History Department
History at Bryn Mawr is about questioning and explaining how the past has been constructed,
understood, and made into what we call "history". You'll find that our teaching emphasizes
interpretation over factual narration, and that we offer students many approaches to reading,
researching, and thinking about the past. We'll challenge you to play an active part in the making
of history as a type of knowledge, rather than merely consuming the past as a reader and spectator.
We'll teach you to recognize the changing meanings of history, as well as the changing relationship
between present and past. We don't expect all of our majors to become professional historians,
though many have gone on to distinguished academic careers. We want to prepare you for a wide
variety of future life choices: go to "
Careers for History Majors"
to see some of the many career
choices made by our majors: they might surprise you!