Why is it necessary to study history?

Answer 1

Because we can learn from our history. History is known to repeat itself and therefore it is important to learn from it so we don't repeat the same mistakes.

Answer 2

It's not necessary to study history in any practicle sense. But understaiding world events and current political situations requires a solid grasp of history. Often, history is misused for the sake of doctrine. If we know the truth, we cann't be duped by poloitical schemers.

Answer 3

Because by learning your past you can learn wht mistakes to avoid and become better.

We live in a period of time that its main characteristic is evolution, progress in all areas.

Progress is only done only after many efforts and learning sb from his own faults.The main source to search is history!

Our today society owes its modernity to history. If our past was erased we would never have the chance to compare the facts and be sure that we develop, become better and progress.

In my country if i dont learn history i wont understand why its impossible to learn how my great grandparents were lost in 1922 in a local war.
I couldnt understand why my dad's father had to change his surname (which is now mine) because of being adopted..

I wouldnt be capable to understand the hard times my grandmothers had in poverty and the effect in my parents' pchycology and how much they try to be generous with me and give all their best.

Cheers

Answer 4

I have often wondered why some of the classes that are madatory for a degree are actually there, they seem like they could be a waste of time.

Answer 5

Why study history?

Professor Dermot Keogh, the head of Department, provides a personal view to the frequently asked question: "why study history? "


Students, parents, politicians, business people, civil servants and friends have asked me that very valuable question many times over my twenty five years at UCC. It is easy to answer. What is often behind the question is a genuine concern about the relevance of the subject in the twenty first century. It is sometimes worth pointing out that the study of history has formed a central part of Western education since classical times. But often a person asking the question is really saying - why bother to study History. That dismissal of history is prevalent but not that common in Ireland today. At one extreme are those who seek to reduce second and third level education to the acquisition of skills and techniques. Here are the real prisoners of the present and of the past.

My personal answer to the question "Why Study History" will not surprise you. I have been studying and researching different historical topics for over thirty years - twenty-five of which have been happily spent here teaching history at UCC. Why am I as enthusiastic about teaching and reading about my chosen subject as I was thirty years before? The answer is simple. I continue to find the work most enjoyable and personally rewarding. I think what the work of the staff of the History Department is valuable and a very useful contribution to society. That 'usefulness' is reflected in the quality of our different generations of graduates of their personal and professional success in life - in journalism, law, the civil service, international organisations, etc.

Enthusiasm is a necessary point of departure for the successful study of any discipline. I invite you to study history if you enjoy doing so. You will find the history programme at UCC, innovative, wide-ranging and challenging with a strong staff support system to guide you. The programme has been designed to provide you with a good choice of course options.

History is often mistakenly viewed as a test of memory, a mere listing of dates, battles and political events. This is an impoverished view of the demanding discipline my colleague, Joe Lee, has called the "record of the lives of men and women in all their infinite variety over time and place, spanning centuries, continents and cultures, entrancing or appalling us with the evidence of man's humanity and inhumanity, with the heights scaled and the depths plumbed, by the human race."

In the final stages of the cold war at the end of the 1980s, there were those misguided enough to proclaim 'the end of history.' The events of the last decade have shown that the death of history has been grossly exaggerated. It is foolhardy to embark on a study of conflict in the Balkans, the Middle East, Iran, Iraq and in other parts of the world without a solid historical grounding. Knowing the history of a region may caution prudence and slow down a final decision to take immediate action. An historian will draw out the complexities of the situation, for example, pointing to the radical religious and ethnic differences in a country like Iraq. That does not suit the impulsive or those without a grounding in history.

The development of a critical historical understanding of such crises is not easily acquired. It requires scholarly application and a capacity to learn how to question the fashionable and the politically correct 'interpretations' of complex events. Historical training at UCC emphasises the diversity of interpretations in the study of the discipline.

Students of history here are encouraged and trained to develop critical and presentational skills by analysing large bodies of evidence in a variety of media from different periods. This also involves the use of the computer as a necessary tool for historical research.

The study of history at UCC helps contribute towards the active citizenship which Ireland and global society generally needs to meet the challenges of the modern world.

At a glance - the importance of a training in History

The History Department trains you in the essential skills of the historian-work-skills and life-skills that should help you, as an educated person, to get a job and get satisfaction out of life. The History Department offers you a broad choice of historical approaches-social and economic history, modern diplomacy, political ideologies, the history of law, art, religion, women, government, business and much else besides. These specialisms reflect the research of the staff, and exciting developments in history-writing. The stress is on themes and structures, arguments, interpretations and analysis-the skills you need as a diplomat, journalist, political commentator, administrator, academic, researcher, heritage expert, manager, consultant, or business strategist. Many students will take History because they have enjoyed it at secondary school and been inspired by good teachers. You are not, however, required to have taken History previously to do it here.

Answer 6

So you are not doomed to repeat it.