Department Mission
The courses offered by the Department of History and Political Science are part of the Distribution courses in the General Education curriculum; they are also required courses in other curricula. Through our courses we seek to help students develop an abiding interest in history and political science. We seek to instill in them an understanding of the value of the historical method and to model it ourselves in our activities in the discipline.
One of the main purposes of the department is to provide students with insights into the meaning of history and political science and the purpose of historical and scientific inquiry. We seek to make the study of history and political science relevant to students and provide them with the real world applicability of the courses we teach. We encourage our students to think independently and critically and to develop strong communication skills that extend beyond the elemental skills of reading and writing. In all our courses we try to make students aware of the multicultural aspects of history and to avoid the presentation of history and political science from an exclusively American or Eurocentric viewpoint.
It is our purpose to prepare students for success at the next level of their educational experience. We encourage them to improve the quality of their writing and notetaking skills and to develop the ability to argue in a constructive and cogent manner. We also urge them to develop critical perspectives and to treat the material they study in a critical manner.
We will consider our efforts to be a success if our students leave our courses with an understanding of the importance of history and political science in the context of a larger, world community.
History mission
The mission of history at Montgomery College is to convey to our students
substantive knowledge about
the major events, personalities, trends and causal factors which have influenced thek present
and to train students in the cognitive skills necessary to understand and
analyze current phenomena. We believe that our students must not only have specific
knowledge, but also have the habits of thought common to social analysis.
In addition, we seek to prepare students to assume the duties and obligations of
citizenship.
To carry out this mission, we developed the following general course objectives:
Understand cause/effect relationships
Distinguish among facts, opinions, and inferences.
Organize thoughts and communicate them clearly and concisely in written and oral forms.
Develop questions to clarify a problem, topic, or issue.
Defend viewpoints contrary to your own.
Follow current events and analyze these events in light historical trends.
Use organizing principles or key concepts to place assorted data into broader frameworks.
Select and present information and arguments within a restricted environment, especially page limitations of assignments or the limitations of time in exams.