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Program Codes:
BAHISTPH
Bachelor of Arts
Introduction
The Thomas B. Hagen Department of History helps its students develop as creative problem solvers as well as critical thinkers and evaluators of contemporary life through the study of history. A premium is placed on effective written and oral communication. Research skills, the basic tools of many rewarding careers, are the focus of our program’s senior thesis and senior seminar in history. Majors are prepared upon graduation to assume future challenges in law, public service, business, and many other professional fields. Students who meet the criteria will be invited to join Phi Alpha Theta, a nationally recognized history honor society. History students are encouraged to join the Model United Nations club on campus, which offers the opportunity to participate in intercollegiate historical simulations. The History Club provides opportunities for extracurricular trips, film/discussion events and other history-related activities.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Mercyhurst University History Department begins with the engagement of all students in the infinitely rewarding study of past human societies and cultures—the foundational premise of History’s central place in the Liberal Arts curriculum. We aim continuously to strengthen students’ abilities to conduct primary and secondary source research, to analyze and weigh evidence, and to articulate sound conclusions and arguments both orally and in writing. Through courses that extend chronologically and thematically from the ancient world to contemporary societies and cultures, Mercyhurst History majors acquire knowledge and critical thinking skills that cultivate their development as informed, engaged, and thoughtful citizens. Our graduates are prepared to pursue successful careers as teachers, researchers, writers and journalists, attorneys, non-profit or public service professionals, historians in both the public and private sectors, among many other career tracks. To advance this mission, the curriculum of the Mercyhurst History Department emphasizes thorough and ongoing study of primary sources and the secondarysource interpretations of a wide range of scholars. Through extensive writing and discussion opportunities in virtually every course, students are challenged to develop the historical habits of mind that will provide them with personal enrichment, equip them to better understand the complex world in which they live, and to sustain throughout their lives the spirit of inquiry, curiosity and civic engagement that lies at the heart of the discipline of history.
Critical Thinking
Students will demonstrate an ability to consider, and determine a position on, an historical problem critically: stating the issue clearly, recognizing, questioning and evaluating their own assumptions, and identifying and assessing the relevant interpretations and arguments of scholars on the problem. They will master the ability to examine critically the rhetoric, bias, and motivation of primary source accounts, understanding the critical importance of historical context and audience. Finally, students will be able to present, evaluate, and analyze appropriate supporting evidence and use it effectively in arguing a reasoned conclusion.
Historical Knowledge and Understanding
Students will demonstrate a broad understanding of the general characteristics and key developments of major periods of United States, European, and non-western history (embracing their intellectual, economic, social, cultural, and political dimensions), and a more fully developed and detailed comprehension of one major area of historical study. They will also exhibit an understanding of historiography, and the shifting schools of thought on one particular area of history.
Information Literacy
Students will demonstrate proficiency working with historical sources of information, including: design and refine a research strategy appropriate to a research problem; identify and locate a range of primary and secondary sources; organize, synthesize and incorporate a range of materials to advance an historical argument they have developed; employ the professional standards and practices of the historian—proper use of citation and references, paraphrasing, quoting and summarizing, and thorough contextualizing of primary source material.
Communication
Students will demonstrate proficiency and maximum fluency in communicating historical knowledge and arguments orally and in writing. They will employ a range of high quality, relevant primary and secondary sources to advance their ideas; organize their ideas clearly and methodically; use appropriate stylistic presentation and format for historical writing; and keep grammatical and syntax errors to an absolute minimum.
Intercultural Historical Knowledge and Understanding and Civic Engagement
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the cultural construction of race, gender, ethnicity and nature in history, a historically well informed cultural self-awareness, and a related well-informed understanding of the elements that shape other peoples’ history, cultural beliefs and practices, economic and political systems, as well as their relationships with other peoples and nation states. An empathy-based historical sensibility and knowledge base should move them to ask complex questions about other cultures that transcend time and place. Further, students will exhibit a well-developed understanding of how dominant perspectives in a society shape social authority and patterns of power, as well as of the historical evolution of American democracy in a comparative perspective relative to the expressions of ideals and practices in other countries. Students will demonstrate a capacity to exchange ideas about civic engagement in ways that draws on others’ viewpoints.
The Value of Material Evidence
Students will demonstrate essential knowledge of material culture scholarship, and be able to identify and classify artifacts and landscapes according to their thematic, physical, geographical, and chronological contexts, and to communicate knowledge and assessments effectively both through oral presentation and through written analysis.
Public History Theory, Methods, Ethics, and Technical Practice
Students will exhibit an essential understanding of the many dimensions of collecting, preserving and interpreting history for the public; the development of public history in relation to the historical profession as a whole; key theories, research methods, technical practices and ethical standards of at least one track in public history (e.g., museums, historic preservation); enduring and critical issues associated with the practice of public history. Students will also demonstrate the ability to engage in the practice of public history and to undertake a public history project, either individually or as members of a team.
Students must maintain an overall GPA of 2.5 and a 2.75 GPA in major courses to be certified for graduation as a History major or minor. No major course may be taken on a pass-fail basis. Additionally, students who fail to earn a grade of C or better in a major course may not count it toward the major. Student progress will be monitored in an annual review. Students whose performance is unsatisfactory are placed on probation or are dropped from the major, depending on the outcome of the review.
The Public History and Museum Studies Concentration is designed for students interested in the growing field of public history, including museums and historic sites, historical societies, heritage preservation and tourism, archival collections, folklore and oral history, business and labor history, and historic preservation.
In addition to their core history courses and other electives, students in the program take courses specifically designed to prepare them for either entry level positions in public history or graduate training in the field. An internship with a museum, historical society or historic site is required, providing the student with initial experience in the field. The required senior project provides students an opportunity to produce a substantive and publishable work of public history scholarship.
In this class students explore the broadly encompassing field of public history, examining first issues of popular memory -- how and why certain histories are remembered and others forgotten or repressed. We survey the history, purpose and functions of history museums, exhibits, and historic sites, as well as other sub-fields such as cultural landscapes, oral history, and documentary film. Through extensive readings, discussion, field trips and assignments, we examine why and how American history is so fraught with tension and discord over its public representation.
In this course students will study the evolution of the preservation movement in the U.S. from its historic roots to the state of the field and the challenges facing it today. We examine shifting theoretical approaches, as well as the various forces driving preservation. Students gain an understanding of the tools preservationists use today, including historical research, state, federal and local law, community organizational support, and the application of scientific and technological methods to building preservation.
This course exposes students to fundamental approaches and best practices employed by history museum professionals. Students learn the changing nature of methods adopted by curators and educators to care, preserve, and interpret artifacts to the public. Through various class projects, students have opportunities to apply concepts presented in the course.
In this course students explore the many ways in which the material artifacts and built environments of Americans serve as historical "texts" -- to be studied, and often, preserved and interpreted for the public. We learn to see America's tangible, three-dimensional cultural landscape as a window into the attitudes, values, beliefs, behaviors, hopes, ideals, achievements, and fears of Americans across time and space. Extensive reading in the field of material culture studies, along with lecture, film, discussion, and two field trips shape the course. Along the way, students are challenged to conduct their own interpretations of places and objects and think about their meanings and significance in American history.
Completed through a cooperating museum, historical agency, business, or non-profit institution, the history internship offers students an opportunity to acquire real-world experience in public history. Conducting archival research, assisting with the exhibit development, and conducting tours for the public are among the many hands-on learning opportunities provided to student interns. Internships must be approved by the History Department internship supervisor.
Students develop and produce an extensive public history project that preserves or interprets some element of local or regional history. Students work with a faculty member in conceiving and carrying out the project, often collaboratively with a regional institution or organization.
Choose One (1) Additional Courses from the Following
This course provides students with the basic methods and protocols of contemporary historic archaeology. The focus of the course is both thematic and historical, focusing on major topics in contemporary historic archaeology with case studies focusing on Post-Colombian archaeology in North America, with an emphasis from initial settlement to early industrial development.
ANTH 130
Public Archaeology is about engaging the public at all levels in order to share archaeological findings and promote stewardship of cultural resources so that the public can appreciate and construct their own past. The course covers American Historic Preservation history and legislation, NAGPRA, Cultural Resources Management, heritage conservation and planning, Section 106 and ARPA permitting, tribal and public consultation, evaluation and mitigation of archaeological resources, National Register Procedures, and archaeological interpretation and education for the public.
This course provides students with an opportunity to combine qualitative ethnographic field work with an anthropological analysis of ethnicity, socioeconomic position, and gender in contemporary United States society. Students have an opportunity to engage in observation, conduct interviews, and learn to write, transcribe, code, and analyze field notes while engaged in their own mini field work project. Each student designs his or her own project, choosing the setting and topic. Classes alternate between discussion of research, readings, and ethnographic case project development, descriptive writing, and social behavior analysis.
ANTH 112
This course provides an introduction to archaeological curation and management in both museum and non-museum settings and provides students with skills and strategies to respond to research and preservation needs in these arenas. Topics to be covered include the curation crisis, federal regulation responsibilities, curation standards, collections storage and housing, database/cataloguing systems, and public access and use of collections.
This foundational course introduces students to basic design concepts, computer literacy and software competency. Through various exercises, students will experience four of the basic types of publishing tools used by designers -- Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design and Dreamweaver.
This entry-level course introduces students to basic design theories and skills. Students create a variety of exercises and a sample file of professional works to better understand design. Theoretical exercises, typography projects and readings introduce students to lifelong design issues and tasks. Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop are utilized in this course.
ART-100,ART-128
This course is designed for students who hope to enter professional careers requiring knowledge of grant writing. The course will teach students the mechanics of proposal writing and the political and social aspects of "grantsmanship," as they develop their skills in identifying sources of grant funding, doing useful research to support their applications, and tailoring their proposals to specific audience interests.
Archival work is essential to preserving a culture, country, or institution's history. While public history provides a public interpetation or preservation of history -- museums, documentaries, monuments -- archives work to preserve and organize historical records for researchers to interpret. Through this couse, students will get a broad introduction to various aspects of archival work, like arrangement, preservation, research services, and management. The class will go on to look at arrangement and description, the foundation of archival work, in great detail through examination of description tools and projects based on the Ridge Archives and their personal collections. At the end of this course, students will not only have a foundation of archival knowledge, but also practical skills that can be applied to future internships or graduate education.
This course explores different digital formats for historical storytelling. It examines and discusses different formats, with a mind to understanding what sorts of narratives can be created in mediums such as "blogging" and podcasting. The course focuses on producing individual and collaborative hands-on projects. Students conduct historical research and storytelling at three different levels-family, local, and global. The goal is to think critically about how we tell stories at all of these levels.
This course will provide an overview of the development of the digital history field, engage students in assessing existing digital history projects and scholarship, and ultimately require that they pursue a project of historical significance using digital resources and tools.
Discipline Methods
This course focuses on the discipline of history: what it is, what historians do, how they do it, and why. A reading and writing-intensive course, we will examine the discipline of history, exploring different schools of historical thought. Part of the process of investigating the history of History will be an examination of our assumptions about the past, about history, and about the discipline of History. We will focus on the processes of historical research and writing, with an emphasis on the development of skills in primary source analysis, critique of scholarly opinion, organization of research, critical thinking, effective writing, and verbal communication of arguments and ideas in a seminar setting.
Students will take a minimum of 6 additional history courses (18 credits). Three (3) American and Three (3) Western/World Perspectives courses.
Required Public History and Museum Studies Minor Courses
HIS 235 Introduction to Public History & Museum Studies 3 credits
HIS 240 Museum Studies II 3 credits
HIS 305 American Material Culture / Built Landscape 3 credits
Choose Two (2) Additional Courses from the Following:
ANTH 205 Historical Archaeology 3 credits
ANTH 227 Ethnographic Field Methods 3 credits
HIS 236 Introduction to Historic Preservation 3 credits
HIS 238 Introduction to Archives 3 credits
HIS 295 Digital History: Storytelling 3 credits
HIS 296 Digital History: 101 to 3.0 3 credits
HIS 394 Special Topics in Public History 3 credits
Choose One (1) Additional Course from the Following:
HIS 475 Internship 3 credits
HIS 485 Senior Project in Public History 3 credits
No courses taken as part of the Public History Minor may be credited on a Pass/Fail basis.
