HI 101: Western Civilization I 

To paraphrase Carl Becker, "What is the good of history?" Given all our pressing present problems, why should we study what happened in the past? Do events and the lives of individuals long dead have any relevance? Historians and educators have long pondered this issue.

The websites listed here give three opinions.

http://history.hanover.edu/why.html

http://www.historians.org/pubs/Free/WhyStudyHistory.htm

http://www.tntech.edu/history/whystudy.html

"Why study history? The answer is because we virtually must, to gain access to the laboratory of human experience. When we study it reasonably well, and so acquire some usable habits of mind, as well as some basic data about the forces that affect our own lives, we emerge with relevant skills and an enhanced capacity for informed citizenship, critical thinking, and simple awareness." 

- Peter N. Stearns. "Why Study History?"

Read the entire essay at: http://www.historians.org/pubs/Free/WhyStudyHistory.htm