History
"The past is a foreign country-they do things differently there."
Leslie Poles Hartley
The study of history at Northland is not just memorizing a string of
names and dates. Instead, history at Northland is about learning about a
foreign world, learning how people who lived in different times and
different places understood their world, thought about their
environment, government, war, class, race, gender, family, religion,
technology, the economy, and all the other things that made up their
mental universes. It is also about learning how large trends like
economic upheavals, technological innovations, environmental changes,
and social transformations impacted the lives of everyone. In short,
history at Northland is about studying how things interact, and the
lessons of history help you to navigate the world you live in. With a
knowledge of history you are far better equipped to understand how
changes in the economy will impact your life, how gender roles affect
everything from elections to work environments, and what ripple effects
new technologies will have in society. The study of history is the
study of life.
The history major teaches students how to see and understand the world around them as the result of a complex set of dynamic interactions between culture, economics, politics, the environment, ideas, ideologies, and social trends. Students in this major learn how to read critically, write clearly and authoritatively, and think comprehensively about the course of human events.
The history major offers students crucial skills for the job market, and prepares students for the pursuit of careers in journalism, writing, diplomacy, law, technical writing, ministry, public relations, public administration, and non-profit work as well as graduate studies in history, law or international relations.
