I am looking to study history for my undergraduate degree but i'm not sure what is the best way to go about doing it. I am 20 and about to return to college with a renewed passion for learning, and my subject of choice is history.
My question: What would you recommend a person knowing before diving in to history as a major, and what are your personal experiences with studying history at the university level?
Many thanks! (please let me know if the question is unclear, I have a lot that I want to ask but I didn't want to make a long and rambling post..
Hi just my 2 cents
I got into history because 1) I've always liked it and 2) I have never liked 'official history' (what you are taught in school). During my junior year in high school, my history teacher taught us out of Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" as opposed to out school text book. After I graduated I wanted to become a history teacher and impact kids the way he impacted me. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at a community college trying liberal arts, and having dual citizenship, I decided to move to Mexico and study at a University. When I first got into history I thought it would be just learning dates, names, events, you know, "the basics." Boy, was I wrong.
I began reading a lot of history books, and have since realized that being a historian is about making sense of the processes that happened during a specific period of time.
My recommendation would be "forget what you think you know about the study of history, and be ready to grapple with some really tough concepts"
A historian's job doesn't end when he punches out. Cheers, and good luck on your undertaking!