History Major at Penn?

PennCAS2014
Fri, 18 Aug 2017 22:37:04 +0000

Hi there-- what an interesting conversation that has been had here! Anyway, as the only actual Penn history major currently posting on this thread, I’m happy to report that @“45 Percenter” is, still, the authority on Penn undergrad experience on CC. His post in #23 is spot on. Yes, Penn’s undergraduate experience can be incomparably interdisciplinary but it doesn’t have to be. Additionally, the way you engage with the interdisciplinary opportunities at Penn can differ from your peers. But none of that is that relevant to your actual questions! SO let’s get to those now:

1. What’s the daily/weekly workload like?
The daily workload is heavy but manageable. Usually you will be assigned weekly readings which you are expected to complete in their entirety- though you can get away with skimming some parts in preparation for larger lectures (but you’ll have to be ready for class discussion in seminars and recitations that are paired with large lectures). Some classes have you write frequent reflection papers on your readings. Others will save most of your writing for your midterm and final exam. I usually spent approximately 3-5 hours per night on my history course work and much more time on the weekends. That still left me time to have several majors/minors and to be very, very involved in campus life. And yes, I slept 6-8 hours per night, ate three meals a day and found time to exercise and see friends (though many of my friends were in my extracurriculars with me).

2. What’s the typical classroom atmosphere?
The classroom experience will vary depending on the type of class. Large lectures with someone like Professor Childers felt like story time during which this fixture of the Penn History Department tells you the story of World War II in the most engaging, thorough and incredible way. You then break down those stories in recitation which is usually characterized by a lively debate among you, your peers, and an upper level grad student who leads the conversation.

By contrast, in small classes and seminars (which comprise the majority of the classes you’ll take as a history major) it’s all about the students in the class pushing the conversation forward with their interpretations of the readings. There are often very respectful disagreements as you’re going to be surrounded by some of the smartest kids in your generation debating some of the biggest questions in the history of the world. Put simply, it’s a history fan’s dream! I DEEPLY miss the incredible conversations with amazing professors like Mary Frances Berry and Thomas Sugrue (who has unfortunately left Penn for a bigger salary and a free, luxury apartment in NYC) at the head of my 12 person seminars, You don’t often find those incredible conversations in most of the professional world if you aren’t involved in academia in some way.

3. What are some Study Abroad opportunities?
There are SO many study abroad opportunities. Pretty much every program available to penn students is open to history majors because our requirements are relatively flexible. You can often complete most of your required classes at Penn if you don’t want to take any history courses abroad or you can probably apply certain classes from your program to your major depending on Penn’s policies. Be sure to check out their website about studying abroad. I trust you’ll have a wonderful experience no matter where you go!

4. Is History a very time-consuming major compared to like English or Psych?
I majored in both History and English and I found that my history major was less time consuming than my English major because in English we were often expected to read entire novels each week and write frequent essays in preparation for discussion while in history we often read excerpts of books and more easily digestible textbook materials (as compared to the somewhat impenetrable prose of certain Russian and French novelists… ).

5. What are the research opportunities like?
Research opportunities abound. Check out CURF (the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships) as well as the various projects in which your professors are involved. Because Penn is one of the world’s finest research universities, you can be sure that each of your professors is producing groundbreaking scholarship on any range of subjects. Pick the professor doing the research you like most and ask if you can be involved-- i guarantee they will say yes (because they need the help) or they will point you in the direction of another opportunity to do similar work. And don’t forget grad students who need your help too! Penn grad students are the ivy league history professors of tomorrow! Building connections with them and helping them in their research can be very fulfilling as well. Finally, if you have your own research interests, pursue them!! You can request a faculty advisor or just take advantage of Penn’s amazing resources (like the Kislak center and access to Library Company of Philadelphia - America’s first successful lending library and oldest cultural institution according to their website).

6. Does Penn offer an interesting variety of classes?
THERE ARE SO MANY INTERESTING CLASSES. The variety of classes makes it nearly impossible to choose which ones you want to pursue because they all sound so amazing. I never had trouble filling up my schedule; the challenge was not over enrolling!

A final note on interdisciplinary study at Penn- Yes, Penn has some of the most amazing interdisciplinary opportunities and it has done more than most other universities to make those opportunities available to ALL undergrads no matter their school, area of study, etc. etc. And I do whole-heartedly believe that I was made a better student by being surrounded by people studying in so many different disciplines all living together and taking classes together because their different training led to very different approaches to the subject material. That being said, the majority of your experience as a history major will be strikingly similar to those experiences at the other ivies. The reality is that i read all the same books as the english majors at Brown and Yale and we all came out pretty well educated. Did I enjoy my experience because of the added interdisciplinary opportunities, access to a perfectly sized/beautiful/major urban metropolis, and life on a gorgeous/contiguous/300 acre campus? You bet I did! But those are ‘experiential’ factors that don’t really speak to the quality of education you will receive at these schools. I chose Penn over (primarily) Yale and Columbia because I knew I could get the same rigorous education as my peers in NYC and New Haven with the added benefit of Penn’s interdisciplinary opportunities and campus experience in a city. When thinking about Penn and its peers, the key is to focus on fit because the academic experience will be enriching in different ways among all of them! Good luck