Professional options Careers 

Many students become history professionals teaching history on the secondary level; teaching, writing and researching at a university; working at a historic preservation or museum and archival curatorship; doing governmental research; or working in public history. Some of these professions require only a bachelor’s degree, while others require advanced professional training. 

Employers value the communication and research skills of history students. History graduates’ training in the analysis of human affairs and their knowledge of social, political and cultural issues make them versatile individuals who frequently rise to positions of leadership. Many law schools and medical schools regard the history degree as excellent preparation for their programs.

The program 

The history program at Kansas State University is not just for history majors but is intended for all students seeking a rewarding educational experience. Its most noteworthy feature is a curriculum containing courses in both traditional and nontraditional fields. Because the history faculty specializes in a wide variety of areas, the department offers courses in many fields. The Bachelor of Arts degree emphasizes the liberal arts and humanities foundation of the discipline and requires the study of a modern foreign language. The Bachelor of Science degree trains students in social science methodologies, requiring quantitative studies such as mathematics and statistics. 

In both programs, students take 36 credit hours of history, beginning with an introductory seminar and a two-semester Western Civilization sequence, a two-semester United States history sequence, or a two-semester World History sequence. Each student chooses a combination of courses according to personal interest and professional needs. In order to obtain breadth of study, history majors must distribute course work so that it includes the study of preindustrial societies, the non-Western world, and the United States.