Evaluating the strength of the History department?

[Penguin]

DS wants to major in History or Political Science but is leaning toward History.

Nearly every school has these majors, so I would appreciate some tips for discerning the strength of the department. Looking at Best Places to Study History Lists is not very helpful - they are usually the standard tippy top schools that he would not be able to get into. He is not going to be able to get into the top ranked schools. We are mainly looking at Colleges-That-Change-Lives-Type-Schools. Not just that list of schools, but that type of school.

Thanks for any input. What questions should he ask about the department?

We have some other criteria, but I won't get into all of that at the moment. Once we have really narrowed/established the criteria, I will make a new thread asking for specific school recommendations. However, if you want to mention any schools we should look into, I am open to ideas. Needs to be East Coast or Midwest and have a cold winter. Preferably with lots of snow :)

[JennyD]

In evaluating the strength of a history department for undergraduate studies (as opposed to graduate studies, or joining as an assistant professor, or even joining as tenured faculty), I would look at:

(1) What percentage of classes are taught by faculty members, as opposed to graduate students?  

(2) Look at the course catalog, and then look at the actual class list for the last year -- does your son see courses that he would like to take being offered in each semester?

(3) If the school has a graduate program, I would ask junior/senior student majors whether they feel like the department does a good job at focusing on undergraduates.  

(4) To ask other students, particularly upperclass students: Are professors accessible?  What could the department do better?

(5) What kind of research/writing/independent study options does the department offer for undergraduates?  Is there a senior thesis option?

(6) Are there cross-listed classes in other departments that can count towards the history major?  

(7) Are there any recent grads who are currently in history Ph.D. programs?  If so, I would not hesitate to reach out to one or two of those people and ask them what they thought of their undergraduate experience (even if your son isn't necessarily interested in doing a Ph.D. himself).  

(8) What sort of departmental events are undergraduates invited to attend?  Are undergraduates welcome to attend job talks?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

We had to spend some time in the weeds evaluating possible majors.  Here is what we did.

First I would suggest creating a document in which you can copy paste info and links.  Often different schools had different names for things and sometimes the real info we wanted was only found after a lot of clicking and searching.  I didn't bother much with the format of this document (ie, no attempt at comparative tables), it was just a place to stick info we found.

Look at the requirements for the degree at different schools.  We found this by searching for terms like "sample course plan" or "degree requirements".  At the same time look at any graduation requirements the university as a whole has.  (These might be called university requirements, diversity credits, liberal arts requirements or CLE.)

Does the history degree allow for a broad degree or for specialization?  If you kid wants one or the other, is there a good match?  If he wants a specialty (military history, ancient history, European history, Asian history, ect) are there professors and course offerings to support that?  For example, it is pretty hard these days to do much in military history outside of a handful of universities.  You will find specific classes, but not a lot of schools support a full degree in military history.

Who is teaching the classes?  Not just are they grad students or full PhDs, but what are their areas of expertise and what have they published?  Does it look interesting?  

What events are being advertised through the history department?  What speakers are they bringing in, what panels are they holding, what films are they screening.  Again, this will show what is of interest and is getting support.

What is the foreign language requirement?

Do they support study abroad?  Do students do work in archives or at history sites?  Are their cross listed courses (say with archaeology or Asian studies)?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Also, when you look at catalog listings or department listings of what courses meet degree requirements, keep in mind that schools will list courses that were taught in the past, even if there is no expectation they will be taught again in the near future.  This is done so current students have a reference of which courses meet which requirements.  

[Rebecca]

We considered the following also:

what graduate schools are their recent undergraduates attending

what kind of research is included for undergraduates? do they have opportunity to participate in and perhaps publish in Professor research/publications

it is also important to look at all course offerings, see the specialty of each Professor, and we also looked at degree path for the faculty. How did they get to where they are now? Where did they study? What do they teach? Where did they start and where did they get their PhD.?

We also looked at course requirement and degree plan at each school.

Because we had a specialized interest, that was a key focus as we looked at departments.

Finally, we did consider language requirements and study abroad. We have considered worldview because we are Christians and so have weighed Christian school vs non-Christian, too.

All of this stated, it seems that our final decision is not going to as clear cut as the above questions would seem to provide. 

I hope something here helps,

Rebecca

[Bootsie]

I think it is important for you to decide what is important to you before you can meaningfully compare departments.  Is the student wanting to continue on to graduate school in history?  Then, graduate school placement is important.  Is the student wanting to receive a liberal arts education and then get a job based upon writing and thinking skills?  Then, how good of a job the department does in helping students bridge the gap between college and employment is important.  Is the student wanting to specialize in a particular area of history?  (One school may be very strong in US history and another school strong in ancient history.)  Does the student thrive in a situation where there are a number of different views and exposure to a lot of different professors?  Is the student going to be more comfortable in a school in a small, close-knit history department where he knows all of the professors and all of the professors know him?

Remember that most of the student's courses will be taught outside of the student's major AND that many students change majors once they get to college.  So, within a particular range, I would place more emphasis on the strength of the college overall than on one particular major.

[elegantlion]

Does he have a specific area of history that he's interested in? That can also make a difference. 

To add to the above advice, look at places where their students have interned. Those that I see do well with their history majors from my school are the ones who either interned or were involved in leadership on campus. 

If graduate school is a possibility, then absolutely check languages. Anything besides American history is probably going to require knowledge in a foreign language. German and/or French being the most common for European studies. World studies or Mediterranean studies are pretty hot fields right now. I considered medieval Mediterranean, but I'd need exposure to Italian, Greek, and some Arabic, languages I cannot get at my school. I am taking Latin and minoring in French for study in my field. 

Also, check to see if a capstone project or course is required. If not, are there opportunities through independent studies or honors to create one. We don't have a capstone class and we need one. My honors project took 18 months worth of research and writing and that paper was the strongest portion of my graduate school applications. 

History, to me, is one of those degrees that you need to plan carefully, taking advantage of opportunities as they present themselves, so you'll be well poised to take the next step after graduation, whether that is working or grad school.   

 

 

 

 

[JanetC]

Niche has a section where it lists majors -- if a school is producing a tiny number of history majors each year then there may be fewer choices for electives in his favorite branch of history. The trade-off of course is plenty of individual attention.  

Rugg's Recommendations is a good source for "what is the best history school if I can't get into a tippy top?" It lists the strongest schools by major in three different selectivity tiers. It just lists the school names, though. You'll have to research the school in depth on your own. 

[Penguin]

Thank you all so much for your comments and insight!!!!!!!

 

5 hours ago, elegantlion said:

Does he have a specific area of history that he's interested in? That can also make a difference. 

To add to the above advice, look at places where their students have interned. Those that I see do well with their history majors from my school are the ones who either interned or were involved in leadership on campus. 

If graduate school is a possibility, then absolutely check languages. Anything besides American history is probably going to require knowledge in a foreign language. German and/or French being the most common for European studies. World studies or Mediterranean studies are pretty hot fields right now. I considered medieval Mediterranean, but I'd need exposure to Italian, Greek, and some Arabic, languages I cannot get at my school. I am taking Latin and minoring in French for study in my field. 

Also, check to see if a capstone project or course is required. If not, are there opportunities through independent studies or honors to create one. We don't have a capstone class and we need one. My honors project took 18 months worth of research and writing and that paper was the strongest portion of my graduate school applications. 

History, to me, is one of those degrees that you need to plan carefully, taking advantage of opportunities as they present themselves, so you'll be well poised to take the next step after graduation, whether that is working or grad school.   

 

 

 

 

I was hoping that you would chime in, elegantlion :) He does not yet have a specific area that he would like to specialize in, although he does have current areas of interest. However, he loves foreign languages and one of his main filters are the foreign language offerings. He is not interested in the languages of Western Europe. Currently, he is studying Russian. Of course, it would be ideal to continue with Russian, but he is open to Arabic, the Asian languages, and other Slavic languages.