Opportunities

Internships

• College-sponsored internships with Special Collections at Pelletier Library and with the Historian of the College.
• Special internships can be designed to respond to individual interests; we also have established good records of placing interns with libraries and historic societies in a number of states and with Historic Deerfield and Mystic Seaport in Connecticut.

Lectures and Seminars

Guest lecturers and department faculty regularly present lectures and seminars on topics of interest to history students. Recent examples include: women's historian Hasia Diner, Harvard professor Steven Ozment, and a year-long lecture series on the French Revolution.

Honors and Prizes

Outstanding work by history students is recognized by the annual award of the Harold Huntley Haine Prize to a student specializing in American history, the Don M. Larrabee Prize for the best history thesis, and the Outstanding Junior Major Prize.

Independent Study

Students, working one-on-one with a faculty advisor, independently pursue areas of study not offered in the standard curriculum. This offers good preparation for the Senior Project.

Clubs

A chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society, was recently established at the College.

Graduate School and Law School

• Approximately one-third of all Allegheny graduates who attend law schools are history majors. About 50% of our majors eventually attend graduate or professional school; about 20% go on directly.
• Recent schools include:
  • University of Chicago
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • Harvard University
  • Brown University
  • University of Wisconsin
• The most popular fields of study include: history, law, elementary and secondary education, museum management, and historical preservation.

Career Data

• About 80% of our majors seek jobs directly after graduation, and many secure work in their fields right away.
• The most popular fields with a bachelor's degree: business, sales, communication media, and elementary and secondary education.
• The most popular fields with advanced degrees: law, higher education, government, and museum management