Student Learning Outcomes

Historical Knowledge

The student will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Identify, describe, and analyze historical events, issues, and values (compare and contrast these in diverse cultural groups).
2. Identify, describe, and assess the role of humans and the effects of human action and/or inaction in particular times and places.
3. Describe the interaction of geography and time as a context for historical events.
4. Explain the significance of the past to their lives and to their society.
5. Articulate the relationship of their historical studies to personal and/or professional goals.

Research Skills

The student will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Analyze primary sources.
2. Design, refine and implement a study/research plan on a historical topic.
3. Conduct library searches for information on a specific historical topic, including the Internet, online databases, and CD-ROMs.
4. Select, evaluate, and incorporate primary and secondary sources appropriate to a historical topic (including discriminating between the important and the inconsequential).

Writing and Presentation Skills

The student will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Voice with confidence their opinions, interpretations, and historical insights and base them on sufficient and relevant evidence.
2. Write in a variety of historical modes (such as annotated bibliographies, book reviews, term papers, analytical essays, senior theses).
3. Communicate orally in a variety of modes (such as collaborative critical discussions and clear, coherent, cogent presentations).