Learning goals for undergraduate program:
- Knowledge acquisition: History students will acquire a new understanding of the historical experiences of peoples across the globe.
- Historical methodology: History students will learn to think like historians. They will understand that historical sources do not have self-evident meanings but, like many types of information, must be interpreted and evaluated.
- Critical thinking: More fundamental than learning what to think, History students will learn how to think better. They will improve their ability to ask original questions, to find the answers for themselves, to analyze information, and to solve problems.
- Communications skills: History students will improve their ability to communicate both orally and in writing. They will learn to formulate arguments, to support their arguments with evidence, and to cite sources for their ideas where appropriate.
- Civic ability: History students will gain historical perspective on the contemporary world, and they will learn how to participate more productively as members of a democratic society. They will be better able to evaluate complex public affairs and to contribute their own ideas to public discourse in a clear and respectful manner.