History Careers

History provides the tools to understand the world and to make sense of it in the past, present, and future. The SJSU Department of History offers undergraduate and graduate programs that teach our students to read carefully, compare sources, make judgments, and communicate persuasively using evidence-based research. Graduates of our programs often become teachers, but most work in other fields such as law, journalism, the arts, museums, libraries, archives, media, non-profits, consulting, government, and every field of business. Internships are available and Phi Alpha Theta, the History honors society, sponsors academic and social activities for our students. The Social Science Teacher Preparation (SSTP) program helps prepare students for teaching careers. At the graduate level, our primary fields of study are U.S. history, European history, and World history. Many of our MA graduates teach at local middle schools, high schools, and community colleges. Our faculty and students conduct research that draws on the special resources of the MLK Library as well as outstanding local archives such as History San José, the California History Center at De Anza College, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.