciplines in the college to help students get something holistic.”  

Like all Arts & Sciences majors, history students are required to take a foreign language, social science courses, and fulfill general education requirements, but outside of that the curriculum is mainly filled with history electives.

Some notable classes include:

  • Politics of Resistance: Gandhi and Social Justice.
  • Why the World Needs Superman: Heroes, Comics and Modern American Society.
  • Aztec, Inca and Maya: Indigenous Empires in Latin America.
  • Global Environmental History.

Career and graduate possibilities

While many history students pursue higher education upon graduating, a history major opens a door to a vast range of career opportunities for graduates. Many history majors go on to work in education, legal professions, business, nonprofits, research, and more.

One of the most valuable aspects of a history major is the transferable skills that give graduates a step up in any career path they choose. As Longfield Karr puts it, those with history majors are often the ones that get the promotions. “History is a training of different skills like research, analysis, synthesis, presentation, empathy, and awareness that you have to ask questions,” she says. “It makes you somebody people want to work with.”

Take it from a student

Kathryn Siemer’s love of history was awakened when she saw the musical Hamilton in high school. As a current junior, Siemer’s classes in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences have further fueled her passion for the subject.

“I love the research,” she says. “I love being able to go onto data bases and look at historical documents,” she said. 

Siemer credits the faculty to her developing skillset, emphasizing the professors’ knack for helping students digest material and come to insights on their own, rather than relying solely on lectures to teach subject matter. 

“I love the professors that I’ve had so far. They’ve all been amazing,” she says. “They’ve all been really passionate about their subjects which has made classes a lot of fun.”

Take it from an alum

Ava Gyurcsik is an alumna that took full advantage of the major’s interdisciplinary nature, graduating with a major in history, a minor in French, a certificate in business French and a certificate in European studies. 

One course in particular, History Out There: Careers for History Majors, helped her bridge the gap between college and post-graduate life. “It really helped me put in perspective what I can do with history,” she says.

It was in that class where Gyurcsik connected with an alumna of UC History now completing her PhD in Oxford, England, who inspired Gyurcsik to pursue higher education abroad.

As a result, Gyurcsik plans to complete her post-graduate degree from King’s College London and Luiss Guido Carli University this fall, studying in both London and Rome from 2023-2025. “It was just a chance meeting, but being able to connect with those people to help me piece together my next steps was really helpful.” 

Featured image at top: Museum in London. Credit/graham5399 for Pixabay

Headshot of By Sydney Asher

By Sydney Asher

Student Journalist, A&S Department of Marketing and Communication

artscinews@ucmail.uc.edu

Tags

Related Stories

4643 Results
1

UC‘s College of Arts and Sciences taps innovative new leadership

December 20, 2023

The College of Arts and Sciences announced Ryan J. White and Rina Williams as the newest divisional deans of Natural Sciences and Social Sciences. White and Kennedy’s inclusion will bring new focuses and structure around student success and the college of Arts and Sciences’ advancement. Both will officially begin their new terms on Jan. 1, 2024.

3

UC to offer certificate in disability studies

June 30, 2022

Students at the University of Cincinnati will be able to enroll to earn a certificate in disability studies in fall semester, 2022. Offered through the College of Arts and Sciences, the certificate will explore the experiences of disabled people, and the role of the disability community and the community at large in addressing equity, access and justice. The creation of the certificate program was inspired in part by the experiences of students, says Cheli Reutter, associate professor of American and African-American literature, who helped develop the program.

4

UC offers new environmental studies degree

February 9, 2022

The University of Cincinnati’s College of Arts & Sciences has announced a new environmental studies bachelor of arts program to complement its current bachelor of science degree. The new interdisciplinary program will take a less scientific approach to the discipline, focusing on environmental history, philosophy, literature and writing, society and culture, and the implementation of environmental policies.    The new degree is designed to to fill the areas of knowledge that environmental studies students have wanted in the curriculum, such as writing-heavy courses and a more humanities-based approach, says David Stradling, professor of history and chair of the committee for the environmental studies BA program.

5

Nontraditional students find their place at UC

September 28, 2021

Nontraditional students can be hard to define and even harder to teach in a traditional environment. UC’s College of Arts & Sciences makes it a point to offer flexible scheduling, learning and asynchronous options, aspects that helped Kathy Silbernagel and Al-Raheim Washington earn their liberal arts degrees this year. “In actual class setting, I saw little or no difference between my approach and those of my fellow classmates,” Silbernagel says. “If there is a difference it might be in that many—maybe most—students coming out of high school do not have clear career choices in mind and this was not an issue for me.” Nontraditional students are defined by one or more of seven characteristics: delayed enrollment in college; attends college part-time; works full time; is financially independent; has dependents other than a spouse; is a single parent; or does not have a high school diploma, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. How about a 70-year-old retired CEO and a family advocate and success coach in his mid-30s with a GED?

6

UC’s College of Arts and Sciences honors outstanding alumni

March 20, 2023

Five graduates of UC’s College of Arts and Sciences were recognized with alumni awards during the A Night with A&S annual ceremony earlier this month. As community leaders, philanthropists and professional pioneers, the impact of these alumni can be felt at the college, university, state and national levels. Also at the event A&S scholarship recipients were celebrated, and had the opportunity to meet with the donors whose contributions helped make their college experience possible. Meet the 2023 UC College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Alumni:

7

What is International Affairs? 

April 14, 2022

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution for any global issue, the University of Cincinnati’s international affairs program aims to equip undergraduate students with the necessary, transferrable skills that allow them to examine a broad range of international and global issues using methods and conceptual frameworks from different disciplines. Housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, this major combines a wide range of other disciplines such as political science; history; economics; women’s, gender and sexuality studies; journalism; environmental studies; geography; foreign languages, and other areas.  

8

UC students plan documentary in Eastern Europe during the war 

December 2, 2022

As global media descends on Eastern Europe to cover Russia’s war in Ukraine, two University of Cincinnati students are planning to cover the region from a different angle. Hunter Shallcross and Tanmay Srivastava, both digital media collaborative majors in the College of Arts and Sciences, have planned a trip to multiple European countries to film their own documentary, titled “The Edge of Chaos.” The trip is scheduled for May of 2023.  The pair became friends through their passion for film, and soon started partnering on projects. Last February, Shallcross and Srivastava became interested in the way culture and art are changing in countries on the edge of Europe due to the war, and decided to develop the idea into a documentary. “Everybody is flocking to Eastern Europe to document what is going on. We want it to show the artistic side,” says Shallcross. “The shots, the camera angles, and the narrative we want to tell about relationships and personal issues that go beyond war.”  They began pitching their documentary idea to various professors and making any connections they could to bring their idea to life. Last May, they even attended the Cannes Film Festival, to get some first-hand film experience, while networking with people there.