The History, Anthropology, and Philosophy Department won two University of North Georgia awards for Programs and Departments in 2019: the Momentum Award for Excellence in Teaching and Curricular Innovation, and the Teaching Excellence Award for Department or Program.
The Momentum Year Award for Excellence in Teaching is designed to honor a program or department's teaching and instruction that promotes student achievement, guides students to make purposeful career choices, and creates an environment in which positive academic mindsets thrive, catapulting students toward degree completion. Excellence in teaching first-year students is critical to increasing student retention, progress, and graduation. Incorporating high-impact practices in order to create transformative experiences intended to deepen learning as a part of the first college year is central to this Momentum year award.
The Teaching Excellence Award is designed to showcase an outstanding department or program that promotes, supports, and recognizes excellence in teaching and in service to students.
The History, Anthropology, and Philosophy Department offers three majors, all of which prepare UNG students to better understand and engage with the world around them.
Students can receive a Bachelor of Arts with a major in history. This major offers a significant body of knowledge, develops their ability to understand how the past has shaped the present, and teaches them how to research information and think critically. It equips them for a wide range of careers, including education, law, government, the military, journalism, and business. People and cultures are an intricate web that requires study and understanding if we are to make informed decisions.
Anthropology provides a holistic approach to determining who we are, how we fit in, and how we came to be. It is divided into four subfields: Biological Anthropology, Archeology, Linguistic Anthropology, and Cultural Anthropology. The anthropology pathway courses introduce students to the field of anthropology, which is the study of human beings as they have evolved by means of biological and cultural adaptation. Anthropology students acquire critical thinking skills and global perspectives.
The philosophy pathway courses introduce students to the field of philosophy, a discipline that uses reason to analyze ideas and the human experience. Majoring in philosophy helps you hone thinking skills to see events and life around you more clearly. It deepens your understanding of other areas of study by helping you seek questions beyond the obvious. Typical topics of philosophical study include logic, ethics, human nature, knowledge, and belief.