Would you like to make a documentary film? Learn to use high-tech Geographical Information Systems to map historical developments? Design an interactive museum exhibit? Gather oral histories from people who have lived through or impacted important historical moments from the recent past? Collaborate with classmates or a professor on a special project? Write an original research paper on a subject that intrigues you? All these possibilities—and many more—are now wrapped up in our new program, Pathways in the Crafting of History.
Our department has just rolled out a new, creative program for its majors that is unique in the United States. We offer students a new variety of pathways to produce a Signature Experience at Illinois Wesleyan that integrates their education in history, a second major or minor, and general education, as well as their creative and intellectual passions. At each step along the way, students will reflect on their educational and career aspirations. Some schools among our peer and aspirant group offer tracks in public history, but none offer the variety of opportunities that our new and distinct History program does.
Studying history involves much more than memorizing names, dates, and places from the past, and the diverse careers of History students after they graduate verify that claim. The above chart illustrates History's applicability to numerous career paths, and our new Pathways in the Crafting of History program prepares students for the varied professional uses of a degree in History. We recently asked our former students about how their degrees in History were helping them and were delighted to receive a vast number of disparate testimonials, seen here.