Philosophical musings...
Is it possible to understand the goings-on of the world, without any knowledge of the past? Sometimes it suffices to look back a couple of days, sometimes one should go back a couple of centuries. Doing so does not only yield knowledge, insights, and new questions, but it also generates true passion. Studying history is not only acceptable to the general public, but it is also an adventure. By studying history, you will learn how the present is undeniably connected to the past, and how the contemporary social relationships, behaviors, and values arised out of age-long processes.
This does not only provide for knowledge, insights and new questions, but it also contributes to a critical, yet open-minded view and to an awareness about the importance of diversity when defining social relationships. The past is, of course, a complex given. What kind of questions arise, where can you look for answers, how can you interpret this information, what methods are available, and how do these insights fit into existing theories? This is what you learn and practice when you choose to study History at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. What is specific about our programme? It combines specializing with a more general education. Students get acquainted with the lines of force of all time periods and all important historical themes. Since this is not possible without maintaining an interdisciplinary point of view, other social sciences are not ignored throughout the whole of the programme. Moreover, students can choose to obtain a Minor in one of these other social sciences, which deepens this interdisciplinary point of view even more.
Seminars and papers make sure students learn the 'job' of being a historian. This means learning how to track and interpret primary sources, how to conduct independent research and how to present the results both in writing and orally. The long term perspective and the comparative perspective are very important in doing so, since our programme wants to transcend the traditional periodical, European approach by confronting the students with problems of continuity and discontinuity, with world history and with different geographical spaces (e.g. urban history).
Developing a critical, analytical and personal way of thinking are thought to be an imperative goal of the programme. Students should show their abillity to do so in writing their Master's thesis.
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Job opportunities
Historians have a good methodological knowledge and know a lot about a lot. Moreover, they are able to conduct (historical) research independently. These are interesting characteristics on the job market. Therefore, historians have several job opportunities: education, archives, libraries, government departments, the press, and research.
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