You misunderstand my intent. I didn't mean to imply that studying history was not worthwhile. In fact the different questions one could ask:

What did different historians interpret different things? What was every day life like? What was technology like?

Were precisely the reason I think a minor could be useful. The fact that, if you need to, you can attain a passing grade, while still focusing your studies to learn the background knowledge of your chosen field is of immense value. Rather than being a 'blow off class,' I would recommend a humanities course to be supplementary. I have long suspected that if the history, culture, science and art of The West were presented together the fact the students can relate different classes to each other would improve their overall interest. This is what I meant by making it a lighter course load. Again I can cite no studies I know of, but when I study Mathematics I find it's easier to learn it by tracking the ideas back to the time and place they were thought up and the effect it had. By learning these together, my subjective exprience says I learn each more efficently. In fact I would hazard to guess I work more on each class than I would have if I didn't take them cocurrently. I apologize for not being clear.