Overview
We expect that students who have studied history at Grinnell will:
- Understand processes of change over time
- Use historical frameworks to pose questions and problems
- Learn how to work with primary and secondary sources
- Learn how to synthesize multiple sources of historical information
- Practice clear and persuasive historical argumentation, written and verbal
- Appreciate the contested nature of evidence
- Identify and understand the basis for debates in and about history
- Rethink assumptions about the present in light of the past
We expect that students who have majored in history at Grinnell will also:
- Develop a breadth and depth of understanding that permits them to communicate about the past with authority
- Gain a respect for the diversity of the past, its actors, and its voices
- Develop a transnational awareness of the past
- Utilize multiple methods and lenses for reconstructing and interpreting the past
- Identify and participate in historiographical debates
- Undertake in-depth, original research by gathering primary evidence and presenting a clear interpretation of that evidence in a sustained analytical or narrative treatment
- Become familiar with history as a craft and a discipline, and relate it to other areas of inquiry
Outcomes by level
At the 100-level, students will:
Learn how to:
- read and critically analyze primary sources
- read and critically analyze secondary sources
- research, synthesize, and critically evaluate a body of historical literature
Engage with:
- history as a craft and a discipline
- a diverse array of concepts, methods, and narratives for investigating and explaining the past
Develop:
- Their skills of analytical, argumentative writing
- Their skills of oral communication, dialogue, and classroom citizenship
At the 200-level, students will:
- Achieve some degree of mastery over a particular time, place, and/or theme
- Develop competencies in reading and critically analyzing primary sources
- Develop competencies in reading and critically analyzing secondary sources
- Improve their analytical writing
- Improve their oral communication skills and ability to contribute to class discussion
At the 300-level, students will be able to frame, develop, and support a well-argued paper, by:
- Identifying and analyzing a body of primary sources
- Engaging with a broader scholarly debate/dialogue
- Establishing the contextual, theoretical, and/or interpretive significance of the project
- Using clear language and logical organization
- Workshopping and presenting their findings within a peer research community
Outcomes approved 12-01-2016; Webpage updated October 2017