Many Paths, One Degree: Introduction

This essay is part of the AHA’s Career for History Majors Booklet.

By Sarah Fenton

Reasons to pursue a degree in history abound—some of them spontaneous, idealistic, and idiosyncratic; others carefully considered, pragmatic, and forward-looking.

The six essays that follow suggest some of the ways that decisions to study history overlap one another and deepen over time. History is a major to fall in love with and fall back on. The essayists tackle the reasons for (and results of) their chosen major from notably different angles—not to promote any one path but to convey instead a sense of the diverse roads leading toward, through, and out into the world from inside a history classroom.

Contents

• An Education to Last a Lifetime: Conversations with the Past, Stories for the Present by Claire Bond Potter
• The History Major: Opening Doors to Life in a Global Economy by John Fea
• Connecting Past to Present: The History Major in Our Communities by Johann Neem
• The Landscape after College: Putting Your History Skills to Work by Sarah Shurts
• What Employers Want: Thoughts from a History BA in Business by John Rowe
• The Well-Rounded History Graduate: Professional, Citizen, Human by Frank Valadez

Sarah Fenton is the editor of 30-Second New York and a contributing editor at the AHA.