History

专业详情

The Krieger School classifies history as both a social scientific and humanistic discipline. This dual classification accords well with the wide range of explanatory and interpretive approaches to the past now prevailing in the discipline of history. One of the history program’s goals is to introduce students to these varied approaches. Although the department offers strong preparation for students who seek to specialize in a particular cultural or geographic region, history at Johns Hopkins is primarily issue and topic oriented. It also puts a premium on developing the capacity to reason comparatively and on deepening the student’s understanding of global connections among cultures in the past and in contemporary life.

The department offers undergraduate courses ranging from large introductory classes to small, focused seminars that encourage intensive interaction with individual professors and with other students. Beyond the introductory level, many of our courses are writing intensive and promote in all students critical reading skills and the ability to formulate effective written arguments. Through its core curriculum, the major also cultivates skills specific to the historian, especially research and writing based upon the systematic analysis of primary documents.

The program’s overall aim is to deepen the critical habits of mind that arise from the study of time and change. These capacities are the hallmarks of liberal learning, but they are also the foundation for success in post-graduate studies and careers of many kinds, including business, law, and public affairs.