HISTORY IN THE CURRICULUM

Only a few generations ago a person was deemed not to be educated when he or she failed to show a passing familiarity with historical events, and that usually meant the history of ancient Greece and Rome. And despite the vast curricular changes in higher education over time, history still manages to survive as a central component of one's education in the broad sense and, at John Jay, as a core requirement for the baccalaureate degree. At any rate, there are important social and pedagogical reasons for the inclusion of history in general education requirements at college level. An informed citizenry (and what merit a college education if one be not 'informed'?) is our best resource for the maintenance of benificent institutions or customs and the discarding of outworn or outmoded ones. The varying subjects you will grapple with over your college career all have a purpose, of course, whether according you professional and occupational skills or yielding the general knowledge and training that enable you to meet life's challenges and opportunities with some degree of assurance. History, along with literature and philosophy, fall into the latter category here, forming the so-called 'humanities' core of the enduring liberal arts curriculum. Each plays its part in moulding one's character and outlook (or at least those parts of us that can be shaped and patterned after the travails of growing up!). Because of their absorption with the human condition in its universal aspects--triumph and tragedy, glory and despair, certainty and doubt--these disciplines play their special role in helping one to reason more closely, judge more maturely, assess evidence more sceptically and perceive relationships more fully. In addition, history offers its own enhancement to most other disciplines by affording the essential background to a better understanding of the contemporary world--laws and customs, science and medicine, culture and society, science and medicine, national state and local agency, and much else besides.

The student must also be aware that history is, after all, the written record and that, as such, it cannot present an unchallengable record of events in every instance. We've been able to sort out the myths and legends of the distant past but, for the more recent past, the lack of a written record or the fabrication of one, do not always allow the historian to arrive at answers fully acceptable to the profession. But that is only natural, for history is about asking questions, questions about the past. And historians, who are usually the ones doing the asking, inevitably ask different questions and we are left to judge between their answers. Fortunately, the more questions asked, the greater one's historical imagination, and the sharper one's critical insight, then the better the approach to the answer to what actually happened. That's why books are continually produced on exactly the same historical events, telling us more than what we knew before or offering a more plausible interpretation of long-disputed facts. So not only will the study of history keep publishers busy but, in the process, happily bring us ever closer to the truth.

In strictly pedagogical terms, the course requires you to amass a certain amount of knowledge about the past by means of the lectures and assigned reading. Furthermore, it is designed to improve your writing skills via written examinations. Best of all, the sheer quantity, variety and complexity of the historical issues we'll discuss will (should?) lead you toward the beckoning heights of mental activity, namely, "critical thinking." All this will prove invaluable for your educational development and eventual academic success. Alas, as things stand at John Jay, your historical studies here will be rather limited in relation to the number of elective courses available and the breadth of the curriculum offered. John Jay, as a school of criminal justice, is a special-mission college and, hence, is denied the full range of liberal arts majors, history being among them. Nevertheless, the importance of the subject as part of your formative college experience is acknowledged in the baccalaureate requirement of the sophomore year six-credit block, His 231 and His 232. Of course, many of you will also choose to enrol in one or more of the mainly criminal-justice-oriented history electives while a cherished few will actually opt for a minor in history. Nor should anyone forget that history is basically a subject that is learned not taught and, therefore, reading about it can be a lifelong and interesting personal avocation. RETURN TO HOMEPAGE