About this program

Studying history creates comprehension of complexity and diversity. This is an essential skill for negotiating today's multicultural, globalized world. A history major provides students with other skills too: the ability to write clearly and persuasively and to understand complicated events in a nuanced, sophisticated way. History majors learn to read newspapers, political speeches and documents in a critical fashion, a particularly vital skill in today's information-rich world.

Why study history at Ohio State?

History has more Distinguished Teaching Award winners than any other department at Ohio State. The department has been recognized with the University’s Departmental Teaching Excellence Award and has been designated a University Center of Excellence. Members of the most productive and highly cited history faculty in Ohio, the Department’s professors have earned international reputations for scholarship, teaching, and professional service.

What can you do with this degree? 

The skills you learn in history — critical thinking, careful reading, well-crafted writing — are essential tools for a wide range of careers: law, teaching, social work, economics, advertising, banking, and government work. History trains you broadly. It opens up possibilities rather than narrowing your focus to a single career. 

Reports from the job placement office at Ohio State indicate that former history majors are working in business, banking, teaching, government work, social work, library and archival work, publishing, and law.