History Major

BA degree

All history majors are required to take 36 credits in history as indicated in the requirements below. Freshmen will normally not take courses above the 100 or 200 level. It is expected that each history major will consult regularly with his or her advisor in formulating a program of study that will help to fulfill his or her educational and career goals.

Students with a minimum GPA of 3.2 are eligible for nomination to the university’s Alpha Eta Theta Chapter of the International History Honor Society, Phi Alpha Theta.

Goals for Student Learning

Context - Demonstrate familiarity with the context and chronology of major themes in Western and/or World Civilization and deeper knowledge of the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa.
Historical thinking - Identify problems, formulate historical questions, evaluate major historical debates, develop, critique, and articulate a historical argument or thesis.
Historical Research - Conduct historical research, effectively locate sources in a variety of formats, accurately interpret primary and secondary sources.
Historical Argument - Present a coherent and persuasive argument, which is well-structured (thesis, body, conclusion), well-supported (sources support argument), and well-written (grammatically and stylistically correct, coherent, and persuasive).
Format/CMS - Follow proper format in documenting sources using the Chicago Manual of Style.

Core Requirements

History majors must complete three core requirements: The 100-level History Requirement, the Critical Skills Requirement, and the History Seminar Requirement.

The 100-level History Requirement:

There are three ways students may complete the 100-level HST requirement.

Option One:
HST 101 - History of Western Civ I Credits: 3
HST 102 - Hist of Western Civ II Credits: 3
Option Two:
HST 103 - World Civilizations I Credits: 3
HST 104 - World Civilizations II Credits: 3
Option Three:

Take the first half of one sequence and the second half of the other (e.g. HST 101 and HST 104, HST 102 and HST 103).
Critical Skills Requirement:
HST 201 - Critical Skills for the History Major Credits: 3
History Seminar Requirement:

(choose one of the following)
HST 401 - Seminar:American History Credits: 3
HST 402 - Seminar:European History Credits: 3
HST 403 - Seminar:World History Credits: 3

Additional Requirements

24 credit-hours of history courses, to be divided in the following manner:

Six credits in U.S. History - 6 credits
(above the 100 level)
Six credits in European History - 6 credits
(above the 100 level)
Six credits in world history - 6 credits
(e.g., Latin America, Asia,Near East, Africa, Ancient)
(above the 100 level)
Six credits of history electives - 6 credits

Total credits: 36

Note

No more than a total of 12 credits may be taken at the 100 level.

University Studies Requirements

In addition to the requirements in the major, students will be required to complete the University Studies requirements. For more information: http://www.umassd.edu/generaleducation/universitystudies/universitystudiescurriculum/.