Why Study History?
Why study history? The answer is because we virtually must, to gain access to the laboratory of human experience. When we study it reasonably well, and so acquire some usable habits of mind, as well as some basic data about the forces that affect our own lives, we emerge with relevant skills and an enhanced capacity for informed citizenship, critical thinking, and simple awareness. The uses of history are varied. Studying history can help us develop some literally “salable” skills, but its study must not be pinned down to the narrowest utilitarianism. Some history—that confined to personal recollections about changes and continuities in the immediate environment—is essential to function beyond childhood. Some history depends on personal taste, where one finds beauty, the joy of discovery, or intellectual challenge. Between the inescapable minimum and the pleasure of deep commitment comes the history that, through cumulative skill in interpreting the unfolding human record, provides a real grasp of how the world works.—Peter Stearns
Careers for History Majors
Through clear graphs and informal prose, readers will find hard data, practical advice, and answers to common questions about the study of history and the value it affords to individuals, their workplaces, and their communities in this new booklet from the AHA.
Department Advocacy Toolkit
What do students learn in history? What is the value of a degree in history? The AHA has assembled this toolkit to help departments, administrators, advisers, and students navigate the AHA's library of resources in order to better articulate the value of studying and majoring in history. If you're looking for data, personal narratives, or department strategies, this guide is for you.
History Is Not a Useless Major: Fighting Myths with Data
Myths about the "usefulness" of the history major are abundant. In the April 2017 issue of Perspectives on History, Paul B. Sturtevant used concrete data to bust three of the most persistent myths, that history majors are underemployed, unprepared for gainful employment, and underpaid.
Member Testimonial
I grew up in a village of 500 people in Delaware in the 1950s, and attended a segregated elementary school. I was curious about the social dynamics of this small place-how various social distinctions came to be and what they meant for the people who lived there. Eventually I realized that the best way to answer those questions was to study American history.
Jacqueline Jones on "Why Study History"

What to Do with a BA in History?
"A Career in Corporate Finance," by Clifford Manko. May 24, 2018
"History at the Office," by Stephanie Fulbright. February 12, 2018
"From Museums to Coroporate History," by Mark Speltz. June 13, 2017
Check out all the articles on this subject.
In Their Own Words
The AHA has gathered testimonials from history majors on the value of a history degree. Read the “In Their Own Words” testimonials here.
Questionnaire: Why Study History?
The history major provides both a stepping stone towards dynamic careers in many industries and preparation for ongoing contribution to civic life. As part of a continuing effort to advocate for the BA in history and highlight the value of historical thinking, the AHA invites responses to a new "Why Study History?" questionnaire.
Two Views
"History should be studied because it is essential to individuals and to society, and because it harbors beauty."—Peter N. Stearns, Why Study History? (1998)
"Historical knowledge is no more and no less than carefully and critically constructed collective memory. As such it can both make us wiser in our public choices and more richly human in our private lives."—William H. McNeill, Why Study History? (1985)