WHY STUDY HISTORY?

Nguyen Doan

History 1700 Section 011 /811 and 047

Instructor: Ken C. Hansen

April 25, 2017

 Why study History? A super broad question can influence the whole world, especially to

those who think deeply as to why knowing history is very important. It does not matter whether

you are from this country or that country, yet understanding and knowing your countrys history

and little bit about worlds history is super valuable, not necessary a must, but is a trustworthy

thing to have.

A good example for Americans to why study history is important, U.S. History is

designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text

provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have

shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up

(eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American

experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.1

History, what is it really? History is the study of past events, particularly in human affairs

as it is described in written document. As long as there is human, there is history, we are the only

mammal on the planet to study history and have we made great impact for the planet out of it.

Who is it for? It is for those who study for their career purposes, or just for enjoyment or

curious, or even for the fulfillment on their school credits. Every one of us, here and there,

growing up, we all have been or will be one of those options, whether we like it or not. History

influences the whole world, how we think differently, it gives us critical thinking, it really shapes

the way our thinking on how to handle such issues. Some of us view history differently, some

would view history as a need or a must, some would view excitement as they go along, some

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U.S. History Textbook Preface, About U.S. History
would just view history as an ordinary type of thing, and of course some will view it boringly;

there are all types of viewers, it depends on the persons attitude.

There are tons of history types, just to name a few major types from University of Kentucky,

Types of History by Subfield:

Political history: the story of government, political leaders, electoral activities, the
making of policy, and the interaction of branches of government
Diplomatic history: the study of the relations between nations, diplomats, and ideas of
diplomacy
Social history: the study of ways and customs, of family, education, children,
demography (population change), and voluntary institutions (churches, for example)
Cultural history: the study of language and its uses, of the arts and literature, sport, and
entertainment, in constructing cultural categories
Economic history: the study of how an entire system of production and consumption (or
of any of its parts) works, of markets, industry, credit, and working people at all levels of
the system
Intellectual history: the study of ideology and epistemology, analyzing how ideas affect
human actions and how the material world affects human ideas.2
Adding some more,

Religious history: Refers to the written record of human religious experiences and ideas.
Military history: The study of the role that armed forces played in past events.

When history become useless to others, in other words, when history does not mean anything to

them, History, like its humanistic brethren, might prepare our young people to be citizens, but it

supposedly does not prepare workers at least not well paid ones.3 And sure enough to why

we need history, Everything has a history. To think historically is to recognize that all problems,

all situations, all institutions exist in contexts that must be understood before informed decisions

2
University of Kentucky Types of History Subfield
3&4
Los Angeles Times History isn't a 'useless' major. It teaches critical thinking, something America needs plenty
more of
can be made. No entity corporate, government, nonprofit can afford not to have a historian

at the table. We need more history majors, not fewer.4

Why the knowledge of history powerful?

One of the reasons history holds its place in current education is because earlier leaders
believed that a knowledge of certain historical facts helped distinguish the educated from
the uneducated... Knowledge of historical facts has been used as a screening device in
many societies, from China to the United States, and the habit is still with us to some
extent. Unfortunately, this use can encourage mindless memorizationa real but not very
appealing aspect of the discipline. History should be studied because it is essential to
individuals and to society, and because it harbors beauty. There are many ways to discuss
the real functions of the subjectas there are many different historical talents and many
different paths to historical meaning. All definitions of history's utility.5
Lawyer, counseling clients about legal options and representing them in criminal or civil

court proceedings; doctor, diagnoses and treats diseases and conditions, as well as provides

treatment in many forms including medication, procedures, surgery, or therapy. But what about

history? History stands out in social, and here is why: To know who we really are, what goes

through in our life is recorded by our brains; from that, it creates the nature of us. History,

learning all the things about the past, the joys and sufferings, and understand why or how others

around us behave in a certain way. To draw a lesson. We are the social creatures, history leaves

us a great deal of experience, logical reasoning, and rigorous research; therefore, can provide us

a solid solution to todays issues. Why study history? The answer is because we virtually must,

to gain access to the laboratory of human experience. When we study it reasonably well, and so

acquire some usable habits of mind, as well as some basic data about the forces that affect our

own lives, we emerge with relevant skills and an enhanced capacity for informed citizenship,

critical thinking, and simple awareness.6

5&6
American Historical Association Why Study History?
 History can also use to serve other sectors, everything has its own history. We must know

others experiences and learn from them, know those pieces and shape it together; basically

create fantasy things that people dreamed from the past; and we actually did, look at the world

today, super advance technology, tons of markets opened and are opening, the worlds economy

is growing insanely, it just keeps growing till present. History is just great, dont event talk about

it, it advances the future; if history does not exist in this world, there would not be a valuable

thing on earth either.

Data and statistics shown on

the right from The World Bank

(worldbank.org), shows the growth and

failure of the economy between 1995

to 2014; literally the worlds economy

is increasing unbelievably high since

1995, for only 20 years.

A world without History is like a person lost his/her memory: there wont be as many

languages; we do not know how to distinguish between the true and false, good and bad; no

maps and street names; the world would literally become a mess, just to name a few. Ironically,

we do not even know who we are, where or what date we born or from. No history, simply, no

life, no present, and no future.

According to Devin Foley, In the foreword to Medieval Days and Ways (1937), a book

developed for a younger audience, the author Gertrude Hartman provides an earnest, but

accessible, argument for why history does matter for Americans, especially European history.
 Through reading history we are able to link our life with that of the people who lived in
the world before us. In the building up of civilization every generation of people has
contributed its share. In the early days of the world, when men first came upon the earth,
all the land was a vast wilderness, and man lived a life but little different from that of the
animals that shared the earth with him. But age after age man struggled to improve his
way of living, each generation adding something to what had been accomplished before
it, and creating something which endured after it and became the foundation upon which
the next generation built. It is in this way that almost everything we have in the world
today has been gradually developed through past ages.
If we want to understand the world we are living in we must see how, through the ages, it
came to be as it now is. We must know how people lived in the past, what they thought,
what they believed, what they did day by day, what they learned about natures ways, and
what improvements in life they brought about.
The most current data available from the National

Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) The Nations

Report Card Indeed, only 12% of high school seniors

were considered proficient in just U.S. History when the test

was last given by NAEP.7

The nice, warm, and most important about history is that, every country has its own

beautiful culture. America for example, a magnificent world of diversity, we share different

cultures in one country, for that reason, the country betters itself every single day from diversity.

There are seven reasons to study history, First, transferable skills, studying History

provides a student with skills which are not confined to the study of the past. Skills of analysis

are invaluable in many jobs, and the ability to analyze and then prioritize information is vital to

decision making. Second, history is relevant, in order to make sense of current affairs it is

important to study the past, as everything which is happening around us has been influenced by,

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Intellectual Takeout Why Knowing Past Is Important
and is a direct result of, that which preceded it. Third, a history degree is an investment in your

future, a degree in History can be an impressive and attractive feature on a CV. As seen on our

History Subject Table. Fourth, combined courses; like many degrees, History can be easily

combined with a number of other subjects... The range of joint honors available is seemingly

endless. Fifth, a degree in history encourages independence, knowledge is not just handed over at

degree level; it requires hard work, and in a subject dominated by reading, students will develop

self-sufficiency and become less dependent pupils. Sixth, studying history provides cultural

awareness, by looking at the history of different cultures, a History student can build up a better

understanding of why certain peoples act the way they do. Seventh, a history degree allows us to

learn from the past, humans have an astounding habit of ignoring the obvious contributing

factors which can lead to war and oppression. It is then the job of the Historian to identify where

we have been going wrong, comment on it, and attempt to avoid it in the future.8

Yes, again, why history? Why not just keep going on and working for the future? Well, if

we do not know a thing about history, we are like a one lost person in the jungle, there must be a

twist between the future and the past, is the present; do we learn from that past and build the

future, if not, its like we keep making new mistakes, history helps us shorten time to say.

Because of history, we could be able to build one step up another, and just keep it on going, it

never ends. Moreover, have not talked to where we are in the world today, in order to have a life

like today, we learned so much from our great, great, great grandparents to build such

incredible things from what we must have to what we want or need. We must thank and be proud

of our past peoples contributions.

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The complete University Guide 7 Reasons to Study History
 Human, a day without yesterday is like a stone on a beach, sitting nowhere in the world,

no intention in life, the waves keep hitting us. What does that say? Do not be the one that does

not believe in history, do not be the one that does not contribute to the world, do not be the one

that does not know what history is and of course be the one that always learn history be grateful

it. History always comes with love; the beautiful arts, super concepts, and the powerful

knowledge say it all.

In the University majors, there is either Pre-medicine Bachelor of Science or Pre-

medicine Bachelor of Art, or Pre-dental Bachelor of Science or Pre-dental Bachelor of Art, and

for most of other degrees as well. What about history? Is Science or Art? History is generally

considered part of the humanities, a discipline alongside literature and languages, philosophy and

the arts. The humanistic study of history focuses on the interpretation of the written word and

other cultural artifacts created by humans in ages past. The invention of writing marks the

division between history and pre-history The Big History approach also involves

humanistic interpretation, but on the background of a rich and growing pallet of scientific facts.

There are many who hypothesize that this narrative approach to teaching sciencefrom the big

bang to todaywill help students understand and retain the many details of science and better

apply them to the worlds big problems, humanitys big questions, and the challenges of the

future. 9

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Metanexus History as Science
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Stearns, Peter. Why Study History? American Historical Association.

https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/archives/why-

study-history-(1998) (accessed on April 9, 2017)

Crossman, James. History isn't a 'useless' major. It teaches critical thinking, something America

needs plenty more of. Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-

grossman-history-major-in-decline-20160525-snap-story.html (accessed on April 22, 2017)

Types of History by Subfield. University of Kentucky.

http://www.uky.edu/~dolph/HIS316/handouts/types.html (accessed on April 23, 2017)

Grassie, William. History as Science. Metanexus. http://www.metanexus.net/essay/history-

science (accessed on April 27, 2017)

7 Reasons to Study History. The Complete University Guide.

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/courses/history/7-reasons-to-study-history/

(accessed on April 28, 2017)

Foley, Devin. Why Knowing the Past is Important. Intellectual Takeout.

http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/why-knowing-past-important (accessed on April 28,

2017)