Insane: College History Majors Don’t Have to Take This Class

If you were told that a respected university did not require any U.S. history classes for graduation, you might be a little unnerved. Strange, but okay, there are probably some courses of study where a U.S. History class might seem a bit irrelevant. On the other hand, a liberal arts education is supposed to include a variety of core classes unrelated to your concentration.

But put that aside, because the reality is actually even more ridiculous. In more than a third of American universities, even those college students seeking a degree in HISTORY are not required to take a single course on the HISTORY of the United States.

This revelation came by way of a report from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni earlier this year. At the time, the group’s president, Dr. Michael Poliakoff, said it was a troubling omen for the future of the country.

“A democratic republic cannot thrive without well-informed citizens and leaders. Elite colleges and universities in particular let the nation down when the examples they set devalue the study of United States history,” Poliakoff said.

This week, George Washington University announced through their school newspaper that they would be jumping on board this frightening trend. “To better reflect a globalizing world,” the school has now eliminated the need for history majors to take any classes on U.S. history.

The head of the history department at GWU told the paper that “the main gain for students is that they have a great deal more flexibility than they had before, and they can adapt it to whatever their plans are for the future. Whatever they want to do, there’s a way to make the history department work for them.”

On Fox News, conservative radio host Larry Elder said this was a reflection of liberal bias in academia.

“According to a lot of professors, the founding fathers are a bunch of old rich white guys who owned slaves,” said Elder. “As a result, they’re no longer relevant. I call this the access of indoctrination. Schools have long since passed the line from education to indoctrination, and this is one more step toward that.”

There’s that, but this also shows you how worthless a lot of college degrees really are. Someone presents themselves as an educated historian, and you automatically assume they know what they’re talking about. In reality, you can have a fancy degree in history without knowing anything more about the U.S. than your average high school graduate.

In fact, when you take that indoctrination into account, you probably know less.