Careers
What can you do with a degree in history from Wheaton College?
Just about anything.
Our students learn how to think critically and independently, analyze sources, and write clearly. These skills are not only useful, but essential in all walks of life. Our alums are teachers and professors, librarians and archivists, entrepreneurs, activists, lawyers, health-care professionals, and many other exciting professions.
Featured Alumni
Stephen Penney
I work as an analyst in the expanding asset management division of Barclays, called Barclays Wealth. I am exploring how the financial sector operates, and building relationships in the business. Studying history at Wheaton has opened my eyes to many things most finance majors never learned in college, such as the manifestations of society and culture in the business world.
Charles Allen
I am currently the Career Program Manager for the Posse Foundation's Boston office. Posse helps outstanding high school students succeed in higher education through scholarships and other types of support. I was inspired by my history courses to work for more access to professional leadership for people of all backgrounds.
Graduate school
Wheaton College History Majors have continued their education in graduate programs of all types.
Lacey Chrystal
In 2007, I began a Masters Degree in American History at the University of Texas at Arlington. I finished in December 2009 and in June 2010 I started teaching college history courses. I am teaching my third history course and I am planning to start my doctoral degree in about a year or so. My desire to be a college professor came 110% from the education I received at Wheaton – I wanted to be the kind of supportive, inventive, and passionate teacher that had influenced me so much as a student.
Marie Jamieson
After graduation, I worked at a museum in Texas called Dallas Heritage Village, which specialized in Texas and American history from the Civil war to 1909. I am now at Simmons College in Boston working on my masters in Special Education. I am working at Brookline High School and I love helping students push themselves intellectually. Just the other day a student needed a book to read for an Economics class, and I suggested Nickel and Dimed, which I had read in my Labor History class! I remembered how interesting it was, and thought it would be a good read for my student. Wheaton taught me to think more analytically about history, that it's not all just facts. I try to help students by connecting history to the present. It's a challenge, and I love every minute of it!
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Fellowships
Our majors pursue a variety of post-graduate scholarships, fellowships and grants.
Neill Brandon
I am serving as an English Teaching Assistant through the Fulbright Program in Jinju, South Korea. I work at a science high school for gifted students where I focus primarily on teaching my students English conversation skills. When I’m not teaching, I like to travel around Korea and spend time with my fellow English teachers, new Korean friends and colleagues. Besides adjusting to the different education system in Korea, a large part of my experience has involved adapting to a new and foreign culture. This has included having to think critically, adjust on the fly, and be understanding of centuries-old traditions. Being a History Major at Wheaton taught me to be able to assess and evaluate multiple perspectives and viewpoints while refining the necessary communication skills to be able to discourse in any situation. In short, Wheaton’s History Major piqued a curiosity about the world and the development of societies that I could only satisfy by exploring a foreign culture across the globe. The faculty in the History Department continued to foster my passion for education during my four years at Wheaton with their contagious enthusiasm and dedication to their work.
