The Past Will Change Your Future
Some of our alumni continue to research, write and teach history for a lifetime. Others work for museums. We also launch those who go on to be attorneys and physicians, or work in key roles in government or nonprofits.
We stay connected with our alums. We help them get where they want to go. It’s one of the benefits from having worked so closely with them as undergrads; we really know whether they are politically minded, teaching-centric or whether they are into the long ago and far away.
In fact, our alums, seeking to keep this close-knit atmosphere alive, funded a summer scholarship to support current students with research or internship stipends. The Leavell-Oberg Scholarship honors and continues a beloved Drew history professor’s legacy of supporting student research.
Career Paths History Majors Have Pursued After Drew
Government and Law
| C’68 | Director of Research | Senate Democratic Office |
| C’73 | Senior Foreign Affairs Officer | U.S. State Department |
| C’80 | Director of West African Affairs | U.S. State Department |
| C’84 | Auxiliaries Officer | U.S. Navy |
| C’84 | Intelligence Analyst | D.E.A. |
| C’92 | Assistant Prosecutor | Warren County, NJ |
| C’92 | Assistant to Secretary of Commerce | U.S. Commerce Department |
| C’94 | Attorney (Partner in Firm) | Lowstein Sandler PC |
| C’98 | Lobbyist | Capital City Strategies |
Education
| C’74 | Professor of Law | Stetson U. College of Law |
| C’79 | Assistant Director of Research | Wellesley College |
| C’90 | Professor of History | Meredith U. |
| C’01 | PhD. Student | Princeton U. |
| C’93 | History Teacher | Westport, CT |
| C’01 | English Teacher | American School in Taipei |
Sciences
| C’73 | Faculty, Dept. of Psychiatry | Medical College of Penn |
| C’74 | Environmental Epidemiologist | National Cancer Institute |
| C’81 | Podiatrist | |
| C’81 | Research Analyst | Microsoft |
Business
| C’74 | Owner | Viking Publications |
| C’76 | Senior VP/Portfolio Manager | Solomon Smith Barney |
| C’90 | Senior Marketing Manager | Microsoft |
| C’92 | Vice President | Solomon Smith Barney |
Arts and Entertainment
| C’84 | Senior Producer/Writer | MTV |
| C’85 | Executive Director | Hunterdon Historical Museum |
| C’04 | Junior Architect | Eric Baker Architecture |
| C’69 | Owner | Benfield Art Gallery |
| C’97 | Art Conservation | Buffalo State U. |
Interested in Teaching Social Studies?
The Master of Arts in Teaching
If you are interested in teaching social studies in secondary schools in New Jersey, the state requires the following for certification:
- That you complete an undergraduate major in one of the following: History, Anthropology, Economics, Sociology or Political Science
- That you complete at least 15 credits in History
- That you take at least one course in American History, and one in World History (defined as non-U.S. history)
Which history courses do we recommend?
Both to offer you the content background needed for the state teaching praxis exam, and to help prepare you for your teaching career, we recommend the following:
- At least one course in early American History (prior to 1877)
- At least one course in Modern American History (or U.S. and the World)
- At least two courses that covers the modern history of a world region outside the U.S. and Europe, including Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East
- At least one course covering Europe prior to the Nineteenth Century
- At least one course covering Modern European history
Alumni Testimonials
What do alumni have to say about their history education at Drew?
“It was a great major and set me up well for my future career.”
“The History department at Drew…provided me with the ability to translate my skills into just about any job I wanted. I have never regretted majoring in History.”
“I believe that the liberal arts education, in particular being a history major, teaches you to think in critical terms from several different aspects. I frequently see examples of this when I compare myself to others at work who majored in less diverse areas such as accounting.”
“The business I entered requires the sorting of many different issues and opinions to determine the best solution (basically a lot of “compare and contrast” type of issues). My degree has helped me succeed in my field.”
“Even though my history major does not directly relate to what I am doing now, I feel that it effectively prepared me to be able to learn all my current career skills. I learned how to analyze, identify and resolve the problems in my job. I learned how to communicate in the business world, which is very important. I have seen that many people with more focused majors or career training do not know how to do this. All that reading and writing came in handy after all.”
“I was a double major in history & economics, business minor. The history major was more out of interest than for future career choices, but I feel that the experience equally prepared me for life after Drew. Although seemingly less applicable, I feel that my experiences in classes for my history major may have prepared me more for life than those in my economics classes!”
“At Drew I received a BA in History and Economics. Both proved critical to my career as a U.S. Foreign Officer. While economics gave me the intellectual tools to deal with development issues around the world, my history degree gave me the background to interpret events around the world. It provided me with a framework on how to examine political, economic and social issues over time and in an intercultural context.”
“Although most of the items above deal with job or career, the impact of my experience in the History Department transcends how well it may, or may not, have prepared me to succeed in my career endeavors. More importantly, developing the critical reasoning skills, the ability to effectively research and analyze data, the means to articulate effectively and clearly one’s thoughts and ideas while studying in the History Department have enhanced every facet of my life after Drew. Time, place and circumstance!”
“After Drew, I was confident and had the credentials that I could use my written, oral, analytical skills for any job, especially relating to history, political science, society. It was a wonderful experience, challenging, memorable because of I think one of the best and strongest departments at Drew.”
“The type of analysis that is required in historical research and writing is, in many ways, analogous to the type of writing expected of a law student or attorney. In writing papers as a history major, I was very well prepared for legal writing. Both require an attention to detail, an analysis and awareness of the factual background, and a skill for analogy.”