CAS CONNECT 2017

I wanted to help them develop the people skills so crucial to success in future employment.” Over the past few years, Zeide and the history department, led by Department Head Dr. Laura Belmonte, have recognized a growing need to better prepare graduating seniors for the working world. “We found that some students were finishing with a history major and having a hard time figuring out how to translate the deep skills of researching, writ- ing, managing information and critical thinking that they had gained into specific career opportunities,” Zeide says. To meet this need, she designed the Jobs in History Practicum Course. The course is intended to equip students with the tools needed to secure employ- ment, and connect with other institutions on campus and within the community. By pairing outstanding students with local organizations for hands-on learn- ing experiences, OSU history students have worked with the OSU Museum of Art, the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program, OSU’s Special Collections and University Archives, and the Sheerar Museum of Stillwater History. “They come in, they ask questions, and they are very dedicated,” says Sarah Milligan of the OOHRP. “We look for curiosity, flexibility and passion: traits that all of our History Practicum students have demonstrated. If it comes down to education versus passion, we will hire the applicant with passion every time. As long as the program continues to produce such high-caliber students, we will be more than happy to continue in the program.” In fact, one of the practicum students, Laurel Henagan, recently secured a paid internship position with the oral history project, due in no small part to the skills she acquired in the History Practicum course. “Overall, I thought the practicum was a great expe- rience,” Henagan says. “The oral history office helped me learn a little bit about the whole catalog- ing process of the interview, really following it from beginning to end. Overall, I can’t praise this program enough. It was the first time I had any exposure to careers in history.” Practicum students have been able to ground their classroom knowledge in the workplace as well as develop additional marketable skills. Along with time at their partner institutions, they also meet in class to read and discuss ways of identifying jobs that will fit their strengths, the value of experiential educa- tion, skills of networking and community-build- ing, and specific paths into history-related careers. Students in the Jobs in History Pract icum use classroom learning in their hands-on experiences in real-world sett ings, such as the OSU Museum of Art. Student Lydia Perez says, “This is, by far, the most interest ing class I have taken at OSU.” PHOTO COURTESY OSU MUSEUM OF ART 8