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Greetings from Florida.My Questions:1) Any advice on choosing a university as a history major?2) Any advice for choosing a career as a history major?My Backstory:I've been an avid history reader since I was a child and still am today (age 30). I got my general education AA straight out of high school then spent 2 years away at a university in a failed attempt at a computer science degree (long story).A couple years ago, circumstances were such that I decieded to take a history course at a nearby university. I've taken couple more courses in history and a political science class and am currently taking German to fulfill the foreign language requirement nearly all History degrees seem to have these days (while continuing to work full time).My primary historical interests haven't really changed over the years: military history, American history, and European history (in that order). The American Civil War has long been my favorite topic.I would probably double major in geography (lifelong interest in maps) or political science.I'm not certain what I want to do with the degree. I have reconsidered teaching (but at the college level only) which I had long disdained. I gave a very successful history presentation at my local library this year (for the anniversary of Bull Run) and will be giving 4 more in 2012 (anniversary of the War Of 1812 & 3 Civil War anniversaries). Other possibilities I'm open to at this point non-fiction writing, public history (museums/etc), research, libraries, and government information analysis. My plan is to study hard, keep my ears/eyes open for opportunities/advice, and by the time I get a degree have a better idea of what I want to do and if I want to continue on to Graduate studies (likely necessary).My biggest difficulty has been trying to chose a university to attend for my degree. Most of the Florida universities seem to either have weak history programs or specialize in non-Western history. The university with the program I liked best is Florida State, but FSU has strict GPA admission requirements that it's a very slow process to meet (due to my accumulation of non-history college credits with poor grades from 8-10 years ago). I've looked a little out of state, but I don't have any good way to narrow my search and all the history program recommendations I've seen are for really high level universities (Stanford, Ivy League, etc).
Welcome to the forum! :)If you are determined to go to a bricks and mortar school some of the universities with the best program I can think of are the University of North Texas (UNT), Norwich, and the University of Oklahoma for Military History. Chicago, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and UC San Jose are some of the schools I have heard of with the best general history programs. Don't forget online schools, some have good programs and good reputations as well. My Alma Matter American Military University is at the top of the heap for distance programs in history.As far as choosing a career in history goes. They are out there but like anything else, it takes a lot of upfront work and networking to land a good job.
Joshism, good luck in your search. Your area of interest makes me think that you would do well in a museum/historical site setting. There are plenty of sites in America that cater to local history, so your interest in 19th century American history would help you out there. Teaching at a college would most likely require a PhD, and if you were to do that it would mean you'd be in it for the long haul. However, it sounded like you weren't all that high on teaching, which is why doing something outside academia might be more up your alley. That way you could give talks on the side without having to deal with students and whatnot. Another thing: there might be some opportunities for archeology, if that interests you. Obviously this is not ancient archaeology, but working on sites from the 19th century and before. I read somewhere recently that there was an excavation in Maryland of an old slave plantation. They had to have a bunch of people working on it. In Georgia, they recently uncovered that old Confederate concentration camp (Camp Lawton?). I think it would be a blast to work on something like that, right on the front lines of historical research.
Welcome Joshism. You have plenty of time before you have to make a career choice and you might even change your mind. :)I wouldn't rule out online schools. American Military University has a very good UG history program and there are other schools. Norwich has online degrees, but I think it's just for Graduate degrees. Good luck with everything and feel free to talk history here!
I find the amount of flybys the forum gets frankly amazing. It seems like the percentage of folks that find it and stick is around 10%. It is not like us regulars gang up on people we disagree with either except for flakes like Ivkhan who are obviously peddling a load of garbage.
As far as selecting best university for study of history as major subject concern you have a lot of options.For more information please visit : http://www.topuniversities.com/subject-guides/history-degrees
I thought it was a spammer but wasn't sure. The post was at least contextual.You are in England? The whois has the site registered to someone in the UK, a Quacquarelli (UK) Ltd Simon Pennington 1 Tranley Mews Fleet Road London, GL NW32DG GB. The IP is in LA though.I thought you were in the upper midwest.
I use to live there until I had to move for my doctoral program. I think I still prefer the north to the south, but the south does have some good things going for it. 🙂
