History

As a Union history major, you’ll gain a global perspective by studying African, Asian, European, Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. history, alongside courses in global history, science, medicine, public history, gender studies and more. Topics like the environment and race in film are also explored, all taught by expert professors. The curriculum helps you develop strong research skills through the analysis of diverse perspectives and evidence.

Union’s international programs further enrich the experience, including two faculty-led mini-terms in public history. In Cape Town, the South Africa mini-term focuses on post-Apartheid historical representation with visits to museums, townships and wildlife reserves. The Holocaust History mini term in Warsaw and Krakow delves into Holocaust memorialization in Poland.

Public history is history presented or practiced outside the classroom - in museums, monuments, historic sites, battlefields, archives, digital history and film.

As a public history minor, you will learn the theory, methods, practice, and controversies of public history in its various dimensions. Students take an introductory course and can then choose from a variety of courses counting for public history credit, including "The Museum: Theory and Practice," "Oral History," "Representing America: United States History in Film" and "Race in American Memory."

What can a degree in history do for you? Here is what our alumni have been up to: