VOL.5 No.17

CADRE

'tho student’s popor’

> . ’ AaQiEVES

MAR.5,I974

HISTORY UPEI ‘ HISTORY AT THEIINIVERSITYzwhat’s the matter with it. what can he done about it?

(This article is adapted from the introduction to the author's forthcoming book,

The Wbrms in Clio's Apple:

History Teachers I Have Known.

Copyright pending.)

,History as a university dis— cipline is dying. Within a generation it will be in the same state of rigor mortis as the classics are today. Student enrollment in histo— ry courses will progressive- ly decline, unpopular cours- es will be dropped, depart— mental and library budgets will be slashed, new instr- uctors will not be hired, senior professors will be pensioned off. The dire hand- writing is on the blackboard, for the wise to heed, for the complacent to ignore at their peril.

This may seem a strange and daring prediction in view of history's current streng- th at UPEI. With about 1100 enrollees in its 16 courses last semester, it was some 300 ahead of psychology, the next most popular arts depa- rtment. One out of every fhe

enrollees in arts was taking at least one history course. One of every eight "instruc- tional units" (course enro-

llees) at UPEI was studying

history.

These figures, however, co- nceal more than they reveal. As in previous years, two or three courses draw about three fifths of the history students. Without the mag- netic power of one extra— ordinary lecturer, in par- ticular, perhaps one—third or more of the History Depa— rtment's enrollees would gravitate elsewhere.

There was another ominous note concealed in last term's enrollment figures: nearly 50% fewer freshmen and soph— omores were taking history courses than in 1972.

It seems clear to me that after allowance is made for certain factors unique to the UPEI History Department, the trend here,is similar to -- if slower than -— that at other North American in- stitutions. The attraction of history as an academic

by Don Cregier

discipline is weakening. We must now ask why.

One reason is plainly econ— omic. There are many fewer jobs requiring_academic tr— aining in history than a few years ago. The students who take the most history cours- es are history majors who usually expect to teach or to enter graduate programs leading to an academic care- er.

As everyone knows, there is today a glut of teachers in most of the arts disciplines, not least in history. The no longer unusual case of a neo- phyte M.A. or Ph.D., for wh- om no academic post is avail able, working at a menial job or collecting welfare is not one to encourage uni— versity students to become history majors.

More disturbing, in my opi— nion, is the turning away from history as a subject . that is unimportant, irrel— evant or simply boring.

Even if jobs requiring his- tory dry up and hence fewer students become history maj- ors, there still could be a valuable place for the dis- cipline as an auxilliary to other subjects where the pr- ospects of majors are more hopeful. History is also an excellent subject for the university student still se- arching for his identity or his metier in life. Unfortunately the image of history in the minds of many, if not most, university st— udents is not an impressive one. Many are drawn instead to such subjects as political science, sociology, psycho- logy and philosophy, which appear to be more dynamic or inspiring. vThe image of history as a dreary, tim—wasting subject arises principally from 2 causes. One, which I consid- er the minor cause, is the tediOusness of most history courses in elementary and high schools. Part of the loss of interest in history is certainly due to what one writer describes as "the bombardment of cold sterile facts year in and year out

see pg.6