Hannah Krebs
Hannah Krebs is the 2023 recipient of the Frances Anne Kelleher Memorial Scholarship.
The Public History badge allows students to enhance their degree program through place-based and community engaged projects drawing on current practices and methodologies.
The Certificate in Medical and Health Humanities allows students to broaden their understanding of medicine and health by incorporating the diverse perspectives of a variety of disciplines in the liberal arts and sciences.
The Civic Change Agent Badge aims to inspire students to align democratic ideals and civic commitment with deep knowledge of context, history, and policy. It teaches students the values and practices required to sustain democracy through formal curricula, project learning, and co-curricular activities.
THE STUDY OF HISTORY
The craft of history interprets the past. History examines the lives of people, the consequences of ideas, and the products of human ingenuity. Historians engage in deep inquiry and persuasive debate. They craft narratives about the past based in evidence. The skills students gain through the study of history allow them to analyze and interpret evidence and evaluate how human societies change over time.
Choose from a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in history, or a minor in history or history of science, or select history as a teachable minor. Careful training in research, writing, critical reading, and interpretation makes history graduates attractive to a wide number of employers who value those abilities, especially in fields of law, library and museum work, finance, journalism, and public administration. Students also study history to advance their own liberal education and to train their minds.
THE PROFESSION OF SOCIAL STUDIES EDUCATION
Or, choose the major in Group Social Studies that is designed for students seeking teacher certification to teach in high schools or middle schools. Students study a variety of academic fields including History, Geography, Political Science, and Economics. Students acquire a strong background to engage their classrooms with vibrant content. Students have historically had great success in landing jobs in classrooms in Michigan, but also across the United States, particularly in Texas and Utah. A significant number of alumni have gone into educational administration, graduate school, and a wide variety of other professions. Social studies students can choose from a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S). We also support the Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Elementary Teaching major designed for students seeking teacher certification in elementary education.
The Department of History is a unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Join us for our current events.
The Great Black Hope- by Louis Moore
Teaching Data Literacy in Social Studies- by Tamara L. Shreiner
Li Dazhao- by Patrick Fuliang Shan
Place-Based Social Studies Education: Learning From Flint, Michigan- by Annie McMahon Whitlock
Our Alumna-in-residence Alice Kalinowski will be on campus October 31st-Nov. 1st and she will be at a number of events. Read Alice's bio.
- Donuts with Alice and Professors:
Topic: Informal conversation
Date: Oct. 31st, 2024 from 8:15-10:45 a.m.
Location: MAK D-1-142 (History Department Conference Room)
-Presentation by Alice:
Topic: It’s About More than Books! How a History Degree can Prepare you for a career in College/University Libraries
Date: Oct. 31st, 2024 from 1-3pm
Location: Allendale campus Library in the multi-purpose room (located at the lower level).
Description: Join Alice Kalinowski (B.A. History, 2015) for a conversation about career paths in academic libraries, which provide a range of research, teaching, and learning support at colleges and universities. Alice is the Public Services Manager at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Library, where she helps users get the most from library resources, which include expensive websites/databases used by tech leaders and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and large datasets faculty use to generate new insights. Today’s academic libraries have a range of specialized roles, including data wranglers, customer service specialists, website designers, and research support specialists, that history majors can excel in.
Student Opportunity: Click HERE to read the description of a new, PAID internship with the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council!
Alumni Opportunity: Apply now for the 2025 Young People's Continental Congress. The Young People’s Continental Congress (YPCC) will provide an opportunity for student-teacher teams to study history and civics in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 13–19, 2025. A student-teacher team consists of one student and one teacher. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in the tenth or eleventh grade in the 2024/2025 academic year. Learn more and/or apply.
Hannah Krebs is the 2023 recipient of the Frances Anne Kelleher Memorial Scholarship.
Coltrane Bodbyl-Mast and Nathan Wietrzykowski are the 2023 recipients for the Glenn A. and Betty J. Niemeyer History Scholarship.
If you haven't already, please email [email protected] to provide a non-GVSU email address where we can keep in touch, primarily with our annual newsletter.
8th grade U.S. History teacher, Allendale Middle School
Manuscript Editor, Marine Corp University Press
Social Studies Educator, Grand Rapids Public Museum
Speakers at the annual conference will explore the theme 'Intoxicated Warfare: Psychoactive Substances, Violence and Trauma.'
Sep 24, 2024
The conference, which is free and open to the public, will be held October 5-7.
Sep 28, 2023
Dr. Whitlock published "Place-Based Social Studies Education: Learning From Flint, Michigan" in January of 2024. Learn more or order here.
David Zwart: Published a chapter in a book: “The 1918-1919 Flu Pandemic: Remembering Trauma amongDutch Americans,” in Dutch Immigrant Stories, Donald J. Bruggink, Dennis N. Voskuil, and William Katerberg, eds. Holland, Mich. Van Ralte Press, 2022.
Eric Covey: Publishes new article: “The anti-apartheid movement at Grand Valley State College in West Michigan,” Safundi: The Journal of South African and American Studies, February 22, 2023, pp. 1-15.
Professor James Smither is the editor of Death and Life in the Big Red One.
Professor Louis Moore is featured in a TIME article "The Historic Significance of a Super Bowl With Two Black Starting Quarterbacks" and MSNBC Article "Why we shouldn't let the NFL take credit for Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes"
Patrick Shan: published a book chapter titled “From Admirer to Critic: Li Dazhao’s Changing Attitudes towards the United States,” in Sino-American Relations: The New Cold War, The University of Amsterdam Press, 2022, 31-54.