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Department of

History and Global Studies

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Delve into the rich and varied history of humankind from era to era and across diverse cultures. Examining our past – from language and the arts to science and technology – gives us context to understand current events and how we might plan for the future.
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Delve into the rich and varied history of humankind from era to era and across diverse cultures. Examining our past – from language and the arts to science and technology – gives us context to understand current events and how we might plan for the future.

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Public History Degree

If you’ve ever walked across a battlefield, or stood outside the gates of a concentration camp – or reached out to touch a name you know on the Vietnam Memorial, or read a letter sent from a soldier in Europe back to his wife on the homefront, you know what it’s like to encounter history in a tangible way. The people who preserve history and help us understand its meaning are public historians. ACU’s newest track, the B.A. in Public History, will inspire you to share your love of history with others as a museum curator, archivist or other public history interpreter. Courses in this degree are deeply experiential, combining guided study of the theory and scholarship of public history with firsthand engagement with historic sites, libraries, museums, parks and archives. If you want to learn more about this degree, email the program director at the button below.
PURSUE YOUR PATH

Meet the Faculty

Our outstanding faculty share their expertise in the history of civilizations close to home and around the globe. They will challenge you to critically engage with the world, to forge new research paths and to share your findings with a wider community.

Meet the Faculty and Staff

Making History

Discover amazing classes led by stellar professors who inspire your excitement for diving deep into your studies. Whichever major you choose, you’ll find opportunities for hands-on learning and experiences that place in you in the field.

Video overview for ACU's BA in History program

On-campus Undergraduate Programs

The Department of History and Global Studies seeks to help students comprehend the present state of the world through a study of some of the essential currents of the past and global complexities of the present.

Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Science
with Teacher Certification

Minors

  • Africana Studies
  • European Cultural Studies
  • Gender and Multicultural Studies
  • Global Studies
  • History
  • Latin American Studies
View the Catalog

Notable Internships

Recent internship placements for the History and Public History concentration include National Parks internships at Paint Rock, the Smithsonian Institution, the C.R. Smith Museum, the Grace Museum, the National WASP WWII Museum, Milliken Special Collections, and the 12th Armored Division Memorial. For Global Studies, students often intern with such organizations as World Wide Witness, the International Rescue Committee, and Heifer Project.

Outstanding Alumni

Rylee Wilkerson (’14) – B.S., Social Studies Education (grades 8-12)

After graduating from ACU in 2014 and spending one year working as Community Coordinator for an Abilene non-profit and for ACU Student Life, Social Studies Education major Rylee Wilkerson took a job as a social studies teacher at Cooper High School in 2015.  She now teaches Pre-AP World Geography and AP Capstone and serves as Social Studies Department Chair at Cooper.  Rylee comments that she was thrilled to return to the classroom and loves watching her students “open their eyes to a world outside of their own.”  Teaching high school social studies gives her the opportunity to equip students for college, but also for citizenship.  As she reports, students “begin to have a little more confidence in their place in the world when they understand the world!”  

Rylee worked for ACU leadership camps throughout her time on campus and found in the Department of History and Global Studies an unlikely but honest community with whom to share struggles and successes.  She advises current and future students to “participate in as many department events as you can—they always provided me with surprising wisdom and a lot of joy!”  In particular, coursework and experiences in History and Global Studies provided skills she uses daily in her current work.  “The rigor of courses, from entry to upper level, helped shape me into a stronger academic and life-long learner. Many of the writing, reading, and studying skills that I learned (color coding one category of our notes at a time, finding sources in the library for research, embracing the marks on a draft), I now teach to my AP Capstone students in order for them to not just survive, but thrive in college.”

Rylee encourages prospective students to consider a career in teaching—“you don’t have to be a coach or a man to work in the Social Studies world!”—and reports that her daily work is incredibly rewarding because it aligns with her personal vocation and calling to help people.  “On great days I may help someone see the gift of our world from a different lens, but on the best day I can help someone see what a gift THEY are to our world.  I find great meaning in the unsurpassed ability of the Humanities to provide a platform that lays out what we know is possible from past experiences coupled with this unknown beauty of what we still need to understand and accomplish together.” 

Bright Ntambara (’18) – Global Studies

Arriving at ACU from Rwanda in 2014, Bright Ntambara represents the global focus of the university through his passion for using the skills he gained here to benefit the people of his home country. He participated in various internships during his summers in the United States, using the knowledge from his classes to equip himself for service and outreach in his current role as Senior Career Advisor and Head of Employer Relations for Bridge2Rwanda’s career services firm, The BRIDGE Career Services. In this role, Bright works with Rwandans who have studied abroad, particularly in the United States, and helps connect them with career opportunities back home in Rwanda.

Though Bright initially believed a non-specific major such as Global Studies would make it difficult to find a job, he quickly realised that this was not the case. In fact, Global Studies equipped and prepared him in the skills necessary to thrive in his current role. “Most employers look for people with an ability to write, communicate, debate ideas, and most importantly, learn. The Global Studies courses equipped me with foundational skills that have allowed me to learn even more and grow more successful.” Such skills have helped Bright advance quickly in The BRIDGE Career Services, creating new opportunities for himself and the employment candidates with whom he works.

Bright encourages prospective and current students to take advantage of all the opportunities that come their way at ACU, whether that be study abroad, internships, or self-guided projects. More than this, however, Bright recommends that students take the opportunity to form intentional community along the way, much like “The Chapter,” a group of like-minded and diverse students who met with professors to discuss scripture and various Christian perspectives, to share personal stories and journeys, and to eat homecooked meals. Those lasting relationships formed at ACU strengthened Bright along the way to his current career and are still cherished by him today.

 

Brijin Hartrick (’19) – B.A. in History

Brijin Hartrick is now the Collections Assistant at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, but she started as a history major at ACU.  A fierce lover of all things Texas, Brijin entered ACU with a passion for history that flourished as she progressed throughout her time as an undergraduate student. As a sophomore, she studied abroad in Oxford, England, where she was able to explore various museums and historic sites. Upon returning to the United States, Brijin interned at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., learning archival skills that she later applied to her graduate work in Baylor University’s Museum Studies program, and now uses in her job at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.  

Brijin attributes much of her preparedness for grad school to the historical methods course she took here, as well as experiences abroad through ACU.  She presented at multiple Phi Alpha Theta regional conferences as a member of the ACU chapter, crediting these conferences and other presentations given as a student to her improvement and comfort as a public speaker. These experiences and her relationship with professors on campus helped her secure an internship as an archival processor for the Texas Collection at Baylor, where she organized donations to the archive and maintained an online finding aid to help researchers work on projects and papers.  Eventually, her training led her to the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco and finally to her dream job at the Museum of the Cowgirl.  

As for advice Brijin would give to current and prospective ACU students, Brijin highly recommends studying abroad and becoming engaged on campus. “Participate in whatever comes up, even if you really don’t feel like doing any extra work,” she says. “Being able to show your professors that you do show up and go the extra mile earns you some credibility that is really helpful when it comes time for letters of recommendation or job openings around campus.”

Chase Beakley (’14) – B.A. in Global Studies

After living abroad as a magazine freelance writer based in France, Chase Beakley returned to Texas, earned his MBA, and worked for four years as a finance and business management associate, then VP, at JP Morgan Chase.  He is now Finance Manager at Shopify.  Chase attributes much of his success to the skills learned while earning a B.A. in global studies at ACU, saying that history and global studies courses push students to “think critically and articulate your ideas clearly.”  While at ACU, Chase also began volunteering with the International Rescue Committee here in Abilene, a relationship that has continued to the present time.  Today, he continues to use his financial expertise to help IRC “welcome some of the bravest people on Earth to their new home.”

Working alongside people with graduate degrees in highly analytical fields, Chase acknowledges the importance of being able to “analyze the problem and then communicate the solution,” skills he found crucial to his work in global studies. While at ACU, Chase participated in two study abroad trips. During his travels to England and France, he began to better understand the importance of learning about other cultures and expanding one’s horizons.  Chase’s global studies degree aligned with his love of travel, culture, and language – all of which persisted after leaving ACU.  He visited Cuba with a fellow alumus, and in 2017 he, his father and his brother climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, experiences that helped shape his perception of global issues and his own strengths as a human being. His advice to students is “don’t neglect your heart to chase money and status, but also don’t feel obligated to make a career out of your passions – seek balance.”

Whether serving his clients or traveling abroad, Chase fondly remembers his time as a global studies student at ACU and all the diverse skills it provided to him.