How to become a history professor?
I'm in high school right now, but I've figured out what I want to be when I grow up. I want to become a history professor when I'm older because I've always had a passion for history since I was young. How do you become one? No rude answers please.
Becoming a History professor?
Salaries vary but History is going to be near the bottom for higher ed. Starting salary may be as low as $30,000-$40,000 to start with big name universities being higher. You are unlikely to ever go as high as $100,000. You will need to have a PhD to be a history professor. If you want to teach in a big name university then you need your degree from a very good university. Figure 4 years for your bachelors degree and a similar length for your PhD. PhDs can take a lot longer depending on how successful your dissertation is. A PhD will be in a certain kind of history such as US history and often historians specialize in a certain time period. Historians at community colleges often have PhDs. I teach in a rural community college and it is a very good life (even if not well paid). To be a history teacher in high school usually requires a bachelors degree in Social Studies Education. Teaching in high school will reduce the chance of your getting a full time position as a professor. High school teachers have to teach to a curriculum that is build by the state. This is not seen as a good thing by college professors. How many high schools still teach that the US is a capitalist country even though we have not been one since the late 1880s and economist have stopped using the word capitalism 30 years ago? If you want to teach high school, you need to get a degree in education. If you want to teach college, you need a degree in history. Teaching college is a great lifestyle. I love it.
I want to become a history professor but I am horrible in school. I've dropped out of high school and a community college. I don't see the reason for trying again. Should I give up?
You should definitely go back to school if history is your passion. You can always audit classes that you think you may not pass. This is basically a "practice run" of the class where you get to go to all the lectures and take all the exams, but they don't count. Audit a class once or twice before you take it for credit, if you know that it will be a challenging one for you. You should be able to improve your GPA, stay in school and study what you love. And then you should be able to get a master's (at least) and teach in community college and help your students catch the joy of history.You can do it.
I want to become a professor of history at a university (already have BA history). What are the most effective next steps?
If you don't also have a PhD in history, then applying to grad school would be a necessary (and consequently very effective) next step, since an accredited university will almost certainly require a professor of history to have a PhD in that subject.Applying to grad school is a complex process, but you can get an idea of the steps involved here: Steps To Apply to a UCLA Graduate Program Ask your undergraduate professors whose military history classes you enjoyed what programs they would recommend to you, both in terms of the best military history programs and where you would be a good fit. This will help you decide which schools to apply to. Reconnecting with those professors will also help with your letters of recommendation, which are going to be one of the more important elements of your application.You'll also need a writing sample (if you did an undergraduate thesis, probably that), though different schools will require different lengths (10-20 pages, as a ballpark), so you'll have to edit it/tailor it to the applications.It will also help if you have some idea of what sort of project you want to work on, since you'll need to know which professors you might work with at each school you apply to.
Should I be a lawyer or history professor?
I have graduated from law school and practiced law. My undergraduate major was history. Every law school graduate who passes the bar exam can find a job or start his or her own practice. Most law school graduates pass the exam in their own state and almost all of them can pass the exam in one state or another. Only about five per cent of history Ph.D.s find full-time jobs teaching history at a college or university. About the same percentage finds part time teaching jobs. History is fine pre-law major. Law school takes three years. A history Ph.D. takes at least five years and usually longer. My wife is also a history major who went on to law school. We enjoy reading and discussing history and never seriously considered earning Ph.D.s in history.
How do you become a History professor? What is the best major to chose?
The best major if you want to teach history is (ahem) history. To be a college professor in the US you generally need a PhD which is usually preceded by a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Typically these would be in some aspect of history (ie, Medieval European history, Latin American history) bec0ming more specialized as one progresses.
I want to become a history teacher in Japan. What can I do to accomplish this?
Do you want to teach Western history or Japanese history?If it’s Japanese history, then it’s going to be a lot more difficult. History, is integrated into social studies 社会 (shakai) class and is only one part of that class, while other subjects are important too, like geography, news, international relations, and some cultural things. I’m assuming that you’re a foreigner and not perfectly fluent in Japanese, or at least not on the same level as a Japanese person who has taken Japanese language classes ever since grade 1 in elementary school. Because of this disparity, difference in language and probable difference in understanding history/cultural values/geography and other social studies’ topics, then there is little to no reason as to why a Japanese school at any level would hire you in comparison to a native Japanese person, especially when that Japanese person has has the proper credentials as a teacher (having the proper college studies, having the class level preparation, and also passing the country/prefecture teacher exam which is always very competitive).If you’re wanting to teach Western history, then you offer a more unique and authentic position as a foreigner who was most likely educated consistently every year about it. Although, there is the same problem with language and teaching ability. The Japanese education really like formality, which means that teachers teach in similar ways/methods, so if you haven’t passed that teacher exam to show that you are capable of teaching at the level, it’s going to be tough/near impossible. One again language is going to be an issue, if you’re wanting to teach it in English, then you’ll have to have students at that level of English so that they can understand you, but unfortunately while there is definitely a large amount of English understanding Japanese people there is a small minority of that group that have an interest in Western history (just like most Westerners).These are just some of my notes as an English teacher in Japan. I also studied East Asian history in college, so I understand your desire to teach it, but realistically as a foreigner we don’t have nearly as much education as a teacher who was enrolled as a Japanese student growing up, nor do we have the same teaching credentials as a Japanese teacher who studied to become a teacher.