History, B.A. (E, A)

The History Major is designed to give students both a broad background in American, European, and Global history and the ability to choose specialized courses from a wide-range of upper-division electives.  The major also prepares students for careers in vocations with an historical orientation as well as the broader world of public and private employment with a menu of introductory and advanced Technical Skills and Work Experience courses that emphasize the field of digital history, working with digital archives, and public history.   Students become acquainted with historical research and writing and with historical thought through the sophomore-level seminar, The Historian’s Craft, HIST 295 , and the Senior Seminar,HIST 495 .

The History Major prepares students to think critically about change and continuity in a variety of societies and cultures in order to help them to understand our increasingly global, cosmopolitan, and diverse world. It offers courses organized along thematic, geographical, or temporal lines that provide students with historical perspectives and insights into the world and the forces and events that shaped it. Students receive the opportunity to read analytically, think critically, and write effectively. A major in history helps you hone the basic skills that employers want most in their workers—critical thinking and communication—and further provides high-demand technical skills training and work experience. The History Major is a 41-credit program. Students choose three 100-level courses from the “Foundations of Historical Study” menu of six courses and are required to take HIST 295 , HIST 296 (Careers in History), and HIST 495  as part of the “Career Development Curriculum.”  Students complete the career development element of the program by choosing two courses from the Professional Skills menu of seven courses. The larger part of the program, “History in Depth,” involves the student in the selection of six topical history courses from the program designation groups: United States, Europe, and Global.