BA in History

Andrew Weisberg, 2015

How did you decide on the history major?

I have always had a passion for history but never believed my interest in the field would amount to any future career developments.  During my freshman year at Mason, I was hired by the University’s Special Collections and Archives Department to research and write essays about our school’s history.  At the same time, I was enrolled in Dr. Mills Kelly’s "Lying About the Past" course, in which my classmates and I learned about historical hoaxes.  These experiences taught me that history is a serious business and illustrated that there is a great value in being professionally trained on how to be a proper historian.  After taking several classes in the Department of History and Art History, I see great improvements in how I interpret and understand the past.

Are you minoring or double majoring in anything else? If so, how do the two work together – or  separately?

I am a double major in government and international politics and history with a minor in legal studies.  Through taking courses in multiple fields, I have the unique ability to explore history from several vantage points.  A background in politics has allowed me to view historical events from multiple perspectives and analyze why different governments make certain decisions during conflicts.  My legal education has given me the knowledge to assess the judicial consequences of choices throughout history.  Furthermore, my specific majors and minor have offered me unique insights into how the field of history is affected by political and judicial actions of particular countries.

What have you learned in a history class that really surprised you/changed your perspective?

In the second semester of my freshman year, I enrolled in Dr. Mills Kelly’s “Lying About the Past” course, in which my classmates and I created a historical hoax that we unleashed on the Internet community.  Although the highlight of this class was creating and releasing a false historical narrative as a social experiment, the course taught me a great deal about the reliability of sources.  I learned that a historian should never automatically accept any information at face value, especially when it comes from a digital source.  An informed historian looks for biases, manipulations and possible misinterpretations when assessing the accuracy of a source.

In a spin-off course called “Improving the Past,” Dr. Kelly also conveyed how historical information can be altered both to deceive historians and to better convey narratives to students of history.  Prior to completing this course, I always viewed revisionist history as being a detriment to the field.  Dr. Kelly’s class taught me that there can be certain benefits to limited historical revisions, as long as historians and students are made fully aware that the materials they have been presented with have been altered.

Tell us about your dream occupation…

My dream occupation is to be president of the United States.  Since I was a little boy I always wanted to serve my country through working in politics and giving back to my community.  In high school, I was fortunate enough to work for my local congressman and see our political process up-close.   At Mason, my work in the Department of Public and International Affairs has allowed me to further explore the intricacies of the American political system.  My classes in the Department of History and Art History have illustrated how politicians in the United States can solve present and future problems by looking to the past.  If I am fortunate enough to serve my country in any elected capacity, I will definitely look to our nation’s historical background to address the issues of tomorrow.  

Have you had any internships? Or interesting jobs or volunteer experience? Tell us about it/them.

In late Fall 2011 through Spring 2012, and again in Spring 2013, I was employed by George Mason University Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives Department as a researcher and writer tasked with investigating the university’s past.  My team and I meticulously combed through the university’s records and wrote essays about significant events in our school’s past.  All of our work is available at www.ahistoryofmason.gmu.edu, which was launched to coincide with the university’s 40^th anniversary.  One of my favorite projects was writing about the history of Mason’s Center for History and New Media and learning about the life of its founder, the late Dr. Roy Rosenzweig.  I was awarded the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Friends of OLLI Scholarship for the Fall 2012 semester for my work with Special Collections.

In Summer 2012, I worked as a brokerage intern for the global commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle.  My duties consisted of assisting a brokerage team in leasing office space in the Manhattan market and finding new locations for clients.  One of the most exciting parts of this internship was being able to represent my own subleased office space on Lexington Avenue in New York City.

In Summer 2013, I worked at the American headquarters of the global publisher Penguin Group as a corporate operations intern.  I was responsible for documenting business intelligence reports and aided the company in determining how many copies to print of their many titles.  Penguin Group merged with Random House while I was working at the company and I was able to assist the Operations Department in preparing their processes for review by the new corporate leadership. 

From October 2013 through Summer 2014, I worked as a research mentor with George Mason University’s Honors College, where I collaborated with a team to create new materials for a first-year research course.

Any accomplishments you’re proud of? Opportunities you’ve taken advantage of? Brag a little!

I am a University Scholar and a member of Mason’s Honors College.

In 2014, I was awarded Mason’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Undergraduate Dean’s Challenge Award, representing the History and Government & International Politics programs.  That same year, I was also awarded the Charles and Polly Webber Award by the Department of History and Art History, recognizing the outstanding history major with the highest cumulative and major GPA who has completed 60 credits, at least 12 credits in history at George Mason University.

I am a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Alpha Theta (The National History Honor Society), Pi Sigma Alpha (The National Political Science Honor Society) and Alpha Lambda Delta (The National Honor Society for First-Year Students).  During the 2012-2013 academic year I was the president of Mason’s Alpha Lambda Delta Chapter, and in 2013-2014 I served as the group’s Senior Student Adviser.  In 2013, I was awarded a Jo Anne J. Trow Undergraduate Scholarship by the National Alpha Lambda Delta organization.

In 2012, I won a Best Individual Presentation Award at the Virginias Collegiate Honors Council for my work analyzing the psychology of Nazi doctors in concentration camps.  In 2014, my History 499 term paper on the exploits of fugitive Nazis was named as the best in my course section.

Tell us something people would be surprised to know about you.

I studied Taekwondo for several years and reached the rank of first-degree black belt.  During the course of my training, I broke multiple pieces of wood and even a block of cement with my bare hands or foot.