/ History Department

After Graduation

Last year our graduates began law school, landed an internship with the Detroit Metro Times, pursued their teaching certificate and began service through AmeriCorps, just to name a few. Over 93% of our students were employed within six months of graduation.

Where can majoring in history take you?

In short? Anywhere! Hope history students have studied in Europe, South America, Africa, Asia and Australia, worked in internships at nationally-known museums, organizations such as Human Rights Watch, and government agencies such as the United States Department of State, and taught in schools in a variety of communities, from urban settings to rural villages.

Visit our alumni page for info on resources and services 

Here's what some of our graduates have done:

Museums and Libraries
  • Amy Weber ɫə09 completed her MA in art history from the University of Illinois and now works as a project coordinator at the Art Institute of Chicago.
  • Anna Cook ɫə05 completed a joint history andiInformation technology graduate program at Simmons College and is now working for the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Teaching and administration
  • George Klupchak ɫə08 completed a M.Ed. at the University of Notre Dame and now teaches at Chicago Bulls College Prep in Chicago.
  • Jessica Patrick Majerowicz ɫə04 teaches history at Liberty High School in Bealeton, Virginia.
  • Jason Rubel ɫə97 serves as the Principal of East Hills Middle School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Legal profession
  • David Kraska ɫə89 is an attorney in the legal department of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Francisco.
  • Whitney Leigh, law degree from Stanford University where he was president of the Black Law Students Association, specializes in civil litigation and criminal defense with Gonzalez & Leigh in San Francisco.
  • Tim Fry completed law school at Northwestern is now at the Chicago office of McGuireWoods, working on transactional and regulatory health care issues.
Higher education and scholarship
  • Noah Haiduc-Dale ɫə99 recently published Arab Christians in British Mandate Palestine: Communalism and Nationalism, 1917-1948 (Edinburgh University Press). He teaches at Centenary College.
  • Samantha Miller ɫə08 completed her M.Div. and is working on a Ph.D. at Marquette University.
  • Brett Bebber ɫə00 teaches history at Old Dominion University in Virginia. He has just published Leisure and Cultural Conflict in Twentieth-Century Britain (Manchester University Press).
Business
  • Jeffrey Harrison, ɫə12, Project Manager at Mindscape at Hanon McKendry, a West Michigan marketing and advertising firm.
  • Jeff Bates ɫə98 is Open Source IT Program Manager at Google.
  • Barbara Good ɫə87 Van Heest is is a vice president and relationship manager for Chaseɫəs business banking group in West Michigan.
Consulting and Communication
  • Erica Puntel ɫə00 is a senior publicist for CNN in Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Daniel Stid ɫə87, a Rhodes Scholar, Harvard Ph.D. and author of The President as Statesman: Woodrow Wilson and the Constitution, is a partner in the Bridgespan Group, a consulting firm in San Francisco.
  • J. Scott Carpenter, formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, is now the Deputy Director of Google Ideas in New York City.
  • Banu Demiralp ɫə00 is co-founder of Anka Rising, which provides a platform for private enterprises, governments and NGOs to combat modern-day slavery.
Government and Public Service
  • Jason Burns ɫə06 is the national political and communications director of the Victory Fund, Washington, D.C.
  • Louis Canfield ɫə01 earned a Masters in Public Administration and is Development Center Coordinator for the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
International Affairs
  • Jordan VandeBunte ɫə05 earned an M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona and works for the U.S. government.
  • James Plasman ɫə03, a Masters in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, is a Foreign Service Officer; he currently serves in the American embassy in Lagos, Nigeria.
Serving the Church
  • Jonathan Schakel ɫə94 is the organist and co-director of Music Ministry at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.
  • Seth Weeldreyer ɫə91 is pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Marshall, Michigan.
  • Kirk Slater ɫə90 is a missionary in Uganda.
  • Phil Tanis ɫə87, former mayor of Holland while he was at Hope, is executive secretary of communications for the World Communion of Reformed Churches, headquartered in Hanover, Germany.