Degree Requirements

History Studies

Requirements for the History Major reflect the commitment to history as a way of knowing as it occurs in a community of thinkers.

Breadth courses focus on (a) the scope of civilization, usually in separate geographical areas and (b) teaching students how to think like historians. They introduce students to broad developments while also using specific historical material to help students draw conclusions about these larger trends.

Depth courses are upper-division classes (200 or 300 level) that focus on more specific topics in a specific area or smaller thematic framework. These classes ask students to compare historical material and the arguments of other historians in order to craft their own conclusions about the past.

A methodology course (History Methods) taken in the sophomore year, teaches students the specific skills of the historian: analyzing sources, using theory, comparing perspectives and understanding the contemporary relevance of studying the past. This class then helps students learn to explain their analyses better in verbal and written form, with an eye toward the senior thesis.

Collective Inquiry in History, taken in the junior year, continues to teach students the skills of the historian and prepares them for their senior thesis. Here students also work in groups to edit and publish an online undergraduate journal.

Finally, in the Seminar in History, majors carry out detailed research on a topic of their choice and work one-on-one with a faculty advisor to write their senior thesis that is the capstone of their work as history majors.

Two more upper-division classes are required, at least one of which must focus on Asian, African or Latin American history.

The history major completes at least 40 semester hours in history, with grades of C- or better, and 4 semester hours in a cognate or related field outside of the major. Students must maintain a 2.0 GPA in their major courses. In summary, the major consists of the following courses:

semester hours

Minor in History. Students take two breadth courses, each with a different geographical focus, and two depth courses with a specific emphasis developed in conjunction with an advisor, as well as a third depth course of choice. Requirements include grades of C- or better in 20 semester hours. At least 8 hours are required at the 200 level or above.

Honors. The departmental honors program encourages and recognizes outstanding academic performance in history. The department invites qualified students to enter the program. Candidates may earn honors by submitting a thesis of publishable quality and by presenting their work at a public forum or by generating the equivalent work in another medium. This project may be an expansion of earlier research projects in HIST:410 Seminar or HIST:501 Independent Study. Candidates who produce work judged of honors caliber by history faculty receive departmental honors at graduation.

Teacher Certification. Each year some Susquehanna history graduates go on to teach history at the middle and high school levels. Students follow the regular history major program (with the exception that their breadth courses must include a United States and a European survey) and complete the required education courses to earn secondary-level social studies certification. Further information on certification is available in the Education Requirements section.