The study of history is, by nature, an interdisciplinary enterprise, bringing together the social sciences and the humanities. In its focus on changes and continuities occurring in the past, history helps us comprehend how the present came to be. Yet a concentration in history also teaches one to understand previous eras and other societies on their own terms, rather than from the perspective of Americans in the 2000's. By many independent measures, Princeton's history department is one of the best in the country. The department boasts nationally and internationally renowned scholars known for their excellence in teaching.
The department offers courses in the histories of Europe, the United States, modern East Asia, Latin America, Africa, and India, as well as the history of science and technology. Students majoring in the history department may also take the many cross-listed courses offered by historians in other Departments and Programs. In addition to intensive coursework in a field of concentration of their choosing, beginning in their junior year, students explore what is distinctive about historical inquiry itself. In their independent work students will learn to frame historical problems, what questions must be asked, and how to write effectively.
The analytical skills and ways of thinking about the world that concentrators in history learn prepare them for practically any profession, including careers in scholarship, teaching, law, public policy, and business.
