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Reply With QuoteAce,Originally Posted by ace16807
Military history is a dying field with little opportunities. The end of the Cold War made military history passe within academe, and it's been replaced by social history.
I'm just curious, does anyone here have a major or a minor in military history? If so, and I suppose this question is open to anyone who would know, what are career opportunities for those who have one? Are other majors/minors recommended in accompaniment in order to broaden the range of careers? I've been looking into doing so, but it seems like the range of job offerings just isn't very high. Input is appreciated.
Ace,
Military history is a dying field with little opportunities. The end of the Cold War made military history passe within academe, and it's been replaced by social history.
"So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3
Perhaps this will help Ace: Military History Center - Home
Major, is this the sign of our times when Military History takes a back seat. Progress I suppose
Brother Shek is correct in that in some areas it is dying but it is still doing well in other areas.
Ohio State has rich program as does UNC
This is the cv of Dr MArk Grimsley who runs several very enjoyable blogs on the Civil War and miltary history. He is currently on a 1 year tour on the faculty of the Army War College. E mail him...he might not get right back to you but he can give you some advice.
OSU Department of History
Having once considered this road myself, you have to look in what do you want to do.
A pure degree in military history is hard to do. You will need to pick an era (My undergrad is 20th Century EUropean and American -WW 1 & 2 and MA is in Civil War).
Do you want to teach? If at the collegiate level you need to have a strong minor in another field. This will make you useful to the overall faculty. Oh, and plan ont he PhD. If at high school level, well you won't be doing much military history there unless you are augmenting the JROTC detachment.
Do you want to be a public historian? For the US Park Service? For a place like Pamplin historical park? You don't need a PhD but plan on getting an MA.
Do you want to study it jsut for fun? Plan on having something else lined up for a job...or go to law school...or like me, be in ROTC and plan on going into the Army on graduation.
But understand one thing.....the only way you'll be rich as one is to win the lottery or marry into money!)
Enjoy.
Remember that it is the Actions and not the Commission that make the Officer and that there is More expected from him than the title. – GEORGE WASHINGTON
Dave,Major, is this the sign of our times when Military History takes a back seat. Progress I suppose
It's the progress of the Woodstock generation (at least here in the US) who want to ignore the harsh realities of self-interest and think that it's possible to put folks like us out of a job. While I wish it were so, it's simply not human nature.
"So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3
I'd add to AR's post - if you do want to go the history route, learn at least one foreign language so you can do the necessary research using primary source materials.
This is thinking out aloud, but an undergraduate degree in international history might be useful if you're thinking about a career in academia - you can use this to figure out the broader picture and what region really interests you, and then springboard to a grad degree in military history, using the background political history and language skills garnered from your BA to allow you to understand the grand strategy and strategy level and use the grad program to hone in on the operational and tactical levels.
"So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3
To further add to what Shek says...
Most history programs require a passing fluency in a second language for BA...All at the MA level. And for a PhD a passing familiarity in a third language.
It doesn't have to be speaking...its expected for the reading part.
My language skills got so bad by the time I hit grad school that the Civil War made sense...since I had been stationed in Georgia twice and was from Boston I had English and Southern covered for my 2 languages!
If you can not pass a written test you have to take undergrad language classes in addition to your graduate history course load...and the credits do not count towards your graduate requirements. (See my grad school transcripts as an example!)
And the broader subject area undergrad is the way to go...specialization is for graduate school. The exception is if you attend somewhere like Virginia tech or LSU where you can really study the Civil War. You can concentrate on teh CW undergrad but you will be expected to have a secondary area of history as well.
Remember that it is the Actions and not the Commission that make the Officer and that there is More expected from him than the title. – GEORGE WASHINGTON
My college (a community college no less) is actually in the process of creating SEVERAL military history classes! It is projected that students will be able to sign up for them starting in the Fall 2009 semester.
There was a whole article about this in one of the military history related magazines that I get; I think it was Armchair General about half a year ago that stated that military history courses are beginning to make a comeback in public/private colleges and universities due to the War on Terrorism but that overall the military history courses are most commonly found at service academies and military schools.
What is the use of getting any degree in history?
If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery of gunpowder with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind. - Edward Gibbon
As I said you can work in public history and you can teach.
Also it is a good grounding towards a law degree.
Finally, at least in my respect, as a liberal arts degree I believe it was part of a wider education where I was exposed to a wide variety of ideas. Now, when I got to college I knew I was going to be an Army officer so I was free to study what I wanted not what I had to in order to secure a job after graduation.
Remember that it is the Actions and not the Commission that make the Officer and that there is More expected from him than the title. – GEORGE WASHINGTON
I love history and love to teach ,,, Law and/or history would have been my choice but I was "encouraged" to go to engineering.
As far as Law, one needs to speak/write French and English very well, where I live in order to study to be a lawyer.
but now I am leaning more toward a International Studies, stuff like that
If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery of gunpowder with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind. - Edward Gibbon
I'm fluent in Mandarin Chinese. I should really put that to good use and get a degree or something. But I'm just waaaaayyyyyy too lazy...:(
"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.
AR,
Do you mean that Law universities in the US are more prone to accept students who have already a history degree ?
How did you come to learn that ??
If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery of gunpowder with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind. - Edward Gibbon
I grew up speaking Mandarin. It's my native tongue.
"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.
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