Many students view history as a boring and repetitive subject in which facts are memorized and spewed out for a test. To be fair, primary education can be described as that process due to the standardized testing. As such, the advantages of studying history are completely ignored. At the college level, rather than simply being facts that one can search online, history teaches those who study it a new way of thinking.
According to the American Historical Association, the number of history majors is down to its lowest point in 10 years. History in 2007 accounted for 2.24 percent of all degrees earned and in 2011 that number dropped to 2.02 percent, which cost the major thousands of students. Furthermore, this drop is happening while other majors are growing. The reasoning behind this decline can be narrowed to a couple factors: the stereotypes that surround history, views on the humanities as a whole and the growing diversity of majors students can pursue.
Blackburn’s beginning history class “Introduction to Historical Thought” starts out by essentially un-teaching what the state taught students for their entire lives. Few students grasp that history isn’t digging around in giant books trying to memorize every single date and event. Those who are lucky enough to have the drivel taught by the state debunked for them learn skills that will be applicable for a lifetime.
While a history degree by itself won’t lead to job offers piling up at the door, the major does prepare a student for further education. History is considered one of the best subjects for those going into law. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder majored in history. Business schools are also common routes for a history student. CEOs for Sony and Chrysler both majored in history. History majors are so common among politicians, authors, entertainment media and medical professionals that they outnumber history students who actually become historians. As such, the history major isn’t meant only for those who dream of dusty tomes and a timeline of humanity, but for anyone who wants to promote themselves with a new way of learning for that.
The historical classes that a history major takes are equally important as the conceptual classes they take. These classes aren’t memorizing facts, but learning to recognize patterns and studying the cultures that guided the world. These studies grant multiple benefits such as learning to understand social and political interactions, economics, logistics and religious influences.
History also brings about a new way of looking at life. When a person can see how their life came to this point then they can make better decisions about where to go. Without the knowledge of where society has come from, the same society is doomed to repeat mistakes. In essence, history and those who study it prevent cultural amnesia from striking the world.