Yes my undergrad is in social studies education so when I started grad school I wanted it to be specific so my graduate degree is in American History with a focus on the American Civil War
Nothing wrong with studying the Civil War! And being in WV you have lots of opportunities to attend reenactments within a reasonable travel distance.
I've been using fountain pens almost exclusively to write with for at least ten years now, and bought my first one probably 20 years ago. I never had one leak in a shirt. I HAVE had them leak into the cap, and get ink on the barrel, and end up with blue or black fingers. That rarely happens with modern cartridge pens. The Lamy Safari is an excellent first pen. I bought my kids Lamy ABC fountain pens when they were 4 or 5 years old and their teachers said they had to use pencil for school, so they didn't get as much use as I had hoped. They are cool pens for kids though.
I was going to caution you that you should write with a fountain pen at least every few days to prevent the ink from drying out, but if you'll be taking lots of notes you'll have no worries about that.
As scrawlysteve said, the Fountain Pen Network has lots of good advice. The people there are as friendly as here.
Andy B.