Degree Requirements and Course Descriptions
The History Department at College of the Ozarks offers
students the exciting opportunity to explore the development
of world civilizations and cultures and to study the
foundation of the American heritage. Wide-ranging survey
courses on Western Civilizations and the American Experience—all
part of the general education core—provide students
an informational and conceptual introduction to these
fields. Students who major in history will select different
upper-level courses from American, European, and non-Western
history. In upper-level, seminar, and special topics
courses students work closely with faculty to achieve
in-depth knowledge of important times, trends, and themes
from history and the powerful as well as ordinary people
who have shaped the past and influence the present and
future. In all classes the history professors place
a premium on a close liaison between students and teachers
and among students.
Opportunities within the Department
and College
History students compete for several scholarships awarded
for exceptional achievement, and they have an impressive
assortment of internships and job opportunities available
to them. Many history majors have worked on special
projects in the Ralph Foster Museum on campus, including
the permanent exhibit on America’s war; some have
done internships at presidential libraries, such as
the Harry S. Truman Library, and at historic sites,
parks, and battlefields, including Wilson’s Creek
National Battlefield outside Springfield, Missouri.
These sorts of history internships can lead to exciting
career opportunities. One of our graduates who did an
internship at the White House now works in the Office
of the Vice President of the United States.
The department also provides travel opportunities to
students, with many of the trips connected to academic
courses. History students have traveled to Europe to
study World War II and to experience cultures in Scotland
and The Netherlands; they have visited Civil War battlefields
and national parks; they have traveled through the South
to see key sites in the history of the civil rights
movement. Students in the senior-level seminar have
done primary research at the Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower,
and Johnson presidential libraries. The department also
sponsors student travel to state and regional history
conferences where COFO students can hear historians
from a variety of colleges, libraries, and museums present
their research. These trips also afford students an
opportunity to meet and network with historians in graduate
programs that might interest them for future advanced
study in history.
Special Interest Clubs and
Activities
The History Department sponsors and coordinates several
activities for students outside the classroom and for
the college community at large. As an example, Phi Alpha
Theta, the international history honor society, functions
as a history club that sponsors historical programs
and speakers—sometimes in cooperation with the
Ralph Foster Museum at the college, offers film series—such
as Western and war films, and organizes informational
forums to discuss important events—such as a series
of programs after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
The department also works with the College Democrats
and College Republicans to exchange and debate political
views during election years.
Career Opportunities for Students
in History
One of the questions that students often ask themselves
when they consider a major or minor in history is “What
can I do with a history major?” Although the numbers
might vary from year to year, about a third of our graduates
add a second major in secondary education and become
teachers of history and social studies in public or
private schools; perhaps another third attend graduate
and professional school after they leave College of
the Ozarks, working on advanced degrees in history,
law, and seminary; and the remaining third go right
from college into a variety of careers. The study of
history places a premium on life skills such as reading,
writing, information management and analysis, small-group
working, and critical thinking. These life skills often
prove more valuable and lasting than narrowly-drawn
vocational training. Thus, our history graduates can
go with confidence into diverse fields such as business
management, law, government, parks and conservation,
libraries and museums, ministry, and more.
Some Professional Activities
of the History Faculty
The instructors in the History Department have committed
themselves to teaching as their primary professional
responsibility, but they also stay active in other professional
activities that enhance their skills for the classroom.
They engage regularly in research and writing, and they
have published books, chapters in readers, textbooks,
and study guides, and essays and book reviews in professional
journals. They travel to state, regional, and national
history conferences (often with students accompanying
them), and frequently they chair session or present
papers at conferences.
David Dalton and Stephen Kneeshaw are the academic
directors of a three-year grant—starting in the
fall of 2005—valued at close to $1 million that
will provide instruction to elementary and secondary
history teachers in 49 school districts across Southwest
Missouri to enhance the teaching of American history.
This grant program titled “Echoes of the Past,
Prelude to the Future” will explore life in the
United States and in the Ozarks from 1865 through World
War I. The “Teaching American History” program
is run through the U.S. Department of Education as part
of President George W. Bush’s “No Child
Left Behind” directive.
Kneeshaw also is the founder and editor of Teaching
History: A Journal of Methods, a highly respected publication
in history education that offers readers new ideas for
teaching at the secondary and college levels. This journal
provides pre-service history education students at College
of the Ozarks a top-quality resource with innovative
methods that they can apply in their own teaching careers.
contact info
For department tours and other information about the
History Department, contact:
Dr. Stephen Kneeshaw
History Department at College of the Ozarks
P.O. Box 17, Point Lookout, MO 65726
417-690-3264
kneeshaw@cofo.edu
History Faculty
David Dalton, Ph.D. (early American history, including
Civil War)
417-690-3266
dalton@cofo.edu
Michael Howell, Ph.D. (modern European history, including
France and Germany)
417-690-2488
mhowell@cofo.edu
Stephen Kneeshaw, Ph.D. (modern American history and
history education)
417-690-3264
kneeshaw@cofo.edu
David Ringer. M.A. and ABD (Western Civilizations,
Third World, and geography)
417-690-2256
ringer@cofo.edu
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