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The Military History major has been designed to encompass a variety of professional aspirations and interests. This major ensures that students will learn about the "big picture" through exposure to five historical perspectives, while allowing them to tailor the major to their individual interests during the junior and senior years. This is a degree for those who seek understanding of the military art and science as well as a general education in the liberal arts. The degree is quite different from history degrees at other universities because it is focused on the forces of human conflict, and how those forces have shaped, and continue to shape, civilization. Students receive a foundation in: (1) the philosophy, strategy, and tactics of conflict; (2) generalship, leadership, and management of warfare, and of people; (3) great historical battles and their influences on society; (4) the influence of technology on warfare, and on society; and (5) the history of related issues such as diplomacy, foreign affairs, international law, war and society, and future war.

Degree Program Objectives

In addition to the institutional and general education level learning objectives, the Bachelor of Arts in Military History also seeks the following specific learning outcomes of its graduates. With reference to each of the respective areas of military history, graduates in this degree program will be able to:

• Identify a broad knowledge of the historical literature that pertains to the topics of study included in the degree program and locate the linkage between historical studies and allied disciplines
• Interpret historical forces that have shaped social change and contemporary human problems and discern an understanding of the historical experiences that go beyond a single time period and national or cultural experience
• Analyze historical material and make judgments, to establish causal relationships between facts, to find order and patterns, to answer why and how -- not just simply report
• Analyze the contributions of the major military philosophers and leaders to the understanding of military history
• Examine the dynamics of diplomacy and peacekeeping as they have existed throughout history and in the present time
• Discuss the major military events, technologies, and nations that shaped our past and contemporary world
• Examine the operational art and warfare options practiced in historical and modern scenarios