An Approach to Integrating Historical Perspective into an Undergraduate Accounting Course

This paper describes an approach to integrating historical perspective into a fourth-year accounting course to supplement student learning of contemporary issues in accounting. Historical materials were mapped onto the course curriculum and delivered either through additional reading assignments or lectures. The purpose of this paper is to present an approach to course design that integrates an historical perspective into a course in an active manner. It provides a pathway for the inclusion of accounting’s history and accounting history research into accounting education. This approach goes beyond providing students with an abstract list of suggested readings. Instead, it incorporates supplemental material through two mapping processes: by topic and by course. This represents a novel and thorough approach to introducing an historical perspective of accounting to students while at the same time providing opportunities for examining contemporary accounting issues in a deeper and more robust way.