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Faculty Explain Various Career Options for Humanities and Social Sciences Majors

Step Back in Time to Move Ahead

Maybe you think in decades instead of days. Maybe you like to look back to see what you can learn from the past and relate it to the present. As a history major, your course work will emphasize U.S. and world history, economics and political science, as well as a range of general college electives that focus on career preparation, journalism or pre-law.

Practical hands-on internships are available to prepare for careers ranging from archivist, curator and conservationist, to historian, journalist and teacher.

History students at Point Park University also have access to an array of world-class museums and national historical sites in Pittsburgh and the region including the Senator John Heinz History Center, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Fort Pitt Museum, Fort Necessity, Fort Ligonier, Meadowcroft (the oldest site of human habitation in North America) and more.

Pictured are history students at the Heinz History Center. | Photo by Amanda Dabbs

History students get a behind-the-scenes look at the various collections at the Heinz History Center.

Courses & Topics

You will receive a well-rounded education through our core curriculum and classes in the history major. Courses in the program include:

  • Pennsylvania History: Focus on Pittsburgh
  • History of England
  • History of Soviet Russia
  • History of the Modern Middle East
  • Adolf Hitler and Naziism
  • Military History
  • History of American Music
  • World War II
  • Regional Studies: India and Africa
  • American Decades
  • History Practicum

Faculty bring industry experience and expertise to the classroom

Learn from faculty who bring academic and professional work experience into the classroom.

Meet the faculty
Pictured is Jehnie Burns, Ph.D., assistant professor of history
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Jehnie Burns, Ph.D.
  • Presented and published historical research internationally
  • Spent a year in Paris at the Université de Paris IV
  • Research centers on role of the "other" in mainstream society and debates about political and social consciousness

Career Options

With a history degree, you will have the option to pursue various career opportunities, such as:

  • Pictured is history major Alyssa Waldron at her internship. Photo by Nick Koehler.Archivist
  • Curator
  • Conservationist
  • Historian
  • Information retrieval specialist
  • Journalist
  • Librarian
  • Teacher

News & Features

Faculty Spotlight: Jehnie Burns, Ph.D.
Thursday, September 30, 2021 Jehnie Burns' new book, "Mixtape Nostalgia: Culture, Memory, and Representation," is a chronological look at the history of the mixtape from when it dethroned vinyl records as the format of choice in the 1970s to its resurgence as an icon of nostalgic analog technology today. 
Setting a Solid Foundation: Faculty Explain Various Career Options for Humanities and Social Sciences Majors
Wednesday, June 10, 2020 Faculty members Marion Dixon, Ph.D., and Dora Ion, Ph.D., discuss how humanities and social sciences graduates of Point Park University are ready to enter many career fields upon graduation — from advocacy to local government to education to journalism.
History of American Music Class and SAEM Students Visit Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Tuesday, April 9, 2019 Point Park University students in the History of American Music class taught by Jehnie Burns, Ph.D., associate professor of history, as well as SAEM majors from Ed Traversari’s entertainment management classes, recently traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, to explore the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.