{"id":1257,"date":"2019-09-29T15:18:03","date_gmt":"2019-09-29T19:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/history\/?p=1257"},"modified":"2025-05-26T08:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T12:38:17","slug":"what-you-can-do-with-a-history-degree-highlights-from-history-career-panels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/history\/2019\/09\/29\/what-you-can-do-with-a-history-degree-highlights-from-history-career-panels\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Can Do with a History Degree: Highlights from History Career Panels"},"content":{"rendered":"

***<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Department of History\u2019s Lunch, Learn, & Link Series<\/a>, organized by Dr. Fang Yu Hu<\/a>, provides opportunities throughout the semester for students to engage with history beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n

Events include informal lunches with faculty and students, graduate school workshops, and panels featuring professionals whose experiences exemplify the variety of careers that a degree in history make possible.<\/p>\n

Check out highlights from the 2019 career panels below.<\/p>\n

\n

Spring 2019 Career Panel (Feb. 27, 2019)<\/h3>\n

The spring panel<\/a> featured the following three speakers, who provided excellent insight into the value and versatility of a history degree.\u00a0 Highlights from their comments and pictures from the event appear below.<\/p>\n

–<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris Barr<\/strong> \u2013 Park Ranger, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park<\/h4>\n

History is a coveted degree by employers. Being a history major isn\u2019t about job training; it\u2019s about life training. You\u2019re being trained how to think, how to be a citizen, how to evaluate the world around you, how to be a better person. History is simply the study of people, and you\u2019re going to do that in any job that\u2019s out there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

–<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sara Peters<\/strong> \u2013 Director, Center for Women and Gender Equity, UTC<\/h4>\n

You can\u2019t do social justice work without understanding history. Social justice work is exhausting, so understanding the broad sweep of history, that things will move on, helps with doing this work. Historians are uniquely situated to talk about intent versus impact, which is key in social justice work.<\/p>\n

Selling a history degree to employers is about saying, I\u2019m someone who follows my passion. People who major in history are passionate about what they do, they\u2019re not doing things just for financial rewards. You\u2019re doing it because you care.<\/p>\n

History is about making connections, how one thing relates to another, and those are essential skills that I can do better because I have a history degree.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

–<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Randall Van Dolson<\/strong> \u2013 Manager, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department<\/h4>\n

Getting a history degree is one of the best choices I ever made. I have no doubt that my history background gave me an edge. Employers are looking for applicants to be more well-rounded. \u00a0My time at UTC was really well spent. It gave me skills in analysis and in understanding cause and effect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

–<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Fall 2019 Career Panel (Sep. 11, 2019)<\/h3>\n

The fall panel<\/a> featured the following three speakers, who spoke with students about the opportunities available to history graduates, and who focused on several themes that sum up the value of the history degree in their experience.\u00a0 Each speaker\u2019s themes, along with pictures from the event, appear below.<\/p>\n

–<\/span><\/p>\n

Theresa Blackman<\/strong> \u2013 Pre-Health Professions Advisor, Center for Academic Support and Advisement, UTC<\/h4>\n

Theresa<\/a> discussed how her history degree taught her the following:<\/p>\n