AY 2014-2015 ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW SELF-STUDY TEMPLATE
Reporting School/College: St. John’s College
Program Reviewed: BA HISTORY
Date Submitted to Department/Division Chair: September 2015
Overview and Program Review Summary: Please summarize this program’s mission and its relationship to the vision
and mission of St. John’s University, and the program’s School/College. Identify similar programs regionally and
nationally and distinguish this program from them. In addition, summarize your findings as they relate to (1) program
quality, (2) market growth potential, and (3) student learning. Also, summarize any significant changes, achievements
(by faculty and students and the program itself), and plans for the future. Finally, based on the information gleaned
from the data in the self-study, give an overall rating of the program’s Enrollment/Market Potential by categorizing it as
one of the following: (1) Enhance; (2) Maintain; (3) Reduce support, Phase out, Consolidate, or Discontinue.
(Suggested limit 1 page)
The St. John’s History Department is one of 70 institutions involved in the American Historical Association’s Tuning
Project. Tuning consists of five processes by which faculty groups identify what students earning a given degree in a
given discipline know and can do. The process grows from the assumption that faculty, those who know a discipline
best, should be the party responsible for determining the discipline’s core.
From 2012, the History Department developed new goals and outcomes that focus on the skills of a historian:
communication, information literacy, critical thinking, global and diverse perspectives, historical knowledge, historical
thinking, and research skills and professional development.
Since the 2008 review, the History Department has reworked the BA in History. Currently, the BA in History focuses on
offering students a range of content: U.S., European, and World while also focusing on developing skills that they can
apply to an array of fields. Students take a sequence of classes that scaffolds skills beginning with the introductory
HIS1000C and HIS1010 courses, where they learn basics of how to think historically. The sophomore seminar introduced
students to information literacy and communication methods of historians while further building their historical
knowledge and thinking. Other course work introduces them to global and diverse perspectives and hones their critical
thinking skills. In the capstone seminar,students demonstrate all they have learned, through a final project that is a
research paper based on primary evidence. The paper may be used as a writing sample for graduate school.
The members of the department work closely with the other sectors of the university, such as the library, CTL, and Career
Services, to improve students’ professional development. The faculty members work with embedded librarians to introduce
students to new technologies, the library, and research methods on campus as well as in NYC. As part of the Tuning process,
the chairperson has worked with Career Services and met with potential stakeholders, who gave feedback on the goals
and outcomes. They applauded the department’s efforts, since the goals and outcomes demonstrated the skills
necessary for an entry-level professional position.
The main challenge of the department is two-fold. First, the department continues its efforts to further curricular reforms and
mentoring efforts intended to ensure that students meet high academic standards in line with national standards. Second,
the department requires more resources, to foster intellectual exchange. Our facilities are poor and our resources are
minimal, and as a result it is difficult to build an intellectual community, since few want to linger in the department. We are
also hampered by lack of funds to help students develop professional experience at conferences. Nonetheless, we have aimed
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to create a sense of community with our resources and in particular through online mechanisms, such as blogs, Facebook, and
Twitter.
The program also offers extensive dual enrollment (College Advantage) classes at local high schools in three boroughs, Long
Island, and New Jersey. The university has long ignored the significance of these programs by not allocating funding for
professional development for teachers and supporting the department to provide better oversight. In October 2014, the
History Department chair held a workshop with teachers in the program to ensure that they teachers offered a college level
class. Along with the DE classes, there are history classes offered through CPS as well as additional College Advantage classes
that do not follow the same professional standards as those in the SJC college because of the department’s active involvement
with the American Historical Association’s Tuning Project and the collaboration between the department and the College
Advantage partners.
The program should be enhanced. The department will continue to work with the library, CTL, Career Center, the AHA, other
professional organization, and the department has also forged collaborations with museums, libraries, archives, and historical
sites to offer students more professional development opportunities. The BA would be further improved with more funding
for “doing history.” This would envision the expansion of digital humanities projects in which students would create and
curate historical materials. With additional funding for digital history and the “doing of history,” the department could offer
professional development seminars to local teachers to enhance their classes and their teaching of introductory history
classes.
STANDARD 1. The purpose of the program reflects and supports the strategic vision and mission of St. John’s
University, and the program’s School/College.
1a.
What evidence can you provide that demonstrates that the program embodies the Catholic, Vincentian, and
metropolitan identity of St. John’s University? www.stjohns.edu/about/out-mission. (Suggested limit 1/3 page)
St. John’s University encourages its constituent schools, departments, and scholars to reflect upon the world with the
openness and respect characteristic of Catholic institutions. The B.A. program in History does just that: the success of
all its courses depends on the willingness of students and faculty to approach history from many different intellectual
angles and with due regard for the multiple perspectives and traditional affiliations of historical actors. In keeping with
the University’s Vincentian heritage, many of the department’s courses and faculty research projects enlarge our
understanding of poverty and other social disadvantages and of how these problems have shaped the development of
communities, nations, and transnational movements. Prof. Lara Vapnek’s work on female factory workers and Prof.
Elaine Carey’s on the illicit drug trade are exemplary in this respect.
The University’s metropolitan character is reflected in the History Department’s motives and methods. All of
our professors bring to each of our classes an intense interest in cultural diversity. Many of our professors pursue that
interest and express related concerns about socioeconomic and political difference by a close study of cities, among
them Paris, Mexico, Moscow, Rome, Beijing, Berlin, Calcutta, and of course New York. Moreover, the faculty encourages
St. John’s students to adopt a cosmopolitan approach that understands the urbane as being contextualized by regional
as well as international relations.
As for methods, the department is committed to using our home city’s abundant resources. Professors regularly
accompany undergraduates to New York’s museums, libraries, and historical sites: the New York Public Library, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art and its Cloisters annex, and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The faculty has also
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established relationships with smaller institutions, such as the Jazz Museum in Harlem and King Manor Museum, a
Queens neighbor.
1b.
What evidence can you provide that demonstrates that the program embodies the University’s vision.
www.stjohns.edu/about/out-mission/vision-statement. (Suggested limit 1/3 page)
The B.A. program in History has been very forward in offering and pursuing the “innovative teaching, research and
service” imagined by our University’s vision statement. Our chair, Prof. Carey, with the assistance of other members of
the department, has led the effort to “tune” the core course in History so that its compass is truly global and its appeal
universal to today’s students. This is not just an institutional effort, but a national one: the department’s efforts are in
the vanguard of those recommended by the American Historical Association (www.historians.org/teaching-andlearning/current-projects/tuning). We have incorporated new technologies into our teaching as well as our research;
this is the instruction best suited to our young constituents. Professors have offered seminars at the university’s Center
for Teaching and Learning in the use of electronic portfolios to advance the quality of our work and the student
experience.
The character of the department, its curriculum, and the University’s extraordinary population are such that the
production of “diverse learners” – another desired outcome of the University’s vision – is a natural occurrence. Our
students have benefited from faculty research and fieldwork around the globe: in England, Germany, Jordan, Mexico,
China, India, Russia, Bangladesh, and Cameroon.
That field work enhances the university’s reputation. The last site of global fieldwork, Cameroon, deserves
special mention. For fifteen years, Prof. Konrad Tuchscherer has organized a grass-roots effort to assemble all available
knowledge of a provincial West African script from the contributions (in other words, from the closets and letters and
family Bibles) of Cameroonian villagers. Prof. Tuchscherer’s project is an outstanding example of what the University
vision calls “global community”; it is also an exercise in social justice: knowledge is proverbially power, and the local
people involved in this project have come to know themselves and their history through this common enterprise. This
work has complemented other faculty projects that examine the legacy of slavery, labor exploitation and reform, and
the campaign to provide affordable housing to a broadening cross-section of citizens.
1c.
What evidence can you provide that demonstrates that the program embodies the vision and mission of the
program’s School/College? (Suggested limit 1/3 page)
St. John’s College expects its faculty to foster the “critical consciousness” that marks nimble minds. Students accordingly
gifted will thrive and lead in today’s world and in the future. The College’s vision statement connects this flexibility to a
strong foundation of research and scholarly inquiry. The B.A. program in History is thoroughly attuned to these goals.
Its faculty is research-oriented, because, among other virtues, this is the approach that produces the most animated
classroom experience. Students find most relevant that knowledge which is most alive; they want to be at the center of
the action.
The faculty’s research activities are reported in attached curricula vitae, and there is no room here to list the
many articles and conference presentations. Allow instead the books of just the last few years to tell the story: histories
of our notions of Paradise, of the social and cultural networks created by modern bankers, of German engineering, of an
African princess, of the technology of sound, of the reimagining of history by Chinese historical novelists, of Islam and
nationalism in colonial India, South Asian popular culture in theater and film, and of female drug traffickers. This
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research activity enhances the faculty’s devotion to teaching, which is evident in the B.A. program’s diverse course
offerings and its comfort with the most responsive pedagogical techniques and technologies.
Standard 1.
None.
Additional comments if needed. (Suggested limit 1 page)
STANDARD 2. The program attracts, retains, and graduates high quality students.
2a.
Undergraduate SAT and High School Average
SAT Scores
High School Average
2010
2011
2012
2013
2010
2011
2012
2013
School/
College - Q
1089
1077
1087
1098
88
88
88
88
Total University
1097
1087
1096
1104
87
87
88
89
Freshmen SAT Scores
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Computed
HIS
Fall 2012
Computed
1,114
Fall 2013
Computed
1,083
Computed
1,087
1,119
Freshmen High School Average
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
High School
HIS
Fall 2012
High School
86
Fall 2013
High School
88
High School
88
89
Intended college major for 2012 college-bound seniors
SAT
Test-Takers
Mean Scores
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Intended College Major
Number Percent (%) Critical Reading
History
1,803
1.3%
Mathematics
Total
505
1034
529
* For further information, please visit http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_guide.pdf
2b.
Undergraduate 1st Year Retention Rate
Fall
2009
2010
2011
2012*
# Fresh
# Ret
%
School/
College - Q
76%
74%
72%
905
683
76%
Total University
78%
78%
76%
2757
2195
80%
*The % of students started in Fall 2012 and returned to the program in Fall 2013
Note* The % of students started in Fall 2004 and returned to the program in Fall 2005
** The % of students started in Fall 2008 and returned to the program in Fall 2009
2009
Total
HIS
26
2c.
2010
Returned
DNR
Total
#
%
#
%
17
65%
9
35%
2011
Returned
30
DNR
#
%
#
%
24
80%
6
20%
Total
24
2012
Returned
DNR
#
%
#
%
17
71%
7
29%
Total
15
Returned
DNR
#
%
#
%
12
80%
3
20%
Undergraduate 6 Year Graduation Rate
Fall
2004
2005
2006
2007
School/College
Average Rate - Q
57%
57%
57%
51%
Total University
58%
58%
59%
55%
Fall 2004 cohort
Total Graduated
Fall 2005 cohort
Total Graduated
Fall 2006 cohort
Total Graduated
Fall 2007 cohort
Total Graduated
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HIS
2d.
19
11
58%
18
10
56%
24
16
67%
23
16
70%
Graduate Standardized Test Scores
The Undergraduate Program in History (B.A.) has 108 students, including 92 majors and 16 minors. The Department of
History also houses a minor in Africana Studies for which History provides the only core courses. Students are educated
for success in an increasingly globalized world through the global framework of our courses, and our students in turn
enhance our program in that they are a diverse group of learners representing a spectrum of ethnicities and nationalities
and are a balanced group of both men and women. The program attracts many of the leading incoming students at St.
John’s University, with students in the program having higher SAT average scores for the cumulative five-year period
(1101) than the averages for the university (1096) and college (1088), and on par with the high school average for both
the university and college (all are 88). The first-year student retention of history majors is also on par with that of the
school average (74%), slightly lower than the university average (77%). The History Department is several points higher
(63%) than both the school (56%) and the university (58%) in terms of the 6-year graduation rate. In 2007, the most
recent year of data, the graduation rate for the Department majors stood at 70% in comparison to the school’s (51%)
and the university’s (55%). The future viability of the program, therefore, is consistent with that of the school and the
university as a whole and very strong in terms of its long-term graduation of majors.
2e.
Please describe how the program compares with peer and aspirational institutions.
(Suggested limit 1/2 page)
The St. John's History Department is extremely strong in both its faculty and curricular offerings. The faculty covers a
wide range of historical methods, conceptual focuses, and geographic diversity. What is distinctive about our faculty is
our cutting-edge research. Each member of the faculty has a strong research agenda that produces original published
results that are creative and methodologically sophisticated. Many of our faculty members are already international
experts in their fields, and their work is considered to be the gold standard for scholarship. They are widely recognized
as experts in their fields; they have received prestigious grants and consult on an array of topics.
While the department has won national and international recognition for its research and methods, the program is
constrained by resources allocated by the University. As a result of a lack of resources, faculty members are not able to
attend conferences as frequently as faculty at other institutions. While students benefit from the curricular changes
made by the department since the last review, the department cannot offer them a suitable space for meetings and can
provide only limited resources for travel, grant writing, and conference travel. As a result, the heart of the program – the
faculty and its students – is on par with a research university; however, the fiscal constraints and lack of autonomy in
administrative matters, including maintenance of the departmental website(s), hamper the department's ability to
market itself. Despite these limits, the department compares well with the other Queens and Long Island universities,
but it does not compete in the national market even though its faculty members are leading researchers in their
respective fields.
2f.
If applicable, describe the program’s student performance over the past five years on licensure or professional
certification exams relative to regional and national standards. (Suggested limit 1/4 page)
History is a discipline that does not require licensure or professional certification. However, the SJU history department
is one of 70 institutions involved in the AHA’s Tuning Project. Tuning consists of five processes by which faculty groups
identify what students earning a given degree in a given discipline know and can do. The process grows from the
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assumption that faculty, who know their discipline best, should be the party responsible for determining the discipline’s
core.
The program provides service to School of Education students by offering courses essential for their earning teaching
certificates. Furthermore, many graduates in History pursue teaching certificates following graduation.
2g.
Number of majors and minors enrolled over the past five years. See table below.
MAJORS
HIS
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
BA
113
108
89
87
8
7
6
5
121
115
95
92
BA/MA
Total
MINORS
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
Minors
Minors
Minors
Minors
History
14
Total
2h.
Fall 2010
16
18
16
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Fall 2013
Total
Total
Total
Total
135
131
113
108
Number of degrees granted during the past five years. See table below.
SJC -UG-Q
HIS
History
BA
10/11
11/12
12/13
Degrees
Conferred
Degrees
Conferred
Degrees
Conferred
35
38
24
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Below is comparison of data n degrees conferred for local and national institutions based on data retrieved from the
IPEDS website. This is based on the Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) Code of 54-History.
20092010
20102011
20112012
Bachelors
Local
741
795
742
National
35,198
34,999
35,121
1
Local institutions include: Adelphi University, Columbia University, CUNY Queens College, Fordham University,
Hofstra University, Iona College, C.W. Post University, Manhattan College, New York University, Pace University,
Seton Hall University, Stony Brook University, and Wagner College.
Comments : Based on the data in 2g and 2h, how do these trends compare to institutional, regional and national
patterns? (Suggested limit 1/2 page)
The number of undergraduate history majors has decreased about 24% over the past five years, with 121 majors in 2010
compared to some 92 majors in 2013; however, the number of minors increased slightly, from 14 in 2010 to 16 in 2013,
which modified the overall decrease for the department of 20% for the last five years. It is important to note that the
quality of the students in the major in terms of SAT scores has steadily increased over the last nine years, going from
1084 in 2005 to 1119 in 2013, while the high school average of the history majors has also remained consistent, even
showing a slight increase from 86 in 2005 to 89 in 2013.
Although we do not have enrollment statistics for our regional competitors, the St. John’s Queens BA program is well
positioned when compared to schools such as Queens College, Hofstra, Adelphi, and Fordham. In the last five years,
there has been a substantial hiring of outstanding junior faculty who are committed to both teaching and research. This
has built upon an already strong foundation of faculty at the professor and associate professor level. As a whole, our
faculty has a strong national and international presence, and has also distinguished itself as a leader in the teaching of
world history.
NOTE: Other tables see below to cut and paste:
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2i.
What mechanisms are in place to monitor students’ progress toward degrees? And, to what extent is there a
collaborative effort to provide quality advising and support services to students? (Suggested limit 1/4 page)
The History Department takes a hands-on and multi-pronged approach toward advising our undergraduate
majors and minors. At the beginning of each semester, the department chair emails a welcome letter that includes
information about events, the History Club, the History honorary society, the link to the Facebook group, the BA’s Goals
and Outcomes, and AHA Tuning documents. At advisement time, Ms. Fran Balla sends all the students the list of courses
for the next semester, and she sends the faculty a list of all students and of the student advisees for each faculty
member.
Each full-time faculty member of the department is responsible for advising a small group of students (typically
six or seven per term). Faculty meet with their advisees at least once each semester to assess progress toward the
degree and more generally to discuss experiences in the classroom and at the University. To the extent that it is
possible, students retain the same advisor in succeeding years, which ensures among students a degree of comfort,
familiarity, and trust in their advisement.. After discussions with their advisors, many students subsequently meet with
the Department Chair to clarify additional program requirements and to reflect on relevant internships, job prospects,
and independent research opportunities. As a result of such meetings, students often form new bonds with department
members who share their areas of interest.
2j.
If available, provide information on the success of graduates in this program as it relates to employment or
attending graduate school. (Suggested limit 1/4 page)
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Students graduating with degrees in history from St. John’s University have gone on to excel both inside and outside of
academia. Several of our most recent graduates are completing PhDs in the nation’s top graduate programs, including
those at Arizona State University, Brandeis University, the University of Texas-Austin, and elsewhere. Other graduates
have enrolled in leading law schools, recently including Emory University and the Washington University of Saint Louis.
Our students have also competed for academic fellowships and awards on the most elite national and international
stages. In particular, three history graduates have been awarded prestigious Fulbright awards since 2012. The
department is in the process of creating a comprehensive database that will document the many fields into which our
students have entered. A sampling of the data we have gathered so far demonstrates the wide-ranging impact of our
degree, which has positioned students for success as educators, as professionals in national and international financial
institutions, in the film industry, as university professors, and in many other professions.
2k.
Please comment on the students’ competencies in the program. Support your response using data provided
below and any other data available. (Suggested limit 1/3 page)
Our BA degree cultivates in students a diverse set of competencies. As part of the “tuning” project, the History
Department has spent several years reflecting on and defining those competencies, often in discussion and consultation
with current and former students. From such conversations we have identified seven core competencies that each
undergraduate history course engages, though often is different ways: communication skills, information literacy, critical
thinking, global and diverse perspectives, historical knowledge, historical thinking, and research skills and professional
development. Moreover, the department has taken steps to measure on a regular basis how effectively our courses
improve student success in reaching these competencies. Since the previous review, the department added an
additional requirement of a sophomore seminar in which students are introduced to historical thinking and historical
knowledge. For example, we have created a rubric by which we have been assessing student essays, enabling us to
identify progress by class and even by individual student over several years.
Standard 2.
Additional comments if needed: (Suggested limit 1 page)
None.
STANDARD 3. The program engages in ongoing systematic planning that is aligned with the University and
School/College planning, direction, and priorities.
3a.
How does your program’s strategic goal/objectives link to your School/College plan and the University’s strategic
plan? http://www.stjohns.edu/about/leadership/strategic-planning
The history program’s objectives are central to the broader plans defined by both the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences and the University. Our undergraduate program requires students to take hands-on approaches to assess
developments across time and space with careful consideration of how gender, race, class, culture, and other factors
shape human perspectives, motivations, and experiences. Graduates with history degrees are thus well prepared to join
a globalized world as active and productive citizens; they have keen interests in tackling real world problems such as
poverty and other pressing social issues. Faculty employ service learning in their classes by teaching students to use their
research and historical skills to assist non-profits and local historical organizations.
Our program continues to emphasize core priorities that the University outlined in its 2008-2013 Strategic Plan,
including those relating to mission, student engagement, and globalization. Through our courses, research, and
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interactions with students, the History Department exposes history majors to a wide variety of historical injustices and
promotes reflection on their relationships to contemporary world problems. Our students grapple with such issues at
global and local levels, enjoying the freedom to enroll in courses that cover virtually any part of the world. The History
1000C course, entitled “The Emergence of Global Society,” provides students with a deep-rooted understanding of
globalization as a historical process – an issue with which every college student needs to be familiar. We interact with
our students inside and outside of the classroom, bringing history to life through excursions to the many New York City
sites that offer revealing clues about the past. Our program also encourages students to develop their own independent
research projects under the tutelage of individual faculty mentors.
The history program has also been at the forefront of responding to challenges identified in the Repositioning of
the Strategic Plan. In response to growing demands by students (and parents) to make the case for the value of their
education, the History Department began systematically assessing our program’s effectiveness. Under the spirited
leadership of Elaine Carey, our undergraduate program underwent a “tuning” process during which we created new
assessment tools to measure student progress according to a series of core competencies. As a result of this initiative,
we can now track improvements in students’ writing over the course their college careers. One welcome consequence
of the tuning project has been a renewed emphasis among history faculty on a skills-based approach to history that
prompts students to think about the applicability of the intellectual tools they develop to a diverse range of professional
environments.
3b.
What is the evidence of monitoring the external and internal environments; specifically, what are the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the program? How were they identified? What actions have been taken
in response to these findings? What characteristics of the program suggest a competitive edge against other programs
regionally and nationally?
The history program faces the same primary threat that other humanities disciplines do. In the wake of the severe
economic contractions that began in 2008, students and parents began expressing understandable concerns about the
cost of college degrees and the prospects that particular majors might provide for future employment. Such concerns
are reflected in the declining number of history majors at St. John’s, which is documented in Table 2g. Our program also
faces financial constraints that limit, for example, students’ abilities to travel to conferences or engage in off-campus
research.
The History Department has been confronting these challenges in a number of ways. At the student acceptance days
and other events, the department has prepared additional materials to demonstrate how a history degree is better
preparation for diverse fields such as law, business, and even medicine. Department members have become familiar
with Humanities Indicators and AAC&U data.
We have been emphasizing and promoting the wide-ranging value of history degrees, explaining how our discipline
prepares students for success in many fields. We hold an annual conversation with our majors and minors entitled “what
to do with a degree in history,” which brings together several St. John’s history graduates who have entered disparate
professions. In the classroom, we have been encouraging students – particularly in our History 2990 class – to think
more deeply about what historians do and why the skills our degree cultivates are important. We have been meeting
with potential employers to explain those skills and discussing with our students how to effectively represent
themselves in job interviews and other professional settings. In short, we now demand students to think beyond what
they learn and we push them to articulate before different audiences how their studies helped prepare them for realworld environments.
While our program lacks the resources of several wealthier regional and national peers, we have been quicker than most
of our rivals to recognize and begin addressing threats to our discipline. St. John’s was one of just seventy institutions in
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the nation to join the first phase of the tuning project. This underscores the deep commitment that our department has
toward the future of our field and the success of our students. Most importantly, the students whom we have involved
in discussions about tuning have enthusiastically embraced the process.
3c.
What is the current and future market demand for the program? Support your response using the data
provided below or any other internal or external sources to justify your response.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment for historians is expected to increase 18% from
2010-2020 (www.bls.gov). Most positions are available in federal, state, and local government institutions.
Opportunities will be best for those who can apply their research and analytical skills to other occupations, such as
teaching, researching, and writing.
The American Historical Association (AHA) has found that the number of history majors at American colleges and
universities gradually declined between 1992 and 1997, but rose about 4.3% in the 1999-2000 academic years, and 1.4%
in 2000-2001. The AHA then followed up with another survey during the academic year 2006-2007, which showed a
minimal growth of about 5%, with a decline during the years 2007 until the present. This is due to several factors,
including current economic and financial circumstances, as well as job opportunities for history majors. This has
affected the numbers of teaching faculty members, causing cancellation of courses and lessening overall funding of
history departmental programs, including funds for research and travel, and reappointments of adjunct faculty.1In
conclusion, on a smaller but representative level, the declared history major student trends are in line with recent
patterns in the number of majors already seen in other educational institutions of higher learning in the United States.
Admissions statistics indicate the possibility for significant growth of the program. While applications to St. John’s by
declared history majors fell by about 30 percent between 2011 and 2013, the larger problem was a fall in the already
small percentage of such students who enrolled at the University after gaining admission. In 2011, just nine percent of
history majors who were accepted ultimately enrolled; in 2013, this fell to seven percent. By increasing our efforts to
reach out to history students who have been admitted to the program, we anticipate an increase in enrollment rates.
Our department has also been making more active use of the web to promote work completed by our faculty and
students. As part of the overhaul of the University website, faculty members have revamped their own personal pages.
We have also created a department blog that advertises our conferences, speakers, and other events. We maintain an
active presence on Facebook and in individual cases on Twitter. We also publish a journal, Historia et Memoria, that
showcases essays by our students. In short, the department is making use of innovative technology to highlight the
dynamic nature of our program, faculty, and students. In Fall 2014, the chair started to directly communicate with the
College Advantage partners, and she held a professional development workshop. Many of the high schools send very
few students to SJU, but these students receive SJU college credit. These partnerships are an untapped resource for
collaboration in history education as well as student enrollment. In the spring, the chair will continue to work with the
partnering schools by visiting the campuses.
See, Robert B. Townshend, “AHA Data Indicates Surge in Number of History Majors”, Perspectives, November 2000; Robert B.
Townshend, “Latest Directory Show Further Growth in Undergraduate History majors”, Perspectives, November 2001; U.S.
Department of Education, Digest of Education Statistics 2008, (Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 2009); see at
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009020.pdf. See also, Robert B. Townshend, “History in These Hard Times, Departments Struggle in a
Depressing Economy”, Perspectives on History, September 2009, see at
http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2009/0909/0909new1.cfm.
1
Self-Study Template 12
Standard 3.
Additional comments if needed: (Suggested limit 1 page)
None.
STANDARD 4. The program provides a high quality curriculum that emphasizes and assesses student learning and
engagement.
4a.
Please indicate how the program curriculum is in alignment with the following three items:
(Suggested limit 1/2 page for each of the three categories below)
1. Standards within the discipline
The History Major program meets and even exceeds the recommended disciplinary standards as set forth by the
American Historical Association.i Majors complete 36 semester hours of U.S., European, and non-Western history,
including strong foundational courses, courses expressly designed to acquaint students with the diversity of the global
setting in which they live, a course in historical methods, and a capstone research seminar in which students develop
independent research projects. The senior essays they produce serve as strong writing samples for job applications and
for applications to various graduate and professional programs. Several of our history majors have presented the results
of their research off campus at undergraduate conferences and during SJU’s undergraduate research week. All courses
work to develop student capacity for critical thinking, while building skills in reading, writing, and research. In fact, St.
John’s faculty have been at the forefront of a national effort, led by the American Historical Association, to “tune” the
history curriculum so that students acquire key competencies.ii
2. Curriculum integrity, coherence, academic internships, teaching excellence, teaching vibrancy, and study abroad
experiences.
Courses introduce students to a broad range of historical subjects while also encouraging students to make connections
between the past and present and to develop a truly global understanding of historical processes. The department
works with Career Services to maintain an active list of internships and it posts additional opportunities on the STJ
History Department Facebook Page. Students have found internships working on political campaigns, at non-profit, with
film directors, and at historical organizations such as libraries, archives, and societies. The History Club and Phi Alpha
Theta, the history honor society, engage students and faculty in extra-curricular events and projects, such as visits to
museums and historical sites. Several faculty members have served as Fellows with the Center for Teaching and Learning
and the Institute for Writing Studies. Faculty members have offered study-abroad courses in Africa, Vietnam, and Rome.
Faculty have attempted to offer other history classes in France and Mexico, but these efforts have not been successful.
3. The University Core competencies
Numerous faculty members have participated in the World History Teaching Group in which professors discussed
teaching of the core class. All faculty members teach the core class or its honor’s equivalent. When the department
started to tune the history degree, the UEPC members started with the core class designing the goals and outcomes as
well as a core syllabus. Essential and suggested core competencies are integral to the design of all history courses,
which emphasize a range of analytical skills: standard critical thinking skills, interpretation of change and continuity, the
ability to utilize and assess historical documents, and the ability to evaluate different historical interpretations. All
courses, and global history courses in particular, emphasize comparative analytical skills. Information literacy has
become an essential component of all courses, from the Core global history course through the research seminars.
Faculty incorporate library tours and venues for guest speakers from library staff to help students best utilize
technology. All courses require writing and emphasize improvement in written expression. Many faculty members
Self-Study Template 13
encourage their students, particularly in the Core, to make appointments at the Writing Center. Professors help students
hone their writing skills by evaluating multiple drafts of papers. Classes often mix high stakes and low stakes writing.
Exams and quizzes all involve writing and critical analysis. Class discussions and group and individual presentations help
students gain experience in public speaking and articulating their ideas before an audience. Quantitative reasoning is
used when studying demographic and other statistical trends.
4b.
The syllabi for the courses within this program incorporate the suggested elements of a syllabus, an example of
which can be found at the following St. John’s University Center for Teaching and Learning link. (Suggested limit 1/3
page) http://stjohns.campusguides.com/content.php?pid=71651&sid=984766
Faculty syllabi, which are now posted on Digication, all include key elements of a syllabus as suggested by the Center for
Teaching and Learning, including a course description, instructor information, schedule of readings, grading criteria, and
an explanation of expectations for in-class and on-line work. Many syllabi include detailed descriptions of writing
assignments, although in some instances these instructions are broken out into a separate document. Syllabi and
detailed instructions for writing assignments are given out in-class and posted on-line to be sure that students are aware
of course requirements. Furthermore, faculty have recently evaluated all of the syllabi used by adjunct instructors who
teach History 1000C to be sure their syllabi (and their courses) are meeting departmental standards.
4c.
Describe the assessment model currently in place for the program and indicate the extent to which disciplinary
and core knowledge, competence, and values are met, as well as findings and action plans for improvement. For
reference, visit WeaveOnline – https://app.weaveonline.com//login.aspx; Digication – https://stjohns.digication.com
(Suggested limit 1/2 page)
The History Department has recently revised its BA Goals and Outcomes to better encompass the core competencies
that we seek to develop in our major. The seven-point list includes Communication Skills; Information Literacy; Critical
Thinking; Global and Diverse Perspectives; Historical Knowledge; Historical Thinking; Research Skills and Professional
Development. Each course offered by the history department develops particular objectives. Each semester, professors
teaching key courses such as 2990: Introduction to History, and 4990: Senior Seminar, regularly assess the degree to
which students are meeting these learning objectives; the results are entered into WEAVE. The department has also had
numerous conversations about assessment, members have been involved in designing assessment tools for the college
and the discipline.
4d.
What, if any, external validations, e.g. specialized accreditations, external awards, other validations of quality
has the program received? (Suggested limit 1/3 page)
The department received national recognition from the American Historical Association, the National History Center,
and the Teagle Foundation to implement the White Paper on History and a Liberal Education. The SJU History
Department was one of three institutions chosen because of its achievements introducing students to research in the
libraries and archives of New York City.
The department also has been participating in the AHA’s and Lumina Foundation’s Tuning Project to improve history
education at the BA and MA levels. The SJU History Department is one of 70 institutions involved in the project.
Standard 4.
Additional comments if needed. (Suggested limit 1 page)
Self-Study Template 14
STANDARD 5. The program has the faculty resources required to meet its mission and goals.
5a.
Below you will find the number of students enrolled as majors and minors in the program. Please complete the
table by adding the number of full-time faculty assigned to the program. Then calculate the student to full-time faculty
ratio.
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2013
F
P
Total
F
P
Total
F
P
Total
F
P
Total
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
Majors
MAJORS
127
6
133
Fall 2010
122
5
Fall 2011
Total
F
Total
F
Minors
Minors
Minors
Minors
Minors
14
14
16
16
P
MAJORS/MINORS
P
Minors
17
Fall 2010
F
127
102
6
Fall 2012
F
MINORS
Total
Fall 2012
F
Total
F
Minors
Minors
1
P
100
2
102
Fall 2013
18
P
Total
Minors
15
Fall 2011
Total
108
Minors
1
16
Fall 2012
Total
F
P
Fall 2013
Total
F
P
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total Total Total
141
6
147
138
5
143
119
7
126
115
Fall 2010
F
FTE
P
FTE
Fall 2011
Total
F
FTE
FTE
P
FTE
Fall 2012
Total
F
FTE
FTE
P
FTE
3
118
Fall 2013
Total
F
FTE
FTE
P
Total
FTE
FTE
Self-Study Template 15
Total
FTE MAJORS
141
2
143
138
1.667
139.667
119
2.333
121.333
115
1
116
Important Notes:
FTE Students = Number of FT Students + (number of PT Students/3)
FTE Faculty = Number of FT Faculty + (number of PT Faculty/3)
This methodology is used by STJ for all external reporting.
The figure for majors includes first and any second majors.
The ratio of full-time faculty to students is 1:8.3
5b.
Below you will find the credit hours the department has delivered by full-time faculty and part-time faculty
(including administrators) and the total credit hours consumed by non-majors.
Credit Hrs
Taught
Fall 2010
Number
Fall 2011
Percent
Number
Fall 2012
Percent
Number
Fall 2013
Percent
Number
Percent
F-T Faculty
2,890
54.9%
2,784
50.3%
2,282
42.9%
1,860
39.9%
P-T Faculty (inc
Admin)
2,373
45.1%
2,748
49.7%
3,042
57.1%
2,799
60.1%
0.0%
Total
% Consumed
by Non-Majors
5,263
4,163
100%
79.1%
0.0%
5,532
4,443
0.0%
100%
80.3%
5,324
4,332
100%
81.4%
0.0%
4,659
3,633
100%
78.0%
5c.
Below you will find the number of courses the department has delivered by full-time faculty and part-time
faculty (including administrators).
Courses
Taught
Fall 2010
Number
F-T Faculty
42
Percent
Fall 2011
Number
62.7% 34
Percent
Fall 2012
Number
79.1% 40
Percent
Fall 2013
Number
52.6% 34
Percent
50.7%
Self-Study Template 16
P-T Faculty
(inc Admin)
25
Total
37.3% 9
67
20.9% 36
47.4% 33
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
100% 43
100% 76
100%
49.3%
0.0%
67
100%
5d.
What is the representative nature of faculty in terms of demographics, tenure, and diversity? (See departmental
information on next page). How well does this support the program? (Suggested limit 1/2 page)
2010
FT
2011
PT
Total
#
%
#
%
Male
8
47%
10
83%
Female
9
53%
2
17%
Total
17
FT
2012
PT
Total
#
%
#
%
18
9
50%
13
87%
11
9
50%
2
13%
29
18
25%
4
1
6%
2
FT
2013
PT
Total
#
%
#
%
22
8
47%
17
89%
11
9
53%
2
11%
33
17
13%
3
1
6%
FT
PT
#
%
#
%
25
8
47%
16
80%
11
9
53%
4
20%
36
17
Gender
12
15
19
20
Ethnicity
Black
1
6%
Hispanic
2
12%
0%
2
2
11%
1
7%
3
2
12%
Asian
1
6%
0%
1
1
6%
1
7%
2
1
6%
0%
0%
0
0%
0
75%
20
73%
23
American
Indian/Alaskan Native
White
11
65%
3
9
0%
12
67%
11
2 or More Races
3
3
0%
12
71%
1
0%
12
16%
4
0%
2
16%
4
0%
0
63%
24
0%
3
15%
3
18%
0
0%
1
6%
1
5%
0%
0
0%
11
65%
16
80%
2
0%
0
0%
0
0%
0
0%
Native
Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander
Unknown
2
Total
17
12%
0%
12
2
2
29
18
11%
0%
15
2
33
0%
17
1
19
5%
1
36
0%
17
20
Tenure Status
Self-Study Template 17
Tenured
9
53%
9
11
61%
11
10
59%
10
10
59%
Tenure-Track
6
35%
6
5
28%
5
7
41%
7
7
41%
Not Applicable
2
12%
2
2
11%
2
0%
0
Total
17
17
18
18
17
17
0%
17
During the reporting period, the percentage of Black faculty teaching full-time declined from 6% in 2010 to 0 in 2013.
Part-time Black faculty also decreased from 25% in 2010 to 15% in 2013. The percentage of Hispanic full-time faculty
rose from 12% in 2010 to 18% in 2013 and the percentage of Hispanic part-time faculty was negligible with one hired in
the three-year period. Full-time Asian faculty remained consistent at 6% and part-time faculty at 5%. American Indians,
Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders are unrepresented. In 2013, there were no full-time African
Americans and two full-time faculty members of two or more races. The full-time faculty was 18% Hispanic, 6% Asian,
and 65% White. The majority male part-time faculty was less diverse, with 15% Black, 5% Asian, and 80% White.
Over the past five years the relative percentages of tenure and tenure track faculty have remained steady. In 2010, nine
faculty members, or 53 % of the Department faculty, =were tenured; six faculty members, or 35%, were untenured. By
2013, the number of tenured faculty had increased to ten and the number of untenured faculty had risen to seven.
During 2010-2012, there were two faculty members teaching on a contract basis; by 2013, all full-time faculty members
were tenured or held tenure track appointments.
5e.
What evidence exists that the program’s faculty have engaged in research and scholarship on teaching and/or
learning in the program’s field of study? (Suggested limit 1/2 page)
Best known for the production of historical scholarship, during the reporting period the History Department gained
national recognition for its pedagogical research and innovation. In April 2013, Chairman Elaine Carey and History
Department colleagues Tracey Anne Cooper, Elizabeth Herbin-Triant (who has since left the department), Philip
Misevich, and Alejandro Quintana published an article in Perspectives, a professional magazine published by the
American Historical Association (AHA), the nation’s leading academic history organization. Professors Carey, Cooper,
Herbin-Triant, Misevich, and Quintana discussed their participation in the AHA’s Tuning Project, an effort to help
participating history departments better define what a student needs to know to complete their history undergraduate
and graduate degree programs. Thirteen months later, in May 2014, Dr. Carey, vice-president of the AHA Teaching
Division, helped organize a meeting at St. Francis College in Brooklyn to explain the Tuning Project to History faculty
throughout the New York metropolitan area. The meeting was attended by the AHA’s Executive Secretary and five
History Department faculty representing all types of institutions of higher learning, from research universities to
community colleges. St. John’s faculty members who had co-written the article and/or participated in the History
Department’s Tuning Project shared advice and insight with those in attendance who were interested in getting their
department or division involved.
5f.
What initiatives have been taken in the past five years to promote faculty development in support of the
program? (Suggested limit 1/2 page)
As stated above, the faculty has participated in the Center for Teaching Learning fellows program. With CTL, faculty have
designed web sites, worked with students to explore the connection between history and fiction writing, and attended
conferences to gain social networking and quantitative skills. Members of the faculty have also participated in the Writers
Retreats in Rome and Paris. In both Rome and Paris, professors honed their skills in teaching writing, shared ideas, and
developed new classes. Another member of the department was in the first Vincentian Mission Institute learning about
Vincentian history and values.
Self-Study Template 18
Faculty members always have attended workshops offered by the librarians, and they also attend teaching-related seminars at
conferences. Faculty share their experiences at conferences and workshops with the department through department
meetings.
Two members of the department applied for and received funding from the College to attend CIEE Summer Faculty
Development Seminars – Cooper in Spain and Morocco, regarding the history of immigration, and Borrero in Peru,
concerning the history of food.
5g.
The table below shows the amount of external funding received by the department. If available, please provide
the dollar amount of externally funded research for full-time faculty supporting the program under review. (Program
dollar amounts are available through departmental records.)
External
Funding
Fiscal Year
09/10
10/11
11/12
12/13
$ Amount
Program
$ Amount
Department
10,000
7,353
30,800
2,955
5h.
Please comment on the table below that shows trends in overall course evaluation and instructional vibrancy for
your program (if available), your college and the university. (Suggested limit ½ page)
Overall Evaluation (Spring)
Instructional Vibrancy (Spring)
2011
2012
2013
2011
2012
2013
History (Q)
4.24
4.15
4.06
4.54
4.43
4.31
Saint John’s
College
3.95
4.01
4.00
4.28
4.33
4.33
Total
Undergraduate
4.01
3.21
4.07
4.27
4.29
4.35
Note: Institutional Vibrancy is the average of the first 14 questions on the course evaluation, with questions pertaining
to course organization, communication, faculty-student interaction, and assignments/grading. All course evaluation
questions range from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree).
Overall Evaluation and Institutional Vibrancy, at over a 4, remain strong for the History Department and on par with
both St. John’s College and the undergraduate body as a whole. The figures for the History Department include both our
core class, HIS1000c and other history courses. Although we have taken many steps to ensure the standards of our
HIS1000c in the last few years, including standardizing assessment, syllabi, and suggesting writing exercises (all classes
Self-Study Template 19
now require at least 15 pages of writing, the fact remains that as a compulsory core class which represents around half
of our course offerings, taught predominantly by adjuncts, this will inevitably reduce our overall evaluations).
5i.
What percentage of full time faculty assigned to this program have terminal degrees or industry certifications
renewed within the past 2 years? Comment. (Suggested limit 1/3 page)
One hundred percent of the full-time faculty have terminal degrees (Ph.D) in the field. During the Department’s recently
completed search in East Asia history, applications were considered from graduate students who were completing their
dissertations; and a few received interviews. Ian Miller, who completed his Ph.D. May 2015 at Harvard University, The
department has also requested a replacement lines for a historian of African American and South Asian history, and the
department awaits approval.
Standard 5.
Comments: Indicate to what extent the program has the faculty resources required to meet its mission
and goals. Include references from 5a – 5i. (Suggested limit 1 page)
Since the last program review, the history department has in recent years lost many faculty, and they have not been
replaced. These include Frank Coppa and Frank Ninkovich, who took the VSO in 2010. A search is currently being
undertaken for a historian of East Asia to replace Jeffrey Kinkley, who took the VSO in 2014. Moreover, our African
American historian has left St. John’s and has not been replaced. A historian of South Asia as been hired to replace a
third 2010 VSO position.
With scant resources, the department has still made gains to ensure that an SJU history degree meets the professional
standards of the American Historical Association. Within the tuning project, the history department started the process
with HIS1000C because it is an important class to recruit majors and to inculcate a St. John’s liberal arts education. With
the staffing of graduate and undergraduate classes, few full-time professors are available to teach the HIS1000C. Thus,
mostly adjuncts teach one of the most important classes for the institution and the department.
The department also lacks a specialist on African American history at the present time, as well as any African American
professors. Despite being located in Queens, one of the most diverse counties in the United States, St. John’s has very
few African American faculty. This is a critical position that must be filled.
Standard 5.
Additional comments if needed. (Suggested limit 1 page)
STANDARD 6. The program has adequate resources to meet its goals and objectives. And, it is cost-effective.
6a.
Narrative/Supportive Technological Environment - Comment on classrooms and labs meeting industry-standards
for quality and availability of hardware, software, and peripherals; library space, holdings and services; science
laboratories, TV studios, art/computer graphic labs; etc. (Suggested limit 1 page)
St. John’s Library: One area for concern is the St. John’s Library. It does not meet the needs of our students, who are
involved in serious research projects. Students are regularly advised by faculty to get a New York Public Library card and
apply for the MARLI pass, which allows them to use other university libraries such as those of NYU, Columbia, and
Fordham, and to use the 42nd street branch of the New York Public Library for their research. Many materials necessary
for research even at the undergraduate level materials are lacking the St. John’s library. Moreover, students complain
Self-Study Template 20
that they are unable to find anywhere quiet to study on campus and that too much of the library space has been given
over to activities that could be done elsewhere, with the result that there are hardly any books on the shelves. The
central part of the first floor of the library has been taken over by a café and other sections on the main floors are areas
for student congregation and not for study. When students put in a request for book to be brought up from the
basement, about a third of the time it is not found; moreover, students are unable to browse the shelves and find
inspiration or connections by looking at nearby books. Library E-books and online subscriptions to journals have
increased in recent years, but undergraduate students, like graduate students and faculty, find these resources
inadequate and not up to the standards of a research university. Our department is committed to undergraduate
research and encourages students in both the publication and presentation of their work. Students regularly give papers
at conferences and we have started out own undergraduate research journal, Historia et Memoria but most of the
students whose work achieves the standard required for publication or presentation have done at least some of their
research at NYPL or at another university. Libraries are the centers of university life and the inadequacy of the St. John’s
library is damaging to current students and faculty, a deterrent to recruitment of students, particularly the better
students, and deleterious to our reputation as an institution of higher learning.
WIFI capability: Despite the fact that WIFI has become a basic need in university life, students and faculty do not have
adequate WIFI in our St. John’s Hall offices or in the seminar room. Many of our professors use Blackboard and other online platforms (such as ArtSpaces, for making on-line exhibitions), but cannot do so in the classroom due to lack of WIFI
access. Moreover, in our seminar classes, students and faculty sometimes need to access on-line archives or library
sources, which is only possible in our seminar room via a single Ethernet cable that is often very short and cannot be
moved around easily.
6b.
Narrative/ Supportive Physical Environment - Comment on level of faculty and student satisfaction with HVAC;
faculty and student satisfaction with classroom lighting, crowdedness, and acoustics; flexible teaching environments,
and faculty offices, etc.. (Suggested limit 1 page)
Physical environment: The undergraduate classes take place in rooms that would benefit enormously from being
updated. Partly this has to do with the age of the buildings, such as St. John’s Hall and Marillac, where many of our
classes are held, but as a result, the rooms are often too cold or too hot. In terms of furniture and other amenities, the
window shades often do not work, the student desks are made of plastic; they are not comfortable and break easily, and
there are crucifixes but no clocks in the classrooms. The issue of temperature control is also an issue in the department
faculty offices. They are often too cold or too hot for comfortable working conditions. With the exception of the seminar
room, which could also use updating in terms of furniture and is used for classes much of the day and evening, there is
little or no History Department space for meetings or special programs. The graduate assistants share an office, desks,
and computers in one room that was converted from a professor’s office. Faculty offices are small and cramped, even if
not relatively undersized in comparison to other St. John’s faculty offices, and space for graduate student assistants and
adjunct faculty is so inadequate that they have to be admitted by the department secretary to the offices of permanent
faculty to do their work. This of course compromises the security and privacy of the permanent faculty offices.
6c.
To what extent has the University funded major capital projects, e.g., renovations, which are linked directly to
the program during the past five years? (Bulleted list)
The University has not invested in the department or program renovation with the exception of a new printer, painting
and desks for new faculty, and a few computers in the last five years.
Self-Study Template 21
6d.
If external data that describes the cost effectiveness of the program has been provided by your School/College
Dean, please comment on the program’s cost-effectiveness. (Suggested limit 1 page)
The combined history department’s contribution to the university is $1, 218, 475. The undergraduate history program
on the Queens campus generates over one million in revenue based on the data supplied to the department. More
significant, the department’s participation in the College Advantage Program generates income that was not calculated
in the department’s contribution. On average, anywhere from 280 to 300 high school students pay $325.00 to take
history classes. For the academic year 2014-15, those classes generated an estimated additional $93,600.00 in revenue
of which the department received 0 to oversee the classes and faculty. The program is highly cost effective. Historians’
laboratories are libraries, archives, museums, physical spaces, and cities. New York City is one of the richest places for a
historian to work.
While NYC offers many opportunities, the university has offered little investment to the department. The history
department faculty members are active and well-known scholars in their fields and devoted teachers offering a highly
cost-effective program that services the university and its core curriculum. Yet, the budget for the department remains
less than $30,000. A community of prolific scholars, the department members usually turn down invitations to give talks
in the US and abroad or other collaborative projects due to lack of travel funds.
Although many of the history professors are highly capable to promote and work in digital humanities, the professors
do much of this type of work by collaborating with scholars at institutions that offer better funding. Thus, SJU receives
no recognition for these projects.
Standard 6.
Additional comments if needed. (Suggested limit 1 page)
STANDARD 7. Effective actions have been taken based on the findings of the last program review and plans have
been initiated for the future.
Since the last program review, the History department faculty has worked to raise the academic level of the B.A.
program. These initiatives can be found in the reconfiguration of the two seminars, HIS 2990 and HIS 4990. Also, the
department has been working on strengthening its academic profile by fostering a cultural shift within the department
that aligns with national standards. Since the last review, we have made students aware of discipline-specific national
standards that emerged from the Tuning Project. The department rewrote its goals and outcomes and created sample
syllabi and writing assignments for the adjuncts who teach HIS1000C, HIS1010, HIS1301, and HIS1302.
To enhance student engagement, every semester the chair emails a welcome letter to all students with the semester’s
announcements, events, and other information. The department started a History Club, an undergraduate history
journal Historia et Memoria, a Facebook group, a blog, and a Twitter feed. On the Facebook group, the editors post
internships, job opportunities, grants, etc. The History Club offers students the opportunity to visit local historical sites.
To further student engagement in their professional development, the department has worked closely with Career
Services to assist history students in resume writing, job searches, and interview skills. This collaboration has ensured
that more students are using the Career Services. Last year, six history students were hired for City Year.
i
“The Undergraduate History Major: Structure and Requirements,” in Michael J. Galagno, “Liberal Learning and the
History Major,” American Historical Association, 2007, http://www.historians.org/about-aha-andmembership/governance/divisions/teaching/liberal-learning-and-the-history-major.
Self-Study Template 22
ii
Elaine Carey, Tracey Anne Cooper, Elizabeth Herbin-Triant, Philip Misevich, and Alejandro Quintana, “Tuning the Core:
History, Assessment, and the St. John’s Curriculum,” Perspectives, April 2013, http://www.historians.org/publicationsand-directories/perspectives-on-history/april-2013/tuning-and-recharging/tuning-the-core.
Self-Study Template 23