History & Global Studies

🧭 Compass Roadmap

Department of History and Global Studies
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Department of History and Global Studies

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Compass Roadmap | History & Global Studies


Begin Your Journey		First Year
Pursue Community		Second Year
Pursue Hospitality		Third Year
Pursue Calling		Fourth Year
Pursue Wisdom
Grow Intellectually
  • Meet the History and Global Studies faculty and your fellow majors during Wildcat Week
  • Develop research skills in Cornerstone (CORE 110)
  • Explore the life of Jesus and the New Testament church in BIBL 101 and 102
  • Attend faculty office hours


  • Support your peers by attending ACU's URCI Festival
  • Begin more intense training in history research and writing in Historical Methods (HIST 353)
  • Engage in service learning that connects you to Milliken Special Collections or the ACU Museum
  • Explore the Old Testament in BIBL 211

  • Engage in a faculty-mentored research or creative project
  • Submit your research to the URCI Festival, Phi Alpha Theta or Conference on Faith and History
  • Participate in an information literacy workshop
Grow Spiritually
  • Participate in Chapel
  • Experience Candlelight Devo during Wildcat Week
  • Attend Senior Blessing Dinner at the end of the year
  • Participate in the life of a local church
  • Engage in practices of meal fellowship, testimony and breath prayer

  • Participate in Chapel and consider joining the department chapel planning committee
  • Volunteer in the Abilene community
  • Participate in the life of a local church
  • Attend Senior Blessing Dinner
  • Engage in practices of intercessory prayer, pilgrimage and journaling
  • Participate in Chapel
  • Participate in the life of a local church
  • Gain hands-on ministry experience on a Global Service Trip
  • Attend Senior Blessing Dinner
  • Engage in practices of silence, spiritual listening and examen
  • Participate in Chapel and help lead department chapel
  • Engage in a local church
  • Experience Candlelight Sendoff
  • Engage in practices of friendship, relinquishment and developing a rule of life
  • Attend Senior Blessing Dinner
Grow Personally
  • Take Strengths Finder and reflect on your results
  • Become involved in the ACU community by joining a student organization
  • Identify a potential faculty, staff or older student mentor in the department
  • Care for your whole person by developing a Personal Exercise Prescription
  • Grow as a leader through ACU LEADS: Emerging Leaders

  • Take advantage of recreation opportunities on campus (Rec Center, intramurals, etc)
  • Actively engage in a student organization
  • Be intentional about building friendships with other students in your department
  • Ask a professor to have coffee with you

  • Develop your leadership skills while serving in a leadership role on campus
  • Lead in a church ministry or local service organization
  • Deepen friendships with fellow students
  • Have lunch with a professor
Grow Culturally
  • Attend events hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) or Voice
  • Explore the opportunities to study abroad
  • Visit Abilene's The Grace Museum, Curtis House Cultural Center, Center for Contemporary Arts or the 12th Armored Division Memorial
  • Attend Events Hosted by the International Students Association (ISA) or Voice
  • Study Abroad in Oxford, Leipzig or Montevideo
  • Go to Artwalk in downtown in Abilene
  • Attend an Abilene Interfaith Council event
  • Lead an OMA, ISA or Carl Spain Center event
  • Apply to Fulbright Scholar, AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Intercultural Service Opportunity
Grow Professionally
  • Activate Handshake profile and take the Career Explorer Inventory through ACU's Career Development Center
  • Learn new creative possibilities through Creative U
  • Explore vocational pathways in HIST 201
  • Design your own exhibit for a local museum or cultural center
  • Develop a resume or CV and participate in a mock interview with Career Development Center
  • Get a summer job or internship related to your field of interest - can be done as part of HIST 301 Internship Course

  • Research and consult with faculty about graduate schools that interest you
  • Identify faculty members who could write recommendations
  • Create LinkedIn Profile
  • Update your CV and make sure it includes an internship and a conference presentation
  • Secure letters of recommendation
  • Finalize resume/CV
  • Choose and refine your graduate school writing sample
  • Apply for jobs and/or graduate schoolgraduate school
  • Complete student teaching or internships

Exploring Areas of Growth

Five Areas of Growth

  • Grow Intellectually – Sharpen your mind through critical thinking, problem solving and engaging in original research or creative projects. Build knowledge in your field and develop relevant skills through innovative and experiential assignments and activities.
  • Grow Spiritually – Grow in likeness of Christ, as the Spirit leads both individuals and communities into deeper love of God and others. Cultivate Christian community, hospitality, vocation and wisdom through reflective participation in community practices such as worship, study and service. 
  • Grow Personally – Mature as a whole person through mentorship, peer-to-peer relationships and cultivating habits that produce wellness. Discover your strengths, become a productive team member and grow as a leader.
  • Grow Culturally – Deepen intercultural knowledge and the ability to communicate with and relate to people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and geographic areas. Foster a greater respect and empathy for all peoples through building dynamic and mutually rewarding relationships in local and global contexts. 
  • Grow Professionally – Prepare for a meaningful career by exploring options, participating in career development activities, gaining relevant experiences and making purposeful connections that launch your professional life.

Integrated Spiritual Formation Themes

 

NOTE: Transfer students and those that surpass traditional semester cadences can progress to the next phase when appropriate for their needs.

Year 1 – Pursue Community

Connecting students to cruciform relationships with peers and adults on campus and in Abilene through compelling opportunities to invest in a variety of Christian organizations, both discovering and experiencing the distinctive nature of Christian community.

Year 2 – Pursue Hospitality

Engaging students in encounters with diverse peoples, ideas, and cultures through both local and global opportunities to extend and receive hospitality and to serve others in Christ’s name.

Year 3 – Pursue Calling

Advancing students’ understanding of vocation in a manner that integrates each student’s particular identity, career goals and vision for life with the broad calling for Christians to participate in the ongoing mission of God revealed in the pattern of Christ’s life and death.

Year 4 – Pursue Wisdom

Launching students into cruciform and purposeful living beyond the university by equipping them with tools for and experiences seeking Christian wisdom as they prepare to transition into a new season of life and career.