Development of competences and teaching of historical knowledge in university degrees outside the field of History

Abstract

Many degrees unrelated to History engage in the discussion of historical topics. Knowledge of the past allows to develop a group of skills in degrees like Economy, Management, Sociology, Political Science, etc., thus establishing challenges in the way historical contents are taught. Our case focuses on three degrees in the University of Barcelona containing historical subjects. Although many of its contents are shared, the development of specific and transversal skills is not consistent among degrees. These circumstances allow us to ponder on: a) the possibilities of historical subjects in different degrees to help develop particular skills; b) the flexibility historical knowledge offers, allowing to contextualise different problems in the professional world, and c) the mechanisms of acquisition and evaluation of the transversal skills at UB. This paper analyses the teaching programs of the aforementioned subjects, the skills involved and the subsequent educational experience. Our goal is to explore which abilities can be developed in non-historical degrees through historical subjects.