History is the study of past and present worlds that we explore in their own contexts through written, oral, and material evidence. Using primary sources and engaging in historical debates, historians analyze and interpret the actions, thoughts, values, and challenges of people in different cultures and eras. The discipline of History emphasizes the importance of historical perspective and context in seeking to understand the past. We encourage the study of various cultures through academic travel and learning foreign languages. History majors pursue careers in a variety of fields, including law, teaching, public history, business, the arts, government, and foreign service. A faculty of enthusiastic historians provides a broad but disciplined understanding of American, British, African American, and European history. Classes range from basic survey courses to unique offerings such as Twentieth-Century Europe in which European culture is studied through film. Mary Baldwin is a sponsor of the Virginia Program at Oxford each summer, which gives students the opportunity to combine travel with the study of literature, history, and society of late 16th- and early 17th-century England.