Major in History

Bachelor of Arts
The history concentration offers courses in three general areas. These are American history, European history, and non-Western history. These courses prepare the student for graduate study or, together with the necessary professional education courses, for teaching at the junior or senior high school level.

Students, especially if they plan to go into teaching, should choose courses from all three areas. This also is true for those planning to go directly on to graduate school, since there will be plenty of opportunity then to specialize in an area of interest and correspondingly less opportunity to sample other areas.

In addition to these courses, each student takes one required course, historiography, designed to give familiarity with the professional aspects of history, i.e., with research, writing, and interpretation.

For the student who is interested in history as an area of concentration but who does not plan to teach, there are a number of alternatives. Students of history develop skills and perspectives (basic research and perhaps statistical skills, the ability to place problems within a broader context, the ability to deal effectively with questions of cause and effect, etc.) that can be widely applied in fields outside the classroom.

Liberal arts students with a history concentration may find satisfying career opportunities in such fields as historical administration, historical editing, museology, government, communications, publishing, law, banking, market research, advertising, and the travel industry.

Required Courses: 3 semester hours
*HIS491 Historical Research

Selected Courses: Choose 33 semester hours with at least 9 semester hours in American history.
*HIS105 Colonial America
*HIS110 Nineteenth-Century America
*HIS115 Twentieth-Century America
HIS205 The American West
*HIS210 The African-American Experience
HIS215 Women in American History
HIS250 The Ancient Mediterranean World
HIS255 Medieval Europe
HIS260 The Renaissance and Reformation
HIS265 Age of Revolution and Nationalism
HIS270 Twentieth-Century Europe
*HIS305 The Immigrant in Urban America
HIS310 American Labor History
HIS340 Indians of the Americas
HIS345 Latin American History
HIS360 Russia Since 1600
HIS365 Hitler and the Nazi Revolution
HIS370 History of the Middle East
HIS375 The Far East
**EDU382 Methods for Teaching Secondary Social Studies

* Required of students seeking teaching certification in secondary social studies.

** Required of students seeking teaching certification in secondary social studies, but does not count as one of the 12 courses required for a history major.

Required Courses for Social Studies Certification Students: 21 semester hours

Students working toward social studies certification must acquire 3 teaching areas in social studies. To do this they should major in history (for a total of 36 semester hours as outlined below), which will provide them with 2 teaching areas: American and European history. More specifically, they must take a minimum of 15 semester hours in American history (HIS105, HIS110, HIS115, HIS210, and HIS305) and 9 semester hours in world history, which provides two distinct teaching areas. To acquire the required third teaching area, students must also take a minimum of 9 semester hours in one of the following areas: political science, psychology, or sociology. Working closely with their academic advisers to carefully select elective courses, students can acquire the necessary hours in the third teaching area outside their major. Beyond that, students are encouraged to take as many courses in other social studies areas as possible in order to supplement the major, broaden intellectual horizons, and create additional teaching areas.

Required Courses for Students Seeking Certification in Secondary Social Studies:
HIS105 Colonial America
HIS110 Nineteenth-Century America
HIS115 Twentieth-Century America
HIS210 The African-American Experience
HIS305 The Immigrant in Urban America
EDU382 Methods for Teaching Secondary Social Studies
HIS491 Historical Research*

Selected Courses: Choose 18 semester hours, at least 3 semester hours of which is in non-Western history and 9 semester hours of which are in World history.
HIS205 The American West
HIS215 Women in American History
HIS250 The Ancient Mediterranean World
HIS255 Medieval Europe
HIS260 The Renaissance and Reformation
HIS265 Age of Revolution and Nationalism
HIS270 Twentieth Century Europe
HIS310 American Labor History
HIS340 Indians of the Americas
HIS345 Latin American History
HIS360 Russia Since 1600
HIS365 Hitler and the Nazi Revolution
HIS370 History of the Middle East
HIS375 The Far East