History is more than a list of dates and events. The major in History at Ahmedabad University will help students cultivate the habit of thinking historically, inviting them to participate actively in the rigours, pleasures and adventures of historical inquiry. In other words, students are enabled to make sense of the times they live in using history. 

Students will not only be introduced to key historical concepts but will also gain valuable methodological and analytical skills. They will build a set of fluencies in spoken and written communication, critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning. Crucially, they will learn how to deal with complexity in human affairs. The History curriculum, coupled with the overall programme structure at Ahmedabad University, will equip graduates not only with qualitative analytical skills but also a fair grounding in quantitative ways of thinking historically, which distinguishes our History Major from other reputed national and international programmes. 

As with all programmes at Ahmedabad University, the major in History is characterised by a strong focus on interdisciplinarity. Core courses focusing on the fundamentals of History are offered alongside a wide range of electives, encouraging students to determine the foci of their study culminating in a research project. Students also have the option of learning classical and modern languages of their choice either based on their area of historical enquiry or to widen their career options in different sectors. The pedagogy integrates the best of traditional methods with the possibilities offered by new classroom technologies and innovative exercises in project-based learning.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the undergraduate programme at Ahmedabad University, students will also take classes in other subject areas and thus have an opportunity to learn alternative theories and pedagogies. The programme will provide an early opportunity for students to learn to collaborate with peers. This is because during the Foundation Programme, and subsequently throughout the curriculum, there will be a strong emphasis on project-based learning.

The major in History is designed to equip students with a basic understanding of historical concepts and processes that have shaped the contemporary world. 

Domain Knowledge and Application

On completion of the major, the student will be able to:

• Form an overview of key historical developments in India and the world across a range of temporal and geographical contexts.
• Compare and contrast processes in different regions and periods, assess the applicability of established interpretive/explanatory frameworks and theories in the discipline, identify interconnections, intersections and broad thematic patterns linking historical processes.
• Determine what historical “facts” are, identify and gather suitable evidence for historical analysis, understand how facts are constituted by power relations.
• “Think historically” by seeing society as formed by multi-causal, long-ranging developments as well as specific conjunctures of economic, environmental, social, cultural and political change; conceptualise possible trajectories of historical development in the present and the future based on understanding the past.

Engagement with Society

On completion of the major, the student will be able to:

• Connect their personal/ family/local histories with broader historical processes. 
• Add dimensions to their understanding of contemporary events (in diverse domains of life) by examining them in historical context. 

Personal Skills

On completion of the major, the student will be able to:

• Engage in academic reasoning and argumentation (differentiating between information and argument, identifying the structure of an argument, writing an argument in proper format, evaluating arguments).
• Employ methods of historical analysis (archival study, reading primary sources and secondary scholarship, conducting interviews, gathering, classifying and assessing quantitative and qualitative evidence).
• Produce academic writing for short research projects as well as longer independent theses.

We prepare our students, depending on their individual interests, for diverse career paths both within and outside academia. Students graduating in History at Ahmedabad University will gain competencies suitable for pursuing careers in teaching, research, museums, archives, libraries, law, the civil services, journalism, the publishing industry, advertising, the NGO sector, business and entrepreneurship, among other fields.

To learn more about the History programme at Ahmedabad University you may send an email to [email protected].