last modified:2008-09-27 01:42:49
Undergraduate Students
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We study history to appreciate the varieties of human experience, to understand the present, and to plan for the future. In the History Department at the University of Utah, students learn about periods and regions ranging from ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome to the modern Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Our faculty specialize in topics that include politics, diplomacy, warfare, and intellectual life as well as gender and women's history, medicine and science, colonialism and intercultural contact, religious expression and practices, and environmental history. Our curriculum reflects long-standing disciplinary tradition in its organization by region, nation-state, and time period, but it also embodies a newer orientation toward transnational, comparative, and thematic courses. Faculty involvement in Asian Studies, Ethnic Studies, Gender Studies, International Studies, Latin American Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies reflects the department's long-standing commitment to interdisciplinary programs.
History lies at the center of a liberal arts education. History courses convey our collective knowledge of the human past and emphasize written and oral skills, analysis and critical thinking, and the ability to assess conflicting interpretations. These skills prepare students for the responsibilities of citizenship and cultivate an awareness of the complexities of life. History provides valuable preparation for careers in university and college teaching and research, primary and secondary education, law, government, public service, journalism, libraries and museums, international business, and medicine.
For an illuminating perspective on the value of history, the American Historical Association has made the following essay available on their website:
For additional information about the Undergraduate Program in the Department of History, download the Student Handbook: