Career option in History
Ranjan K Baruah *
One of the common subjects for the student of arts stream is history. Humanity’s progress is also based on the past and history. When we want to progress and move ahead , it is also important for us to know about our past like civilizations and about people and their activities’ in the past .
When we published about Political Science in our last edition, many students and readers have asked us to publish some career options or subjects related to history. History is the study of the past as it is described in written documents.
Events occurring before written record are considered prehistory. It is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of information about these events. Scholars who write about history are called historians.
History can also refer to the academic discipline which uses a narrative to examine and analyse a sequence of past events, and objectively determine the patterns of cause and effect that determine them.
Students learn about history from schools. In higher studies it is part of arts or humanities and there are different levels like graduation, post graduation, etc. Specialization after history might be archaeology, conservationists, museologist, archivist, etc.
Archaeology is the study of human activity in the past, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that has been left behind by past human populations, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts ,cultural landscapes , etc.
The word archeology is derived from two Greek words ‘archaios’ which means ancient things and ‘logos’ which means theory of science. Archaeology was first put to use by the Romans in the eighteenth century but it was given more accuracy by Heinrich Schliemann who brought to light the origins of Greek civilization.
Archaeology can be one of the rewarding and challenging career opportunities for those who are keen to know about the past. It can give awareness about the heritage and tradition of a country or a culture. It is the scientific and systematic study of past and human cultures through the recovery, analysis and documentation of material remains and environmental data, like architecture, artifacts, features, landscapes and biofacts.
Archaeology is a multidisciplinary science which draws help from geography, history, anthropology, chemistry, geology, art and literature. Those who are involved with the studies of archaeological discoveries is termed as Archaeologists. There are courses related to same and aspirant may opt for it. Numismatics, epigraphy, archives and museology are the important branches of Archaeology. One needs to spend time to become successful as it needs patience, training and time for research and learning.
Courses related to subjects includes Advance Diploma in Archaeology and Museology , B.A. Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, M.A. Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, M.A. Archaeology, etc. Aspirants may join government services or join teaching. There are different opportunities to be in research and other fields.
ICHR: Indian Council of Historical Research is an autonomous organization which was established in 1972 and it provides fellowships and financial assistance to the young teachers in colleges, universities and registered research organizations, as well as to senior scholars who might need financial support brings historians together by providing financial assistance for holding symposia, seminars, workshops, etc for exchanging views related to history.
It also provides publication subsidy to the seminars, congress proceedings and journals so that these publications may reach to researchers and scholars and it has a regional centres namely ICHR North-East Regional Centre at Guwahati .
* Ranjan K Baruah wrote this article for The Sangai Express
For further information and career planning interested students may contact at 98640 55558
This article was posted on September 21, 2017.
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