Double Major: History and...?

WilliamC
Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:57:03 +0000

First -be aware that in most cases you’re going to need a PhD to “go into research” and the Library Science masters is essentially a job credential. Museum jobs are few and far between. That said…

Even at the masters level you’re going to need at least 1 modern research language. French and German are the usual suspects and having one beyond the “reading knowledge” level will be helpful in your graduate applications. So factor that into your scheduling if it’s not already there. Given your interests/time period, nailing down French is an obvious spot to do a minor - I see Pitt’s French dept. has some courses labelled 17th and 18th century topics that could well be useful for you.

I personally like the Historical Preservation certificate idea, particularly if you can manage to snag an internship.

Finally… don’t double major if you’re planning to go to grad. school in your undergrad major field (graduate school ad-coms want to see depth and commitment). Instead, you want to maximize the number of upper level courses you take in your department. Take courses that have a LARGE writing component and write your papers as though they were to be submitted for publication. I see that Pitt’s History department has an Honors program - that should be high on your priority list.

Good Luck!