Bachelor of Arts in History

Yeshiva University

History is not like any other major or discipline. It is not a skill to be acquired or a problem to be solved. It is our story, the collective tale of humanity. We study history to understand how our world came to be what it is, and how we came to be ourselves. We have learned that there are many ways to interpret a single event, many voices telling the same story through their own words. Historians rediscover and reanimate these voices and use them to construct narratives by which our present society better understands the past. Although we recognize there is no single dominant narrative, no absolute "truth," we know that history and fable are not synonymous. As instructors, we instill the same skillset in our students that we use ourselves: critical reasoning, intellectual curiosity, the ability to construct a viable argument from researched sources, and the confidence to defend it successfully in any forum. These skills have many uses, both inside and outside academia. Students trained in history are often best poised for careers in the law and public service, or any job that requires an ability to reason and a capacious understanding of the world. Those who pursue teaching careers, either in secondary or postgraduate education, will leave Yeshiva University with a solid foundation in all core subject areas of history, and the academic training needed to excel in graduate school. Our department is committed to the intellectual development of every student we teach, regardless of major or career path.