Caleb Thornton
Advertising & Distribution Editor
Majoring in history presents opportunities for a specific variety of jobs for students and graduates. These jobs may range from becoming a lawyer to working at a museum as an archivist.
Many students actually wanting to find a career in history major in liberal arts, and then later on at a four-year institute continue onto history.
“I would say liberal arts based education allows you to look at having a variety of career options,” Director of Advising DeAnn Shimp said.
Anyone interested in the field can visit the American Historical Association to view the career options at https://www.historians.org. The website provides career ideas for those questioning their ability to find jobs in the history field.
According to Professor of Social Science Humanities and Social Science Chad Gaudet, a history major looking for an education position may look up job postings on the internet to find specific positions available for them at schools, whether they are in the country or in a foreign country.
“Oh, yeah, if you want to become a professor at a college level, you have to have a Ph.D. in this day and time,” Gaudet said in regard to having an easy time obtaining a university level teaching position.
Potential careers include, but are not limited to political positions, government services, education facilities, museums/archivists, librarians, researchers, writers and documenters.
Liberal arts credits, which is how many history majors are categorized at Butler, transfer to the Kansas Board of Regents schools. These schools include Emporia State University, Kansas State University, University of Kansas and Wichita State University.
According to Shimp, students may volunteer at organizations to put their foot in the door for the actual position they want. Students can also apply for internships for companies or facilities they want to work for.
“It acts as a springboard for further education,” Shimp said.
According to Shimp, history major graduates have the opportunity to apply to become lawyers, own their own business or teach at different levels.
According to Gaudet, those with a degree in history do not need an education degree to teach the subject. Gaudet has taught at Butler 13 semesters after eight years of school, both full-time and part-time.
Butler offers a range of history courses to students, including, but not limited to U.S. I and II, World Civilization I and II and Western Civilization I and II.
For more information regarding careers in history, meet with an academic advisor in the 600 building of the El Dorado campus, the 6000 building at the Andover campus or do a Google search for potential careers related to history. Students majoring in this field may also visit the Kansas Department of Labor.