Bachelor of Arts in History

If you're fascinated by the past, Mercyhurst's Thomas B. Hagen Department of History can help prepare you for a successful and rewarding future with studies in traditional history, public history and museum studies, or preparing to teach history at the secondary level. A wide-ranging curriculum, coupled with an outstanding faculty, equips students with skills sought by employers in virtually any field: to research, analyze, and evaluate information; and to produce sound, convincing arguments orally and in writing. Our History department is committed to promoting a constant search for answers and a holistic approach to learning. Students research movements and events from the past as they analyze how different social, political, and cultural trends affect our society today.

Our graduates pursue a wide range of career paths including teaching, research, journalism, law, public service, museums, and historic sites. Whatever career you pursue following graduation, a Mercyhurst History degree will prepare you for today's rapidly changing job market. Students without a concrete career goal in mind are guided to pursue their passions through interactions with dedicated faculty, internships, service opportunities and the senior capstone experience.

• Our History graduates who pursue Secondary Education certifications enjoy an exceedingly high (over 90%) placement rate. Recent graduates have secured high school teaching positions with schools in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and Virginia.
• We help facilitate student internships all over the United States and abroad. Our students have interned at such prestigious sites as the Gettysburg National Battlefield, Historic Mount Vernon Gardens and Estate, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Petrie Museum of Egyptology in London.
• History will take you places! Students and faculty explore historical sites at home and abroad -- from the industrial heritage of Pittsburgh to Rome's ancient ruins, and countless places in between.
• Our students become adept at critical thinking, research analysis, communication, and problem solving. As a result, our graduates find themselves prepared for fulfilling employment in a variety of diverse fields.
• Students frequently collaborate on significant community and regional history initiatives, such as "You Are Here - We Are Here," a multi-faceted project to document and celebrate the multicultural history of Erie's east side.