History is one of the most desired academic degrees amongst students when it comes to pursuing a Bachelor of Arts.
History degrees are designed to teach you to move beyond yourself and envision other worlds, to explore the interplay between material circumstances and human character. History combines the careful analysis of evidence with compelling storytelling. Moreover, History degrees aim to increase cultural sensitivity and literacy.
This degree is divided into various areas of expertise such as Classical History or Art History, which will help students gain relevant knowledge for themselves.
History is one of the most versatile undergraduate majors, due to the fact that it touches upon all forms of human endeavour from arts and languages to science and economics.
Candidates studying a History course will also be taught how to effectively collect, analyse, interpret, and arrange a wide variety of sources into persuasive arguments. Thus, having these skills will increase the chance of any graduate finding a job, no matter if it is in this field or not.
A report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education illustrates that graduates from History majors have the highest salary amongst graduates from all other humanities majors.
History courses are usually a three-year commitment and offer many academic programmes ranging from foundational courses to specialised ones. Some universities even have site excavations, through which students gain more practical knowledge.
Like most of the degrees, any History course concludes with a dissertation in any chosen area of interest.
Although the University of British Columbia lacked the specific academic curriculum focused on peace and conflict resolution on the Middle East, there were substantial alternative routes within the system that allowed me to access the knowledge and skills that I wanted from my degree. For example, the university offers multiple honours programmes (competitive admission), that allow you to develop your own research focus over a period of two years. The Arts Faculty, in particular, is very student-focused and facilitates faculty-student mentorships that allowed me to sophisticate my research endeavours, compounded by the availability of multiple research work opportunities with established professors. At the same time, there is a huge emphasis on fostering independence within students and critical thinking, especially in the honours history and international relations program that I undertook.
As a research focused university, UBC has both the staff and the learning values to equip you with the principles of independent pursuit to learn that which you want. If not available in a classroom context, you will find a plethora of student groups centred around diverse interests and contexts. These equip you with the self-starter skills to begin carving your own path and challenging your outlook to expand it in accordance with the diversity of opinions that flourish in a highly multicultural environment.
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