Enroll in an accredited program that offers the history program of your choice. Different programs of concentration will be offered in every history department. Undergraduate concentrations may include American history or early European history. Master's degrees and doctoral degrees may offer specialization in women's studies or political movements.
Review the requirements for the degree. Undergraduate degree programs may require history majors to take math, science and cultural arts courses in addition to history courses for the major. Sign up for 12 to 16 credits per semester for full-time study. Speak with your academic and major advisers about which courses are best.
Take classes in historical theories and methods, world migration, alchemy, modernity and nation in the 20th century. Read study material and complete assignments. History course assignments often include research reports, term papers and essays. History students may spend a lot of time reading books encyclopedic entries. Students of history may also read Karl Popper's classic work "The Poverty of Historicism," which highlights the ability of historians (as well as other social scientists) to continually discover new facts and gain further understanding of a single epoch or event in history.
Add extracurricular readings in history and in related social science disciplines, such as sociology, political science and economics, to expand your depth of knowledge in favorite history topics.
Meet with your history instructors to discuss assignments and lecture notes. Discuss your extracurricular reading on historical observations and events with teachers to discover who shares the same interests. Ask history professors with the same interests in subject matter to become your mentors. A history mentor can refer you to additional reading and discuss your thoughts and interpretations of the material. These discussions can help you refine your thinking as a history student and may enhance overall classroom performance.