History Degree

At LCU, we study history as more than just a way to look at where we've come from—it also helps us decide where we want to go. You won't learn just the dates and the names, but also the stories that give history, from the beginnings of human civilization to the twenty-first century.

History majors study American, British, and world history, looking at the ways history impacts current events and society. Various special topics classes are frequently offered, such as “The History of Science,” “Conspiracy Theory,” and “The First Ladies.” History majors will have opportunities to pursue important areas of scholarship, to study abroad, to participate in internships, and to travel.

What Makes Us Unique

Unlike many universities that use part-time and adjunct faculty to teach many of the classes, particularly freshman-level classes, at LCU, students studying history will be taught by professors of distinction:

• 92% of all history classes are taught by full-time faculty.
• 100% of all upper-division (majors) classes are taught by full-time faculty.
• 100% of the full-time faculty have terminal degrees.
• Two of the full-time faculty have won the prestigious L.R. Wilson Excellence in Teaching Award.

Students also have many opportunities for advanced scholarship and undergraduate research mentored by our amazing faculty.

Scholarship

Participation in undergraduate academic research is highly encouraged for all history majors:

• LCU Scholars Colloquium, cross-campus, multidisciplinary event (April, yearly)
• NCUR Conference for Undergraduate Research, highly-competitive conference hosted by various universities nationwide (March, yearly)
• Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Membership for high-achieving History majors
  • Membership includes opportunities to present at regional and national Phi Alpha Theta History conferences.

Internships

• Many LCU History majors pursue the Washington DC internship program, usually in their junior or senior year. Internships may include working for non-profits or in the government sector.
• Students may pursue an internship with any of the local historical or cultural facilities in the Lubbock area as part of their senior research capstone project.
• Students may pursue an internship on campus with the Brian S. Donaghey Center for Boethian Studies located on the north side of the LCU Library.

Travel Opportunities

Many of our history classes offer students opportunities to visit locations both near and far; for instance, the following history classes will be traveling in the upcoming semesters:

• WSH 2352 E Pluribus Unum - Incoming freshmen may choose to join a group of faculty and peers traveling through Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and Washington DC Summer 2021 and 2022.
• HIS 3313 Colonial America – Students will travel to Boston as part of the course curriculum Spring 2022.
• HIS 2302 American History II – Students will have the opportunity to travel to San Francisco during the Spring 2022 semester.
• HIS 2301 American History I – Students will travel to Charleston, South Carolina, for an immersive study of early American history Fall 2022.
• HIS 3310 History of Asia – While studying the history of the East, students will travel to Bali, Indonesia, as part of the curriculum Spring 2023.

Study Abroad

Students may choose to spend a semester in Avila, Spain, as part of the LCU Study Abroad program. Classes offered will easily fit into the History major degree plan.

Myths of History Degrees

Prospective students (and parents) sometimes question the viability of a degree in the field of history. Such misgivings are understandable due to misinformation about history degrees. Perhaps the following dispels some of the myths concerning history degrees:

1. Nobody important ever majored in history.
   History majors include Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight David Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, George W. Bush, Joseph Biden, Anthony Kennedy, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, W.E.B. DuBois, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Martha Stewart, Steve Carell, Lee Iacocca, and Winston Churchill.
2. There is no money in a history degree.
   According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual income for a historian in May 2020 was $63,100.00 with a projected growth rate of employment of three percent from 2019-2029, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
3. The only thing you can do with a history degree is teach it.
   An article printed in The New York Times on September 20, 2019, stated the following: “According to a 2018 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the three attributes of college graduates that employers considered most important were written communication, problem-solving and the ability to work in a team. Quantitative and technical skills both made the top 10, alongside other ‘soft’ skills like initiative, verbal communication and leadership.”

What a Degree in History Prepares Graduates For

Those with a degree in history develop written and verbal communication skills, the ability to gather and analyze great amounts of research data from primary and secondary sources, independent critical thinking skills, to work as part of a team, and the ability to present research in a clear and logical sequence. Technology changes at such a pace that systems must be relearned every five years. The skills developed in a history degree are always in demand in industry.

A degree in history is the future.

Job Market for History Majors

For historians, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a job-rate growth of 3% from 2019-2029 with a predicted median pay for 2020 of $63,100. That growth rate is consistent with the median growth projection for all collegiate fields of study.

Bureau statistics reveal that the popular assumption that a history degree leads only to a teaching job is incorrect. In recent years only 3% of the history-degreed workforce were employed as educators, and another 5% possessed historic preservation jobs at museums and historical sites.

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  • Federal, state, and local-government jobs comprised 65% of the positions held by degreed historians.
  • Tied with state governments for third-largest employer (17%) of historians were professional, scientific, and technical services, which make use of historians’ research and writing skills.