Department of History
Experiences & Opportunities
Internships
Professional experiences like internships provide a meaningful real-world component to your education and your resume. Internships can also lead to valuable networking opportunities and can even lead to full-time employment after graduation.
History majors have interned with Pleasant Hill Historians, Fallingwater (Western Pennsylvania Conservancy), Heinz History Center, Caputo Law Firm, and state representatives’ offices.
Learn more about internships and the other opportunities available through our Office of Professional Development & Community Engagement .
Pleasant Hill Historians Center for Experiential Learning
Many Westminster students have gained hands-on experience in historical methods and communication through internships offered through the Pleasant Hill Historians’ Center for Experiential Learning.
Recent projects include processing archaeological material excavated from the site of a settlement from the 1780s called Quakerstown, and digitizing the Lawrence County, PA Immigration Collection for the purpose of preservation and for understanding the health of immigrants in the area based on the height and weight documented by the Court of Common Pleas’ Declarations of Intention records.
Honors Program
Westminster College’s Honors Program believes that the life of the mind is best cultivated when students take what they have learned in the classroom and go out into the world. That’s why our program builds international travel into its sequence of interdisciplinary, global honors seminars with a trip to Greece.
The curriculum gives you the opportunity to learn about human history and nature from multiple perspectives, while also supporting the development of strong leadership, communication, and writing skills. It will also connect you to a vibrant community of students from across campus who are excited about learning.
Study Abroad
Studying abroad is a life-changing educational experience for many of our students. Our Office of Global Engagement developed different kinds of study abroad opportunities, designed to meet varying curricular and economic situations.
We offer traditional semester-long, individual study abroad opportunities in more than 30 countries. Also, students can elect to take short-term study abroad opportunities, such as a May travel course, or a Study Tour, which is a travel experience tied to a regular on-campus course or co-curricular program.
Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research
The Drinko Center supports student research and creative work in all majors and at all academic levels. Drinko provides financial grants that support student projects or travel to national conferences.
The Center also organizes the Undergraduate Research and Arts Celebration (URAC), a day-long event showcasing the collaborative work between Westminster faculty and students.
Professional Networking Symposium
Open to all majors, the Professional Networking Symposium is an annual event designed to help students and young alumni better understand potential paths after graduation, including career and graduate school options.
The Symposium includes a career fair, breakout sessions and the opportunity to learn to network. Sessions are designed to address specific topics and interests and are moderated by experienced professionals.
Center for the Environment
The mission of the Center for the Environment is to connect people with each other and the natural world. CfE strives to create an understanding of the dynamic relationships among society, our environment, and the economy. Students from all majors benefit from the Center’s programming and resources, which are designed to foster critical thinking, creative expression, data collection and analysis, ethical judgements, entrepreneurial endeavors, and human wellbeing.
CfE initiatives include the Westminster Bee Company, a student-led business that hand-bottles and sells the honey produced in the almost 30 beehives that make up the Westminster College apiary.
Westminster Entrepreneurship Center (WEC)
WEC offers students in any major the opportunity to be exposed to concept creation, innovation of ideas and business ownership strategies. These activities are nurtured through practiced entrepreneurial exposures, state-of-the-art facilities, leadership collaboration, dynamic entrepreneurial engagements, competitions and events designed to offer students an unparalleled exposure to real world practical experiences.
