Mission Statement
The Department of History seeks to provide students with a broad knowledge base in the discipline and highly refined research, writing, and critical thinking skills. The department seeks to provide a foundation for better understanding the world in which we live, to produce high-quality scholarship, which makes a significant contribution to the discipline, and to serve community needs by providing a source for historical information and expertise crucial to preserving the region's heritage.

Undergraduate history students take a tour of Historic Pensacola Village.

Student Learning Outcomes
UWF History graduates should be able to do the following:

Content

• Recognize and apply concepts and principles in the discipline of history
• Identify key elements in understanding history (e.g. historical contexts, political and social developments, cultural achievements, geo-political boundaries, major figures, and events)
• Develop expertise in a historical sub-discipline (e.g., American, European, Latin American, African, Asian, Legal, or Women’s History)

Critical Thinking

• Sort historical evidence chronologically and topically for analysis
• Critically analyze and evaluate historical evidence
• Interpret historical events to demonstrate and explain change over time
• Produce plausible explanations about cause and effect of an event
• Identify influence of historical context on people, places, and things
• Recognize and explain historical trends (i.e., historiography)

Communication

• Communicate effectively in written and oral modes
• Demonstrate competency in the standard historical writing style: Chicago (Turabian) Style
• Use information/library literacy and technology effectively and efficiently to conduct and present research

Integrity/Values

• Exercise academic integrity in all forms
• Adhere to professional ethical practices in the use of historical evidence and in the interpretation of historical events

Project Management

• Conceptualize, research, and present a historical paper or applied history project
• Document sources of information (i.e., bibliography)
• Regulate the pace of work appropriately to meet deadlines
• Collaborate effectively with colleagues and/or clients
• Demonstrate skills relevant to careers in education, research, communications, information management, advocacy, government service, and business

Evaluation of Student Learning Outcomes

As a History Major you acquire skills and knowledge that serve you for a lifetime, in your personal life as well as in your professional pursuits. The skills you acquire as a History Major — critical-thinking, communication, and project-management skills — make you a well-rounded person and a marketable university graduate. The knowledge you acquire as a History Major — an in depth understanding of the past and how the past relates to the present — serve the same purposes. In your History coursework you will demonstrate the above-mentioned skills and knowledge, while maintaining the highest standards of ethics and integrity. In a senior-year Capstone Experience you will demonstrate, for the purposes of assessing what you can do as a History Major, the same skills and knowledge. At the heart of the Capstone Experience is a portfolio, in which you will exhibit and reflect upon your best work.

Job Prospects for History Majors

Opportunities abound for students who graduate with a major in history. Historians work in schools, at museums, with the media, in politics and law, and in business settings. Although the following list includes some careers that involve graduate education, a partial list of possible occupations includes the following:

• Advertising Executive Analyst Archivist
• Broadcaster Business Executive Campaign Worker
• Consultant Congressional Aide Contract Historian
• Corporate Historian Cultural Resource Mgr Documentary Producer
• Editor Foreign Service Officer Foundation Staffer
• Historic Preservationist Information Specialist Intelligence Agent
• Journalist Legal Assistant Legislative Aide
• Librarian Lobbyist Multimedia Creator
• Nonprofit Advocate Museum Docent Nonprofit Advocate
• Personnel Manager Public Relations Staffer Records Manager
• Researcher Teacher Think Tank Specialist
• Write

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