History is not merely about an interest in the past. History as a discipline helps you develop skills that will be valuable for your career — and for life in general.
“The great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.”
James Baldwin
As a history major, you’ll learn how to think like a historian: how to find, evaluate and use evidence and how to make persuasive arguments grounded in facts. The foundation of the major is a research methods class that introduces you to the skills essential to the craft of history. Those skills equip you not only for the study of different times and places in upper-division History classes, but also for many and varied careers. The historians in the Wofford College Department of History teach a wide variety of courses, ranging chronologically from the ancient world to modern times and geographically covering five continents.
History majors often find that they can double major with ease. Courses in history also contribute to the following programs: African/African-American Studies, Classical Civilizations, Gender Studies and 19th Century Studies. That means it is a simple matter for you to combine a history major with any of those programs.
The History Department is fortunate to have two special scholarship funds: the Lewis P. Jones Scholarship and the William H. Brabham Scholarship. These allow the department to make significant financial awards each year to students who have declared majors in history.