Diversifying Career Pathways for Students in History
Majoring in history has incredible advantages for students. It fosters creativity and problem-solving abilities, teaches students how to do in-depth research, and requires them to make arguments and articulate them through different media and to different audiences. However, for most history majors, it is not obvious how to translate the skills that they learn in history classrooms into a “real world” environment. History majors have diverse career paths, and envisioning those paths can feel daunting and overwhelming.
This project aims to re-design the Careers in History course (History 188) to be more student focused and more effective as a career advising resource. It will improve content by carrying out and incorporating research on alumni career pathways, incorporating self-reflection exercises into the course to enhance learning, and creating asynchronous content to help ensure the course’s sustainability. The course will be delivered online. The first half, focusing on self-reflection and professional skills development, will be asynchronous. The second half will be synchronous, focusing on presentations and conversations with alumni.
The course contributes directly to UCLA’s Strategic Plan Goal 4 by making research-informed and equity-affirming changes to the history curriculum and by leveraging academic technology to offer greater online course options. It also contributes to Goal 1 by incorporating community engagement into teaching.