College of Arts and Humanities > History > Why Study History

Why Study History

“I have a passion for history. Growing up in North Carolina, I loved family vacations where I could imagine what it was like to be a Revolutionary soldier fighting at Guilford Courthouse, learning how people made baskets at Tryon Palace, about the Wright Brother’s first flights at Nags Head, and Blackbeard the pirate on Ocracoke Island.

In high school, instead of working retail or lifeguarding like my brother and sister, I worked summers in costume at Old Salem, a living history museum, where I split shingles, dyed wool, and worked a blacksmith’s forge. When I got to college, I started without a notion of what my major might be or what I might do for a living when I finished. Unsurprisingly, I gravitated to my passion and never looked back. And as a result, because I loved what I did, while my friends were struggling through the majors they chose because they were “practical,” I flourished in my courses.

And what I discovered when I graduated was that there were almost too many opportunities, that the skills I learned through History, how to research, evaluate, and communicate, meant I had to choose between careers in business, law, museum work, archaeology, philanthropy, and on and on. I considered all many fields, but in the end stuck with my passion, and decades later, I’m still doing what I love, studying the past and trying to discern what it means for society today.

Yes, I’d say I definitely have a passion for History.

One of the great things about the Georgia Southern University History Department is that each member of the faculty shares a similar passion. If you have a passion for, or a growing interest in, history consider exploring that passion with us!”

— Christopher E. Hendricks, Ph.D., Professor of History