Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

Need a little help

Discussion in 'Information Requests' started by General_Patton, Jul 30, 2010.

  1. General_Patton

    General_Patton Member

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2009
    Messages:
    120
    Likes Received:
    2
    Hey, I didn't know exactly where to post this because it is somewhat history related, but not entirely.

    Anyways, II am currently going into my senior year of high school, and I was planning on going to go on to college afterwards in order to get a history major, primarily with military history. I was just wondering if anybody would happen to know what i could possibly do with a history degree.

    Any information would be great, but if nobody really knows, that's fine too, I will just have to do some more research on it then.
     
  2. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,254
    Likes Received:
    5,671
    George, I got my BA in History from Purdue in '97 and my MA in '04. (With a longish vacation between graduation and grad school.)

    If you work at becoming a proficient history study you will develop analytical skills that will allow you to recreate events based on pieces of information and make conclusions based on that recreation. I worked as a claim adjuster for State Farm Ins. for several years. The accident reports, witness statements, and damage to the vehicles helped me determine what happened in the accident and who was at fault. After I got my MA I went to work for DOD, evaluating certain reports and documents and providing an "independent analysis" of what (probably) happened in places I really can't pronounce, leave alone tell you about.

    Accident investigator, "intelligence", forensics, anything where you have to say, "this is what happened", you will be better armed with a degree in history. But you have to seek out the most demanding classes, the "mixed level" or "upper level" courses where you actually have to produce work, not just take tests.
     
  3. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2009
    Messages:
    14,288
    Likes Received:
    2,605
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    "George", I got my MA in History way back in 1973. While I was a teacher for my career, I realized that my ability to research and analyze information came in handy when it became necessary to help my district in its strategic planning. I'll second everything that OP said. Seek out courses that require you to analyze and understand disparate sources and draw conclusions. There are many careers that need those abilities. You may not discover what they are until you are a bit older and have clarified your own interests. In any event, a History degree will open doors for you.
     
  4. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,021
    Likes Received:
    1,816
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    Upon graduation from college, you can go into the military as an officer, via OCS or ROTC while in college. A BA won't do much for you these days alone. You can teach high school, but a masters will get you a better salary and an opportunity to teach at a junior college maybe. Also, a history degree would help you in law school if you feel the need to lower yourself to that level. They say it's the research ability of history majors that translates to law school, researching laws and such. If teaching is your thing, you might as well go for the ph.d. Or you can just hang it on the wall like I did.
     
  5. Greg Canellis

    Greg Canellis Member

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2009
    Messages:
    402
    Likes Received:
    25
    I applaud your ambition to study military history while pursuing a BA degree. But be warned, "race, culture, class, & gender" studies dominate today's history curricular. Academics frown on what we have all been raised on, the old style battle narratives, what has been called "drums & bugle" military history. I had a history professor tell me to my face: "you are just a bunch of grown-ups playing 'army.'" I earned a BA in history, and always picked a military subject for my written assignments. They are more interested in how war affects society than strategy and tactics. It is not until you enter grad school and specialize in military history (at a college or university with a strong military history tradition) that you will begin to really hone your skills as a researcher and historian. My advice would be to follow the curricular as your professors guide you, but always keep in mind how you can utilize your new found skills to research a military history topic. Best of luck to you.

    Greg C.
     
  6. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,254
    Likes Received:
    5,671
    I got the same static at Purdue. But when I left several profs noted that I had surprised them by doing original work in areas they had thought closed. One prof completely re-wrote a book he was planning on the basis of one paper I turned in. If you stick to your guns (no pun intended) you'll either get the respect of the profs or you're in the wrong school entirely.

    Oh, and beware the "old campus radical", the prof who was hippy in the '70s and hasn't changed his/her mind about anything since then. You can avoid them, beard the dragon in its lair, or go stealth when you have to take a class with them. Know your enemy in that case to decide which course of action you'll take. I had one prof, anti-military and uber feminist to boot, who refused to even allow me discuss a paper on US attitudes toward intervention in WWII. So I dropped her class and did the paper as an "independent study" with another prof.
     
  7. General_Patton

    General_Patton Member

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2009
    Messages:
    120
    Likes Received:
    2
    Thank you all very much for your responses! They have deffinately given me quite a bit of insight as to what i am going to be getting myself into as i get into college. This has deffinately given me quite a bit to think about for the years to come.
     
  8. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,254
    Likes Received:
    5,671
    One last thought. "Getting a bachelor's tells prospective employers you can work on your own." You are your own motivator in college, and the end results of your schooling will tell you if you can actually do that.
     

Share This Page