HistoryMajor

The History Department requires all its majors to choose a concentration within the major. Since History as a discipline is diverse and our students come to it with varied expectations, the student’s concentration may aim at a broad exposure to history— General Studies in History —or at deeper immersion in one of three geographically based or three thematically focused approaches. The geographic concentrations are: United States; Europe: and, Latin America and Non-Western World. The thematic concentrations are: Women, Gender, and Sexuality; Empires, Nations, and Citizenship; and, Law, Economics, and Human Rights.

Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) Credits

History majors may use a maximum of six (6) hours of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) history credit towards a history major. AP and IB credit cannot be used to satisfy a major distribution area requirement; these credits can be used to satisfy major credit hours only.

Study Abroad Courses
History majors may apply a maximum of three (3) study abroad courses towards a history major.

General Requirements

• A student must complete 11 courses (a minimum of 35 credit hours) of history, at least 7 courses of which must be at or above the 300-level. Two of the 11 courses required for the history major must be 400-level colloquia. Normally, one colloquium will be taken in the junior year, the other in the senior year. Graduate seminar courses (500-level) may be used to fulfill the major colloquia requirement but do not meet College continuing writing requirements, as colloquia normally do.
  • Two research papers are required of all history majors. These papers are written in the colloquia and are normally sixteen to twenty-four pages in length.
  • Completion of the major requires a minimum of a C average in history courses counted towards the major.
  • The S/U option may not be exercised in any course counted for the major.
  • Special programs have been developed for students who would like to take joint majors in history and art history, history and classics, history and English, and history and religion. Joint major information may be obtained from the Department office.

Concentration Requirements

• Each student must choose a concentration within the major by October of the junior year (or upon declaring a major if done at a later date).
• For all concentrations, students must take at least five courses within the concentration, one of which may be a 200-level course if listed as pertinent, while the other four must be at or above the 300-level, including one 400-level colloquium.
• One of the major's two research papers must be done within the concentration.

Distribution Requirements

• All history majors are required to demonstrate chronological breadth by taking at least one course in early and one in modern history within their chosen concentration.
• History majors with geographic concentrations are also required to take at least two history courses outside their concentration and in separate geographic areas. For instance, a student concentrating in U.S. history is required to take at least one class each in European history and in World history. The two courses outside the concentration may be at any level but students should keep in mind that they may only take a total of four classes below the 300-level for major credit (this includes transfer credits from AP courses).
• Majors with thematic concentrations must explore at least two geographic areas within the concentration, at or above the 300-level (for example, U.S. and European, or U.S. and World history). General Studies majors automatically satisfy the geographic breadth requirement.

Concentrations for History Majors

General Studies
One course each (for a total of five) in: U.S. History before 1860; U.S. History after 1860; European History before 1750; European History after 1750; and Latin America & Non-Western World History.

United States History
This concentration permits majors to study American history in depth, by taking more courses offered by our faculty's U.S. specialists. Students take advanced courses on pre-Civil War history as well as post-1860 America, enabling them to develop a fuller sense of the contours of the nation's history.

European History
This concentration offers students the opportunity to study the transformative social, cultural, and political experiences of European states, societies, and civilizations from ancient Greece and Rome, through the medieval, Renaissance, and early modern periods, to the modern age of revolution, colonialism, total war, and European Union.

Latin America & Non-Western World History
This concentration allows students to focus on the histories of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East through a rich variety of classes offered by our area specialists. Topics of interest include: the rise and fall of empires and civilizations, European colonialism, anti-colonial movements, inter-ethnic and sectarian politics, and globalization.

Women, Gender, and Sexuality
This concentration allows students to focus on the history of women, the social construction of masculinity and femininity, and the making of sexual identities across different societies and eras. Topics include: marriage and the family, definitions of male and female roles by religious institutions and the state, histories of feminism, and changes in notions of sexuality over time.

Empires, Nations, and Citizenship
This concentration lets students explore the social, cultural, and political tensions that have historically shaped relations between societies, and relations within the same societies. Topics include: the rise and fall of empires, from ancient to modern; the growth of nation-states and of related internal or international conflicts; and the problems of liberty, equality, and diversity that have made questions of citizenship so contested.

Law, Economics, and Human Rights
This concentration allows students to examine issues of law, economics, and human rights in historical contexts from ancient to modern periods. Topics include: race and slavery; the origins of capitalism, industrialism, colonialism, and imperialism; diplomatic history; gender regimes; family history; legal and constitutional history; environmental history; medical history; the holocaust; totalitarianism; and civil rights history.