User:Dgiovag/sandbox/Illinois State University Department of History

The Department of History at Illinois State University is an academic department associated with the College of Arts and Sciences. The History department at Illinois State is one of the largest in Illinois having over 600 full time students, graduate and undergraduate. The history department is quite extensive with over 100 classes to choose from anywhere from the military history of Europe to culture in countries in Africa. With ISU being known as a teaching school their History- Social Sciences Teacher Education program has been cited as one of the leaders in that field.

Background
Illinois State University was founded in 1857 as a training school for teachers and is the oldest public university in Illinois. It original name however was Illinois State Normal University and was not change to ISU until 1968 after the University had expanded and evolved into the liberal arts university people know it as today.

The Program Today
Illinois State University's History department and program is one of the largest in the state with over 600 full-time under-graduate and graduate students and over 100 courses to choose from. The department offers two different tracks for history majors, a bachelor of science and a bachelor of arts degree. Although, no matter which degree one seeks the history department requires 36 hours, four required history courses, and 18 hours of History electives. Phi Alpha Theta, a National History Honor Society, has a mission to promote the study of history while encouraging research, good teaching, and the sharing of learning and ideas among fellow historians. Illinois State's chapter, Mu Upsilion, was founded in 1967 under Professor Lucy Lucile Tasher. Undergraduate students who wish to be part of this society must have completed four history courses and have a minimum of a 3.1 GPA.

The history department as has an honors program. Admission into the program is only by application or invitation. As part of the program students work with a faculty member and must complete a thesis. When the thesis is completed students either present part of their work to the History Department Honors Colloquium or defend their thesis to faculty members. If the program is completed students will recieve honors at the time of graduation.

Illinois State has a flexible yet challenging masters program unique to the University. The program has very few requirements which encourages students to broaden their horizons and take courses that are outside of their regular interests. Students are required to take a minimum of 20 hours of course work at the 400 level, meet a research requirement, complete the course HIS 496, and meet a capstone requirement. Most students in the masters program who attend full time compete their degrees in three or four semesters.

Careers
Majoring in history may seem vague or useful, but this is not true. While taking history courses at Illinois State University a students learn to excel at written and oral communication skills, critical thinking, and research skills. With these skills a history major has what many employers look for, thus they can join many different fields. Considering Illinois State University started out as a teaching school one of the most popular fields at the University is History-Social Sciences Education. More than half of history majors are part of this field and go into teaching. However, this is not the only job one can have. History majors may have jobs in any of the following:

Education, Archivist, CIA, FBI, Foreign Service, Bureau of the Census, Smithsonian Institution, Urban planning Institutions, Tourism bureaus, United Nations, Advertising agencies, Art galleries, Genealogist, Journalist Librarian, Social service agencies, Book conservator, Editor, Congressional Aide, Demographer, Museum director, Curator Lobbyist, Marketing Research Analyst, Research Assistant, Self-employed Consulting Historian.

Alumni
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%" ! width="20%" | Name ! width="*" | Class year ! width="*" | Degree ! width="*" | Notability
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname|Corey Cox
 * align="center" | 2009, Master’s from the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
 * align="center" | BS in History and Philosophy
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname|Tim Frank
 * align="center" | 1994
 * align="center" | M.S.
 * Chairman of the American arm of the Chinese company Sany Heavy Industry
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname|Dan Greer
 * align="center" | 2006
 * align="center" | B.S.
 * Works for a large financial services firm in Plano, Texas
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname| Chris Helms
 * align="center" | 2009
 * align="center" | M.S.
 * Collections Manager and Registrar at the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname|Natalie Olinger
 * align="center" | 2007
 * align="center" | B.S.
 * Southeast Asia Historian
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname | Marla Tetzlaff
 * align="center" | 2011
 * align="center" | B.S. majored in history and minored in information systems
 * software application engineer at Charles Schwab
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname|Vanda Rajcan
 * align="center" | 2011
 * align="center" | M.S.
 * Researcher at the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname|Whitney Wilda
 * align="center" | 2006, 2007
 * align="center" | B.S., M.S.
 * Teacher at Hinsdale Central High School
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname|Michael Bullington
 * align="center" | 1983, 1989
 * align="center" |
 * Senior Manager for McDonald’s Golden Archives and an expert spokesperson on McDonald’s history
 * - valign="top"
 * sortname Jason klokkenga
 * align="center" | 1999
 * align="center" | B.S. and a masters in educational administration
 * Teaches Social Studies at Normal Community West High School and works with the history department on the Capitol Forum project}