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Why should we study history? Benefits of studying history.
Why should we study history? Every student considering taking admission to the study of history must think about this question.
In order to study history, a student must have an interest in the past – but this should not be your only reason for studying history. It is also important that you understand the importance and value of studying History subject.
Many people questioned the value of history
In today’s scientific and materialistic world, where too much attention is paid to the present and the future, the value of history is often questioned.
Many people are skeptical about the practical value of history. Some people question the relevance and usefulness of the study of past events and things. Some of these believe that history has little or no bearing on their lives or the world today. Some doubt the practical value of history’s utility in the career field.
All of these issues deserve some thought, especially for aspiring history students. And it is important that you should know your reasons for studying history. As the exponent of history, you must be able to fundamentally explain and justify these reasons.
On this page, some brief talk about the value and importance of the study of history will be useful for you. It may be useful to those considering a history curriculum, as well as to teachers or parents giving advice about reading history to young people.
Understanding history requires a complex range of skills
Many people with a negative or dismissive view of history think that it consists of simple memorization and memorization of facts and dates, but little else. He believes that it is simply knowing what happened in the past. Anyone who has studied history at a high level will tell you that there is a lot more involved than you should know.
There are many skills you need to acquire and use for a meaningful and useful study of history. History students must develop the ability to closely study and interpret written and visual material in order to extract evidence and meaning. They should be adept at the apprehension of facts, analysis, problem-solving and critical thinking. To present their findings clearly and effectively, history students must be good communicators.
The careful study of history is not just the study of the past, but also draws on and uses knowledge and ideas from many other disciplines, including politics, legal studies, economics, sociology, philosophy, psychology, science, and the arts. These skills and knowledge prove to be extremely useful in employment and the study of other subjects.
The study of history teaches lessons about the past, present, and future
For as long as humans have studied history, cynics have dismissed it as a bizarre indulgence, a bizarre but futile fascination with vanished societies and dead people. A similar malignancy was modeled on the subject of history by the American industrialist Henry Ford, who said in 1916 that “History is more or less bunk [rubbish] … The only history worth a damn is a history we make today”. “.
Ford’s negative view of history, while not unusual, is narrow and misguided. History certainly requires the study of the past – but it only broadens your current understanding of the modern world.
It is also true that most history courses focus on themes and issues of the past – for example, the way people, communities, and nations interact; the nature of power and leadership; difficulties of government and economic management; the impact of war and conflict on societies; and the relationship between different classes, money, capital, and labor.
These themes, issues, and challenges are constant in human societies. Only the people, places, and details change.
History also provides an essential context for understanding the modern world. It is impossible to understand modern Russia and China, for example, without understanding how these societies were shaped by imperialism, war, revolution, communism, and the Cold War.
History teaches you to research and explain
To be a successful student or historian of history, you must first be a good researcher. Research is the skill of locating and gathering information and historical evidence from many different places. This evidence can be found in a variety of forms, including documents, visual materials, physical artifacts, and oral and digital sources.
Historians use their knowledge and skills to locate sources and extract information, evidence, and meaning from them. They think critically about every piece of evidence, examining and evaluating its reliability, credibility, usefulness, and significance.
All this makes historians and history graduates skilled in locating, handling, and evaluating information. Such skills are not only valued in history, they are in demand in other academic disciplines and in many professions.
Studying history teaches you to be a thinker and a problem solver
History can be extraordinarily complex. It requires a lot of detective work, careful thought, and problem-solving. As historians seek information and evidence, they build up an understanding and a ‘picture’ of the people, events, or society being studied. As they delve deeper into the past, and when the historian begins his research, he almost always finds scattered pieces of obscure information or endangered evidence and is left with simply unanswered questions.
After completing his research, the historian must start looking for answers. At this point, history becomes like assembling a giant jigsaw puzzle—except there’s no box or picture to serve as a guide and some pieces are missing. The historian must weigh his evidence, think logically and laterally, then develop credible and justifiable arguments or theories.
History teaches you how to communicate effectively with people
Like other humanities disciplines, historians and students of history must be effective communicators. They should use the scientific method to clarify their findings and refine unanswered questions so that accurate information can emerge.
Historians communicate in many different ways. Many prominent historians publish their research findings in the form of books. Academic historians often write articles for scholarly journals, where they are peer-reviewed (checked by other historians) before publication.
Historians may explain their findings in newspaper or magazine articles, interviews, lectures, seminars, and conferences, or on the Internet.
History students, in contrast, typically outline their findings in essays and term papers, book reports, document or image analysis, oral presentations, demonstrations, projects, slideshows, and examinations. Overall, you need to develop a range of communication skills. These skills are used and valued in various fields of employment along with other academic subjects.
History prepares you for many employable occupations
One of the frequent criticisms of history is the perceived lack of value in the career market. Whereas commerce students go on to work in business and science students have a range of career options, and a history qualification offers few direct routes to employment (such as history teaching, academia, or museum work). except). ,
This is an unfair representation of how useful and highly regarded the merit of history is. The skills and knowledge gained from the study of history are valued by many professions.
Many graduates who study history go on to careers as effective writers, communicators, successful journalists, copywriters, writers, editors, content managers, and marketing professionals. Being able to locate, organize and manage information has enabled many history graduates to become excellent researchers, librarians, information managers, and administrators.
Many history graduates also complete additional studies to become lawyers, diplomats, and public officials. Politics is another career path for history graduates, some of whom have gone on to hold high positions. History is also a useful springboard for a career in the military or police forces, or for further study in economics, business management, records management, social work, or psychology.
Some of the famous people who studied history at the university level are:
- Joe Biden (US Vice President)
- Gordon Brown (British Prime Minister)
- Steve Carell (American actor/comedian)
- Prince Charles (British royal)
- Sacha Baron Cohen (British actor/comedian)
- Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister)
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (US general and president)
- Katharine Hepburn (American actress)
- Seymour Hersh (American journalist)
- Chris Hughes (American entrepreneur and co-founder of Facebook)
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (American basketball player)
- John F. Kennedy (US President)
- Henry Kissinger (American politician and diplomat)
- Richard Nixon (US President)
- Ed Norton (American actor)
- Conan O’Brien (American TV host)
- Bill O’Reilly (an American broadcaster)
- Samuel Palmisano (American executive, CEO of IBM)
- Franklin D Roosevelt (US President)
- Theodore Roosevelt (US President)
- Salman Rushdie (British author)
- Antonin Scalia (US Supreme Court Justice)
- Shakira (Colombian pop singer)
- Howard Stringer (Welsh executive, CEO of Sony)
- Louis Theroux (British documentary filmmaker)
- H G Wells (British writer)
- Gough Whitlam (Australian Prime Minister)
- Woodrow Wilson (US President)
History makes good citizens
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, history helps create thoughtful people and good citizens.
Unlike fields such as mathematics or the physical sciences, students of history spend much of their time studying people and societies. They learn what it means to be human. They learn the value of things like ethics, empathy, diversity, and social justice. They acquire knowledge about the risks and potential dangers arising out of certain ideas. They learn about timeless issues and problems that affect human societies both past and present.
It prepares history graduates to understand and work with people in their own world. The study of history also produces thoughtful and active citizens who are eager to participate in the political process or in their communities.
Many students of history are also endowed with healthy skepticism. They have the willingness and ability to question their own world – and perhaps find ways to make it better.