The Department of History and Geography seeks to convey the essence and excitement of its disciplines to students. Faculty members are committed to disabusing students of the impression that history is the memorization of dates and learning by rote and that geography is merely memorizing the locations of cities and states. Students are engaged with their historical heritage and are encouraged to find the links between that heritage and their place in today’s interconnected and ever-changing world. Geography, with its focus on globalization, emphasizes these connections. To these ends, faculty members challenge students with materials and assignments that call for thought and reflection, encourage them to ask probing questions and require them to write substantive essays that are historically and geographically accurate, and composed according to the standards of formal English.

In the history offerings of the General Education Program, faculty members ensure that all students at the university have a core of historical knowledge which is necessary for them to understand contemporary political, social, economic and cultural institutions and movements. In addition, historical memory is a key to self-identity; therefore, faculty members teach students to understand their place in the stream of time and the shared humanity of all who will be touched by their future decisions.

In the geography offerings of the General Education Program, faculty members ensure that students obtain the knowledge and skills to understand our ever-changing world where connections and relationships between people and places are increasing. In addition, geographical knowledge provides the links between culture, society, and environmental processes and the spatial patterns of these processes at local, regional, national and international scales.

The Department of History and Geography is committed to teaching the skills required of the professional historian and geographer: research, writing, analysis of sources and arguments, map skills, spatial understanding and formal research presentation. The department also prepares students to pursue professions such as teaching, law, administration, and public history. At the graduate level, the department trains students to become professional historians, research scholars, public history professionals, and highly skilled teachers who are capable of contributing to the field of history.

The following goals are the key components that guide the Department of History and Geography to accomplish its mission:

Students interested in being certified to teach history in secondary schools should complete requirements in one of the concentrations outlined above and consult the School of Education and Urban Studies for courses needed to attain certification. 

History reconstructs the past and attempts to discover what people thought and did. The study of history enables students to understand the past and the present, and to prepare for the future. It provides insight into the experiences of the diverse peoples of the world as well as an understanding of the process of recording, narrating, and interpreting these events by historians. In addition to advancing historical knowledge, the department teaches students to read with understanding, to analyze and interpret ideas, and to write clear and meaningful essays.

The history major provides excellent preparation for a variety of careers. The skills and knowledge gained through historical research are good preparations for careers in law; teaching, both at the pre-collegiate and collegiate levels; theology; library science; archival management and museum work; politics and government; banking; business and industry; and administration.

The Department offers the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Degree in History (with tracks in General History, African/African-American History,and International History and Diplomacy) and minors in General History, African/African American History, Museum Studies, and Geography. Within the History major or minor, students may follow a program of cross-cultural or twentieth-century studies, or a program which emphasizes urban and regional studies. The department requires its majors to study six hours of a foreign language, three hours of intensive practice in writing and problem solving techniques in history, three hours of historiography or the study of the way history has been and is written, and three hours of senior thesis, a capstone course for the program.

The department sponsors a History Club and a chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society.