Have you ever wondered why our President is also the "Commander in Chief"? Why the Soviet Union collapsed when the Iron Curtain did? (Why was it called the Iron Curtain?) Why Mexican professional wrestling is so popular now? Why there has never been a woman president of the United States though Britain and India have had women prime ministers? Why Canada and Mexico are not part of the United States of America? If you are a why kind of person you are in the right place, because asking why is what historians do.

Answering the why is not just a matter of assembling "the facts" or knowing what happened when. If that were the case, historians would be unnecessary: the facts are all out there, firmly attached to names and dates. "History" begins with historians: asking questions about the past, seeking out sources, and interpreting these sources to develop arguments about the past.

At The College of Wooster, we believe that the best way to understand history is to do history. We encourage our students to ask questions about the past (and the present), to bring their own skills of critical thinking and interpretation to the sources of history. Indeed, the Senior Independent Study in History, the capstone of the History major, requires you to do just this.

The Major

The specific requirements for a major in history are flexible. Majors take a minimum of eight courses plus a two-course Independent Study (I.S.) thesis. The eight courses must include a one-semester Junior Independent Study project and at least three other courses beyond the introductory level.

Ideally, a student's course of study will include at least one introductory-level course, three 200-hundred level courses, and one 300-level course, and reflect a concentration in a major chronological period or geographical area, as well as some familiarity with a region or period outside that concentration. Our purpose is to allow you to immerse yourself in a historical area or topic that interests you, but also encourage you to compare the ways historians have approached your chosen area or topic with the ways historians have approached similar topics in other regions.

Senior Independent Study

The Senior Independent Study is the culmination of the History curriculum. With the guidance of a faculty advisor, students design a research project, gather evidence, and present their conclusions in a formal thesis. Working one-on-one with a faculty advisor and engaging in the debates of professional historians, history majors develop the practical and analytical skills necessary for tackling problems not only in history but also in matters of contemporary concern.

There are few limits to the kinds of subjects that can be pursued for a Senior I.S. In the last year alone, students have studied Japanese animation, the "Lost Cause Mythology" of the Civil War, conflict diamonds in Africa, British seaman and their pranks in the Napoleonic era, the CIA in Cold War Berlin, cemetery preservation in Wayne county, fashion in eighteenth century Britain, and much, much more. (Go to the College of Wooster I.S. Database [link to http://academics.wooster.edu/is/database.html] and search on history to see more.) There are some alternative models for the presentation of historical research. In the past, Wooster students have successfully completed their Senior I.S. by writing a historical novel, developing a board game, developing a high school curriculum on a particular topic, and producing a historical documentary.

After Wooster

Our majors have found the process and the accomplishment of Independent Study particularly helpful as they embark on careers in a wide range of fields. Stephen Palmer did his Senior I.S. on the legal reforms of two medieval English kings and is now a practicing attorney. Anne Bryant explored the history of relations between government agencies, corporations, and grass-roots environmental groups in her I.S. and then found employment in an environmental consulting firm after graduation.

The experience of Independent Study opens many doors for history graduates. Sometimes these doors lead immediately into a career in business, management, or public service, and other times they lead into advanced studies in different fields. Recent history majors have entered graduate programs in journalism at New York University and in popular culture at Bowling Green State University. Some graduates do intend to become professional historians. Recent graduates have gone on to the graduate study of history at the University of Georgia, Cornell University, the University of Michigan, Brown University, Indiana University, The University of California, among others.