Social Studies Degrees

Student Opportunities

Off-Campus Opportunities

Coe offers many opportunities for students to intern and study off-campus, and these opportunities are particularly rich for history students.

The opportunities include:
Internships
Cedar Rapids, as the second largest city in Iowa, offers abundant opportunities for internships, particularly in the field of history. History students have worked at the African-American Historical Museum of Iowa, the National Czech and Slovak Museum, the Brucemore Estate, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, and the Marion Historical Society. In addition, history majors have interned in law firms, at the Office of the United States Attorney, in the offices of Iowa members of Congress, and with major companies in the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area. Coe’s Career Services staff does a wonderful job of matching students with internships in their fields of interest.
Off-Campus Academic Study
Coe has many strong programs for study off-campus, many of which are a perfect match for history majors. Coe’s overseas exchange programs are partnered with universities in Japan, China, Thailand, South Korea, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Northern Ireland. In addition, the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, the consortium of highly selective colleges of which Coe is a member, has study abroad programs in Costa Rica, Japan, India, Botswana, England, and Italy, as well as domestic programs in Chicago and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The college also has semester-long programs in New York City and Washington, D.C. And, of course, there are many other programs through which students can create the off-campus study experience of their dreams. The History Department strongly supports off-campus study as a valuable part of a Coe College education.
May Term Courses
Each May, Coe faculty take groups of students to the corners of the globe, offering unique opportunities to expand student experience and make our world into the classroom. Recent May Term courses at Coe, which last three and a half weeks, have included travel courses to the Bahamas, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Spain, Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, and many U.S. destinations. History faculty have offered travel courses to Greece, Sicily, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as to domestic locations, and more May Term courses with a focus on history and culture are planned for the coming years. May Terms are a wonderful, simple, and affordable way for students to travel and study beyond the borders of Coe, and to do it with fellow students and enthusiastic faculty members.

The Department of History offers a broad-based and worldwide curriculum, with an emphasis on developing critical thinking and writing skills. History majors study the complexities of the human experience, deepen their knowledge of their own society and its past, explore other cultures and societies, and prepare for life in a multicultural and international community. The History major also prepares the student for a variety of career opportunities, including law (law schools take a third of their candidates from history majors), government at all levels, editing and book publishing, journalism, communications and media, college and university teaching (with an advanced degree), and public history venues such as historical sites, museums and libraries. In addition, many jobs in business and industry are open to liberal arts graduates with training in history. The Social Studies Adolescence Education major prepares students to teach in middle school and high school.

Internships
The history department facilitates internships at local museums and archives, in Washington, D.C., Albany, N.Y., and within the university. The department also encourages students to participate in international experiences through the Study Abroad or Student Exchange programs.

Honors and Awards
The honors program of the Department of History is designed to honor graduates of the History or Social Studies programs who have consistently demonstrated ability and produced work of high quality in the discipline. The honors designation is given to students who achieve an all-university average of 3.0; an average in history courses of 3.25; and who earn appropriate grades in HIST 499 (Honors Research Seminar) and HIST 201 (Doing History). For more information on the honors program, contact the chairperson.

The department gives a variety of awards. The Chazanof Award recognizes student work in local history. The Gallagher Scholarship is awarded to a minority student pursuing a career in education. The MacPhee Scholarship is given to a promising History or Social Studies major who has attained junior rank. The department also annually recognizes an Outstanding History major, an Outstanding History student, and an Outstanding History paper. Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society, recognizes academic excellence.