tackle puzzling problems by asking the right questions, doing research, and distinguishing good sources from poor ones
I had never thought about studying history as something that would help my problem solving skills until I got to college, but as it turns out it has become something that I use every day in my history classes
Research and writing are acts of exploration, but they are also acts of deliberation that require taking other people’s ideas seriously, especially when they contradict your own.
I find that people that are really into history, whether that be teachers or just fellow students, are the easiest to talk to. When I talk to someone who is interested in history I feel like I am really being listened to, even if they don't actually care they still do their best to understand
I imagined my own head tumbling into the guillotine basket
This is one of my favorite things about history classes, personally I find it really easy and helpful even to imagine myself as the people I learn about. It's much easier to sit through lectures when you feel like you're in a magic treehouse book.
In order to address the complex society in which we live, we must understand the contradictory and imperfect beginnings that history reveals. That’s the only way to better prepare ourselves for civic engagement on the serious issues that confront us today.
I really believe that this is the most important thing to take away from these current events. Learning the history of your country is so important to improving the future. If you avoid talking about the ugly sides of your past you will never learn from those mistakes, thats why history classes need to tell the whole truth to the best of their abilities
“[rewriting] American history to teach our children that we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom.”
It's true that America was founded on the principle of freedom, however one of the main reasons we were able to keep our freedoms and become such a superpower, was the oppression of others. America's history is ugly at times and just because some people don't want to think about that side of history doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Even if you were to erase the history of slavery and racism, it would not erase the long lasting effects of these things that we still see today
"There's this notion that history teachers are indoctrinating students to hate the United States, and that's not what's happening at all,"
If anything I think teaching the truth of Americas history helps students understand where we all came from and how the country has changed. Students may hate America's past but that is exactly what drives future generations to want to make America better than its past. If you don't tell the whole truth and cherrypick what you want the future of America to know, things will never change for the better
One might also wish to understand—or at least to learn more about—how the longer history of legal systems in human society shaped the American legal system.
I think its really cool that America is just made up of a bunch of different cultures and traditions, almost everything we have comes from somewhere else
Studying history makes our world more interesting
I absolutely agree with this. having an understanding of any one subject area makes being around that subject a lot more fun
Making sense of other societies also encourages empathy for different cultures around the worl
Maybe if there was less of Eurocentric teaching in school everyone would have more empathy and understanding for cultures around the world
We gain insight into, appreciation for, and sometimes a necessary skepticism regarding our own beliefs and practices.
The necessary skepticism is something that I need to happen more, not enough people can recognize when beliefs and practices are wrong now let alone when looking at the past
Whether we are walking down the street or trying to understand something we read or saw on the Internet, history connects the past to the present, helping us understand how our world—and we—came to be
This is my favorite thing about the study of history, because it isn't just about the past it's also largely about what that means for the present and future. Its hard to understand the world around us without first understanding how it got this way
A study of the past also teaches students that people—and their behaviors, laws and customs, structures of power, and values and beliefs—are products of their collective history and cannot always be easily altered or replaced.
As a social studies ed major I think that history is a really good field for teachers to be in because of this understanding. Not to be dramatic but I think understanding the past can help you to be a better person and be able to teach the future.
teaching of change and continuity over time. Governments, technology, international relationships, workforces and demographics, styles, wealth, markets, and resources all undergo constant change
I would have never thought that such an obvious thing to me would actually be a skill that could help me in getting a career in the future. Skills learned in the history field are a lot more important than I had originally thought.
Majoring in history is not only a wise choice if you aim to mature intellectually, participate in a deliberative and diverse democracy, and change the world—it is also a very good economic decision.
If all of this is true why is there still this underlying stigma that history majors can only do one thing, who created that, because clearly it makes no sense in the world we live in today
Historical thinking skills are widely marketable.
Could you not get these skills in any other major?
In history, you learn and become immersed in why people and groups do things over an extended period of time. History validates that people and organizations act in clearly recognizable patterns.” It teaches, he adds, “human nature.”
I understand why history majors would have more of an understanding of "Human nature" but I think that anyone could be capable of this regardless of their major