About Texas A&M University, Department of History The Department of History, through its dual functions of research and teaching, seeks to broaden and deepen our understanding of the past and prepare students to engage with the increasingly complex, globalizing present. Upon earning a BA or BS in History, students will be able to apply critical thinking skills to, and to communicate verbally and in written format about, contemporary events. Our undergraduate students also develop the skills necessary for quality research, the assessment of conflicting evidence, and the practice of effective writing, argumentation, and advocacy. As a result, they will become more informed global citizens as well as more proficient in the abilities that most employers continue to value above all others. The faculty teach over one hundred undergraduate courses on peoples, ideas, and cultures from around the world and across the ages, and are devoted to developing students’ ability to understand how studying history can help solve some of today’s most pressing problems. The department also offers several different study-abroad programs meant to further enhance students’ familiarity with the world’s di...verse cultures and increase their foreign language competency. The Department of History at Texas A& M offers the BA, BS, MA, and PhD. A major in history affords students both a broad education and valuable practical skills. By acquiring familiarity with people in diverse times, places, and circumstances, students of history develop a sophisticated human empathy which is the key to good scholarship and good citizenship alike. Teaching is, of course, one important career path for history majors. But many students rely upon a major in history as preparation for a career in a variety of different government agencies, law and law enforcement, the military, intelligence analysis, foreign service, tech, business, public administration and relations, non-profit work, parks and recreation, archival and library resources, museum work, advertising, and religious leadership. History, in other words, stands as the departure point for an array of jobs in any number of different fields.