History provides an essential framework for all the humanities and social sciences. It is an on-going dialogue between the present and the past: about how the past should be understood and interpreted, and about the meanings we should assign to the past. An informed understanding of the present and our expectations for the future go hand-in-hand with knowledge of history. The study of history further promotes the acquisition of important professional skills such as the ability to initiate an original inquiry, conduct archival research and documentary analysis and interpret evidence. At UQ, topics within this major include: Great Empires, Genocide, Global History, The Foundations of Europe and Islamic Civilisation.