Presidential Scholar
The history major allowed me to fulfill my lifelong interest in the discipline while contextualizing my studies in philosophy and greatly improving my writing skills. Professor Pihos' HIST 499 "Social Movements in the 20th Century US" will go down as one of my favorite classes I took at Western, because it contributed to each of those 3 things (history, philosophy, and writing). Writing a senior thesis is daunting, although the payoff at the end is well worth it, especially if you tailor the project to write about something you have profound interest in.
If you have the opportunity to pursue a double major with history, please do embrace interdisciplinary learning. In my case, combining philosophy with history provided complimenting ways of thinking about issues and how we might solve them. A double major is very doable with the right planning. So, if you know what you want to do plan ahead.
After graduating from WWU, I will be attending the Caruso School of Law at Pepperdine University. My hope is to pursue a career in law that is framed by the historical knowledge and analytical skills I gained from my time at WWU.
Read more about this double major, double minor, Presidential Scholar here!
When asked about the Presidential Scholar, Prof. Peter Pihos said:
I was privileged to teach Max in multiple courses over the past two years. Max brings a terrific combination of intellectual seriousness and deep scholarly engagement with a light-hearted playfulness and sense of humor. I especially enjoyed working with him on his senior HIST 499 research paper, in which he explored the intellectual roots and contemporary politics of the philosophical position that human procreation is impermissible. I had the best experience a faculty member can have, which is to say, I learned a lot from Max.