Why Should I Study History at Calvin?

Gifted Scholar-Teachers

Members of the History Department all hold advanced degrees from major universities in North America or Europe. They have published widely and have received numerous grants and awards for their scholarly work.

Their expertise ranges from antiquity to the twentieth century, from the Wild West to the Far East, and from England to Central and South America. History faculty expertise also enables them teach in other Calvin departments including Spanish, Classical Languages, Art, and the Calvin Seminary, and in other colleges and universities around the world. For more information on our faculty, visit the Faculty section of this website

Face to Face with Faculty

Imagine talking to an archeologist with over 30 years experience working in the Middle East--in his office. Imagine having your survey courses taught by a full professor with over 20 years of teaching and research experience, and talking with him after class. Imagine taking a course in your field of interest in a class with fifteen other students and from a professor who loves your interest even more than you do. In the Calvin History department, you don't have to imagine.

As a history major, you will enjoy close contact with these distinguished Christian scholar-teachers in classes, at social events, and in their open-door offices. Classes are small enough for faculty and students to get to know each other personally, and opportunities for individual counseling and discussion are frequent. Faculty and visiting scholars discuss their research at monthly colloquia, and students have many opportunities to do internships or collaborate on faculty research.

Interesting Fellow Students

Over one hundred students from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of life goals are History majors at Calvin College. Here are some photos from student life in the History department. Click this link for a glimpse of life as a Calvin History Major.

Many and Diverse Options for Minors

The Calvin History Department offers a number of minor options for History majors. Find out more at these sites:

African & African Diaspora Studies
Archeology
Asian Studies
International Development Studies
Gender Studies
Latin American Studies*
Medieval Studies

Off Campus Programs:
Study Abroad for Three Weeks or an Entire Semester

Interim courses, which run for three weeks in January between semesters, enable you to learn and broaden your worldview as you travel. Past interim trips have been to Ethiopia, Britain, Guatemala, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Tibet.

Through association with a number of off-campus programs, Calvin students can also study abroad for a summer, a semester, or more. History majors will be studying in York, England and Umm el-Jimal, Jordan in Spring 09. Past semesters abroad have been to Britian, Ghana, China, and Jordan (archeology).

Resources

Calvin’s large and fully automated library is well stocked with historical literature, journals, and other resource materials, including many government documents.

The Meeter Center for Calvin Studies houses one of the world’s finest collections of material on the Calvinist Reformation. History students also have access to the Colonial Origins Collection, a rich store of materials pertaining to Dutch emigration, the Christian Reformed Church, and related institutions.  

And the new Mellema Collection of Western Americana* makes Calvin one of the best places in the Midwest to learn about the West, old and new.

*website under development