General Catalog 2023-2024 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
History
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About the Department
William Skuban, Department Chair
Social Science Building, Room 101
559.278.2153
socialsciences.fresnostate.edu/historydept/
History is the study of humanity’s recorded past. It encompasses all aspects of human behavior, social organization, and cultural development. The arts and the sciences, the development of technology, and changing economic forces are as much a part of history as is politics or social conflict. History is also one of the broadest and most universal of the humanities. Just as the personalities of individuals are shaped through the totality of their past experiences, so cultures and institutions also develop in time.
Students of history are engaged in a journey through time in which they can witness and compare the development of a variety of cultures and the interrelations between people in many different circumstances. Through the study of past events, history provides a great storehouse of experience by which the theories of the other social sciences can be tested. And through its analysis of the development of institutions and cultures, it provides one of our best tools for understanding social phenomena.
History is also one of the broadest and most universal of the humanities. Just as the personalities of individuals are shaped through the totality of their past experiences, so cultures and institutions also develop in time. The study of history can help students understand themselves and their culture better and develop a more tolerant and humane spirit toward others. In this way, as in so many others, a knowledge of the past can help all of us meet the problems of today with greater understanding and compassion.
Program
The History Department offers a major and minor in history for the Bachelor of Arts degree, a graduate program leading to the Master of Arts, and courses for use in the teaching credential program. It participates in the interdisciplinary programs and minors in Armenian studies, Asian studies, classical studies, Latin American studies, and women’s studies. History courses may also be used as electives toward graduation in most other majors, and the History Department encourages students to take minors and second majors in other fields as well.
The History Department is a chartered member of Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society. Our chapter is Alpha Kappa Beta.
What You Can Learn
- Medieval life and culture such as warfare, commerce, art and architecture, and learning
- Review of theory and characteristics of genocide
- Significant events from the end of the Civil War to the present
- Economic, political and social development in world history from the earliest times to the modern period (1500).
Faculty
The Department of History has more than 15 faculty members offering a wide variety of courses in the history of Europe, the United States, Latin America, the British Empire, Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East, as well as courses in intellectual and cultural history, social history, military history, and the history of women.
Career Opportunities
The study of history can help students understand themselves and their culture better and develop a more tolerant and humane spirit toward others. In this way, as in so many others, a knowledge of the past can help all of us meet the problems of today with greater under standing and compassion. History majors are trained to read with comprehension and to compare and analyze both written and oral material. In addition they must know how to evaluate evidence and sources, how to critique the writing of others, and how to do research and writing on their own.
What You Can Earn
- Public School Teacher, $52,085 (in our region)
Source: HR Reported data from Salary.com as of December 2012
What You Can Do
Prepare for careers in:
- law
- government service
- librarianship
- journalism
- publishing
- public relations
- social services
- urban planning
- foreign service
- insurance
- marketing
- advertising
ProgramsCertificatesBachelorMasterMinor
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