My double major in History and Secondary Education has prepared me to be the best history teacher I can be. Studying history at a higher level helped me grow in my critical thinking, analysis, and interpretation skills that I now help my students develop in the classroom. History allows us to understand why our world is the way it is, and my education has equipped me to guide students in exploring the connections between the past and present.
Bachelor of Arts
History
Major | Minor
The Past, Read Closely Enough to Change the Present
Ask hard questions, work in real archives, and graduate ready for many paths, not just one.
The History major at Goshen College is a four-year bachelor’s degree that treats the past as a way to understand the present and shape the future. You learn to ask critical questions, research in real archives, and tell true stories with empathy and precision.
Studying history here isn’t about memorizing names and dates. It’s about uncovering the stories that define cultures, movements, and everyday people. If you worry that a small college means a small world, the work points outward: original research, internships, and a term abroad.
Is History Right for You?
This is a major for curious, independent thinkers. It’s for students who like to do their own research, and tell engaging stories that take other cultures seriously. History majors stand apart as curious learners and empathetic listeners, prepared for a multitude of post-graduate pathways. Recent graduates work from justice system, to financial analysis, and teaching. As well as NGO advocacy, lawyers, political consultants, and software research directors at major Silicon Valley companies.
What You’ll Study
You can customize the major with a focus in a related discipline, such as Law, Public History, Teaching, Social Sciences, or Humanities. Every history major completes an internship that supports their academic and career interests. Additionally many students work one-on-one with faculty through Maple Scholars summer research program. Where past students have cataloged oral history interviews, inventoried sources on local Asian-American communities, and collected data from Amish newspapers.
You’ll also study culture and history off campus in courses like “Cultural Perspectives: Chicago to Amish Country” and “Latino Community Histories,” and complete a senior seminar sequence on the craft of the discipline and the integration of faith and history. View the complete program requirements in our catalog.
Emma Thomas 24'
Secondary History Teacher
Paying for Goshen
It’s worth asking about early. Scholarships make up a large part of Goshen financial-aid packages, which average almost $26,000 per student (not including work-study or loans). To see your own price after aid, run the net price calculator and talk with a real person in the financial aid office.
Beyond scholarships open to all students, Goshen offers awards exclusively for junior and senior history majors, the Willard and Vera Smith Scholarship and the Oswin and David Gerber Scholarship. Adding history as a minor carries no separate tuition; you declare it with your advisor.
Common Questions About History Major
History majors are prepared for roles like public administrator, foreign service officer, intelligence analyst, lawyer, and urban planner. Graduates work in the justice system, education, politics, advocacy, and beyond, and do well applying to graduate school in law, humanities, politics, and education.
You can focus the major on Law, Public History, Teaching, Social Sciences, or Humanities. Coursework builds research and writing skills, with off-campus courses like “Cultural Perspectives: Chicago to Amish Country.” As well as summer research through Maple Scholars, and a senior seminar on the craft of history and the integration of faith and history, ending in a primary-source paper.
Every history major completes an internship, often with regional institutions such as the Elkhart County Historical Museum, the Goshen Historical Society Museum, or the Mennonite Church USA Archives. Most students additionally spend time abroad through the Study-Service Term. On campus, the Mennonite Historical Library and the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism open rich research opportunities.
For the major, begin with your application at the Goshen College apply page, or request information first if you’d like to talk through fit. To add the history minor, simply declare it with your academic advisor, there is no separate application. You can additionally schedule a visit to meet the faculty and see the libraries and archives.
Ready to get started?
Philipp Gollner
Professor of US History
Elizabeth Miller
Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism
Assistant Professor of History
& Convocation Coordinator
