Middle Tennessee State University offers a hands-on experience in the study of history that encourages critical thinking and original research. In the classroom, History majors study everything from ancient Egypt to the Soviet Union. Many classes include experiential learning that takes students into the community for hands-on learning, or challenges students to role play major events in history. Outside the classroom, students meet nationally known historians through the department’s Strickland Scholars program. They study abroad on faculty-led programs to Scotland, Senegal, Vietnam, and other locales. They socialize with other students through History Club and travel to American historical sites with their classmates. They join the national honors society, Phi Alpha Theta, to network and share their research with students and scholars nationwide. They also have access to a range of scholarships available only to History majors at Middle Tennessee State University.

The program emphasizes the field of Public History, with Middle Tennessee State University among the first American universities to embrace the field. Public historians may teach, but they also oversee historical sites, curate archives and collections, run museums, conduct oral histories, and pursue many other careers that bring history to the broader community. Some History majors decide to continue their study of public history at Middle Tennessee State University, which offers a masters and doctoral degree in Public History.