History Majors

Invisible Adjunct brings up the declining number of history majors, and wonders if history departments should be more proactive in recruiting. I'd tie this to the decline of liberal arts majors in general, which if course goes back to concerns about the job market and all the jokes about English majors working fast food their entire life. What liberal arts departments should do is develop a curriculum and sales pitch to take account of this situation. Just to use the history example: In a good history program, students learn more than just stuff about the past. Critical reading, writing, and thinking skills are all transferable and can turn up in a variety of professions if packaged properly, especially with other sorts of experiences. Liberal arts degrees actually have a strength other fields may lack: versatility...an English major can turn up at a PR firm or a library, but the public relations and library studies majors are boxed in. What to do with a history major is probably worth a blog post; I'll try to dig out some old stuff from my undergrad school and write about it.