History

Department of History

The history program at Rockhurst equips students to think critically, reason discerningly, and communicate effectively through exposure to the human condition across many times and places.  History students are challenged to ask contemplative questions of the past, analyze sources, and apply findings to the present providing insight into the future.  History majors and minors have the opportunity to explore topics such as Science, Religion and Magic in Modern Europe, Revenge, Law and the History of Justice, Modern Middle East, and Immigrants’ Experiences in America, among others.  Find our course offerings in history as listed in the Catalog.

Each faculty member in Rockhurst’s Department of History holds a Ph.D. and is an active scholar and presenter in their field.  Faculty members have traveled and studied widely throughout the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and bring their experiences into the classroom.  In other words, you’ll learn from the best.

History pairs perfectly with many other disciplines including education, theology, biology, philosophy, business, and pre-law, just to name a few.  History courses are an important part of the interdisciplinary minors such as Medical Humanities Minor , the Leadership Development Minor , and the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Minor .

Program Goals

• HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:  Students in Rockhurst University history courses should be exposed to important models of the historical perspective.  The example of the course instructor, the assignments designated in each class (including significant opportunities for discussion), and the course materials chosen for review should encourage active student involvement and engagement in the process of learning history.  The development of a sense of time and place, and the cultivation of an historical imagination, contribute to the broader learning goals of the Rockhurst College of Arts and Sciences by enhancing student abilities to attain “knowledge of human cultures” and efforts to achieve a more “holistic and integrative learning.”   

• HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE: Students in Rockhurst University history course should be introduced to important historical concepts (i.e. causation, periodization, objectivity, development, use) that will facilitate their acquisition of specific bodies of historical knowledge.  No matter the specific topic, era or approach of the individual history course, the instructor should work to expose students to key concepts that guide historical scholarship.  A broad introduction to these concepts may be presented in the level I survey courses, while a more thorough analysis can be expected for students in the history major.  This can be achieved, again, through the modeling of the instructor and the choice of assignments and course materials.  Introduction to important historical concepts contributes to the broader learning goals of the College of Arts and Sciences by providing framework for acquisition of student “knowledge of human cultures” and development of “essential skills and capacities.”   

• HISTORICAL SKILLS:  Students in Rockhurst University history courses should be required to employ and develop essential academic and intellectual skills, including critical reading and analysis, research, and communication.  In every history course, the instructor should require student utilization of fundamental learning skills through appropriate reading, discussion, writing, and oral presentation assignments.  Emphasis on the cultivation of the skills inherent in the historical mode of inquiry contributes to the College of Arts and Sciences learning goal of developing student “essential skills and capacities.”   

Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to read and comprehend complete and/or excerpted primary historical documents, based on a demonstrated ability to  a) summarize the essential content of the document b) identify key themes and explain the background and historical context of the document (time, place, cultural conditions, links to other course readings and topics).

• Students will be able to read and comprehend works of secondary historical scholarship, based on a demonstrated ability to a) identify the key themes in the text; b) give examples of supporting data and specific detail; and c) describe the relationship between the themes and the supporting data (indicate how the details of the historical text contribute to and support the identified themes).

• In level II courses in the historical mode of inquiry, as completed by some students to fulfill a University core curriculum requirement, students will be able to demonstrate the skills articulated in SLO1 and SLO2 (level I) and, in addition, students will be able to understand, on a basic level, the essential nature of history as a complex, dynamic process of story-telling and interpretation of past events, based on a demonstrated ability to a)  recognize a sequence of chronology in a text; b) give examples of the interconnection among events (i.e. how one event or series of events/developments leads or contributes to another; c) explain the concept of historical periods as post-facto chronological divisions devised to facilitate understanding of the characteristics of a designated era.

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