The aim of the major in International History is to equip students with a thorough understanding of the historical foundations of the modern world. Looking to the past provides an essential tool for understanding the present. Geographically, courses in the major cover Germany, Britain, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and others.Thematic courses cover big ideas including war, genocide and contemporary studies. The majority of courses focus on the modern era from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. Students will develop skills in the handling and interpretation of primary and secondary sources as well as gain a grasp of the main theoretical and methodological debates in modern historiography. In upper-level courses students are trained as professional historians with the ability to deliver an historical product to a broad audience, beyond academia.