History Discipline

UNIT MISSION/GOAL(S)

To introduce UMM students to the study of the human past, including transitions of ideas and institutions; to provide an undergraduate history major emphasizing the craft of historical inquiry and incorporating student-directed learning; and to advance historical scholarship.

Unit Mission/goal(s) and the Institutional Mission Relation

The history program provides a major in history and carries primary responsibility for providing all students with historical perspective, a basic component of liberal education. Instruction in history also supports the general education goals of writing, understanding different cultures and expanding perspectives in the areas of The Self and Others and The Arts. Through the cultural breadth of its instruction, the history faculty makes a distinctive contribution to the global scope of the campus curriculum.

STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES, EXPECTED OUTCOMES, ASSESSMENT METHODS & TOOLS, TIMELINE

Learning Objective 1

Students will approach individual and group decision-making with an awareness of a broad range of choices, demonstrating an empathy with alternative responses to life's questions.

Expected Outcome 1

Demonstrated familiarity with a range of historical periods and cultures sufficiently broad to allow meaningful exploration of 'alternative communities' in time and place.

Method(s), Measure(s), and Instrument(s) for Expected Outcome 1

Transcript will document knowledge of some aspects of both western and non-western history and of both pre-modern and modern history. File summary will also document breadth of study Follow-up survey of graduates will see an elevated appreciation for different cultures and times; an appreciation for ambiguity.

Timeline for the Outcome 1

Starting Date for the Implementation: In Progress

Anticipated Date for the First Results: In Progress

Learning Objective 2

Students will be able to think critically and communicate their ideas effectively

Expected Outcome 2

A demonstrated ability to critically analyze, interpret, and synthesize various types of historical materials.

Method(s), Measure(s), and Instrument(s) for Expected Outcome 2

Student will submit to the discipline faculty a file of their historical scholarship which will include samples of essays and examinations demonstrating the stated abilities.

Timeline for the Outcome 2

Starting Date for the Implementation: In Progress

Anticipated Date for the First Results: In Progress

Learning Objective 3

Students will integrate their academic study with their intellectual and moral maturation.

Expected Outcome 3

Students will demonstrate an awareness of how the pursuit of a knowledge of history relates to the student's own quest for personal and intellectual growth.

Method(s), Measure(s), and Instrument(s) for Expected Outcome 3

Students will include in their major file autobiographical essays reflecting on their major course of study and other relevant experiences.

Timeline for the Outcome 3

Starting Date for the Implementation: In Progress

Anticipated Date for the First Results: In Progress

Learning Objective 4

Students will understand the construction of historical knowledge.

Expected Outcome 4

A demonstrated awareness of how a society's search for historical explanations relates to it's ideals, circumstances, and practices.

Method(s), Measure(s), and Instrument(s) for Expected Outcome 4

Students will include in their major file an essay illustrating how changing social contexts interact with evidence about past events and result in revised historical understandings.

Timeline for the Outcome 4

Starting Date for the Implementation: In Progress

Anticipated Date for the First Results: In Progress

Learning Objective 5

Students will have learned how to learn.

Expected Outcome 5

A demonstrated ability to initiate and develop a course of historical inquiry.

Method(s), Measure(s), and Instrument(s) for Expected Outcome 5

Students will complete 10 credits of academic work in which they play the primary role in defining the historical question, determining the appropriate historical methodology to pursue the question, and reaching credible conclusions. The supervising faculty will certify the student role and the papers will be in the students' major files.

Timeline for the Outcome 5

Starting Date for the Implementation: In Progress

Anticipated Date for the First Results: In Progress