历史学作为一门学科，其本身的重要性一直被中国中学生忽略，来自AP课程中心世界史老师Keith Budd希望通过他的讲解，让同学们了解"学习和使用历史究竟有什么意义？"、"我们到底为什么要学习历史？"Keith认为可以通过学习历史掌握、学习先人们创造的丰富的经验，并通过研究过去的模式去预测未来。

　　As a History teacher, I am often asked "what is the use or relevance of studying History?" or "Why on earth does it matter what happened long ago?" The answer is that our History is inescapable. It studies the past and the legacies of the past in the present, and by studying patterns in the past it becomes possible to predict the future. Far from being a "dead" subject, it connects things through time and encourages its students to take a long view of such connections.

　　All people and peoples are living histories. To take a few obvious examples: communities speak languages that have evolved in a similar way to the biological theory of evolution provided by Darwin. They live in societies with complex cultures, traditions and religions that have not been created on the spur of the moment, rather that are a product of millennia of keeping the useful, and forgetting the useless. Of perfecting and crafting a range of cultural tools that create a worthwhile society, just as species branches containing beneficial mutations outlast those that don't. These innovations are not just cultural; people use technologies that they have not themselves invented, and these technologies evolve in much the same way.

　　Therefore, understanding the linkages between past and present is absolutely basic for a good understanding of the condition of being human. That, in a nutshell, is why History matters. It is not just "useful", it is essential.

　　The study of the past is essential for "rooting" people in time. And why should that matter? The answer is that people who feel themselves to be rootless live rootless lives, often causing a lot of damage to themselves and others in the process. Indeed, those that do not know the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. All peoples have a full historical context. But some, generally for reasons that are no fault of their own, grow up with a weak or troubled sense of their own placing, whether within their families or within the wider world. They lack a sense of roots. For others, by contrast, the inherited legacy may even be too powerful and outright oppressive, forcing them to act in certain ways, or restricting their choices.

　　In all cases, understanding History is integral to a good understanding of the condition of being human. It is also essential for us to understand the cultures, lifestyles and choices of others - and more importantly - to enable us to relate to them, and perhaps even predict how they will act based on observed past responses.

　　The study of history therefore is not just a meaningless study of dates and dead kings, but by understanding why these people acted in the way they did we understand not only who we are, why we are here but how we can best serve our society and planet in the future.