As a discipline, history has been offered at Mount Allison since the early part of this century, at first by non-specialists who also taught other subjects, such as theology. A separate Department of History was founded in 1926 with a staff of one. Over the last twenty-five years, the number of full-time faculty has ranged from five to seven, while student enrolment in history courses has burgeoned from around 500 to more than 800. Currently, there are approximately two-hundred history majors each year, including some fifteen Honours students. All current faculty are published scholars with PhDs in history. To cite but a few examples of their numerous achievements and distinctions: one is a major contributor to the multi-volumed Dictionary of Canadian Biography; another has won the prestigious Herbert and Leota Tucker Award for Excellence in Teaching, while a third has served as a visiting scholar in Japan. As both a literary art and social science, history is an ideal instrument of liberal education. Defined as "the rational study of the significant past", it dcvelops analytical and communication skills, fosters knowledge and understanding of the institutions, ideas, groups and individuals which have shaped our political, social and cultural world and contributes to reflective, articulate citizenship in a free, tolerant and humane society. History is also an excellent preparation for a large number of career choices as well as a pleasurable intellectual pursuit that will last a lifetime. Without attempting to treat all the people and places of the significant past, the Mount Allison History Department offers a rich variety of both subject matter and interpretive approach through individualized programmes designed to achieve both coherence and depth. Courses are regularly available at all levels in most major periods of Canadian, American and European history and are complemented when staffing permits by introductions to China and Japan. Together, they reflect a wide range of faculty interest -- from politics, constitutional development and relations between nations to social, cultural and intellectual movements.