CAS CONNECT 2017

W hen Zeide joined the Department of History at Oklahoma State University in 2015, she accepted a unique faculty position that gave her a chance to focus on improving the undergraduate experience. “When I was hired, we really wanted to emphasize undergrad- uate program development,” she says, smiling. “One of the ways I hoped to do that was by develop- ing career opportunities for our students.” A history degree is often misun- derstood by many outside the program — and even a few within it. “History is often undervalued as a major because students or parents have a harder time making connections between the content learned as a history major and the applications of that knowledge in the workplace,” Zeide explains. “I wanted to put students in places where they could use the skill sets and knowledge they acquired here, even if it wasn’t in specifi- cally history-related careers. And Building Futures by Looking to the PAST History degrees can be misunderstood and undervalued. But Dr. Anna Zeide is leading the fight to change that with career opportunities. CONTINUES 7