History majors take a minimum of 12 history courses: HS 100 , one HS 200-level course, and 10 upper-division (HS 300- and 400-level) courses. These are normally distributed as follows:
- HS 100 , which fulfills the lower-level History core requirement.
- One HS 200-level course, which may also fulfill the upper-level History/English core requirement. Up to two additional HS 200-level courses may be substituted for HS 300-level courses. Therefore, a maximum of three 200-level courses may count toward the major.
- HS 400 provides a foundation for all other HS 300-level and 400-level courses. It is normally taken in the sophomore year after the completion of the core requirement.
- Up to six HS 300-level electives. These are upper-level courses focused on a specific time period, place, or topic with greater emphasis on historical detail.
- Two seminars are required from (HS 460-498). Seminars are small, intensive courses that are conducted largely through discussion and require a major paper or project. Students may take additional 400-level courses in lieu of 300-level courses.
- HS 499 - is taken in the spring of senior year. It is restricted to majors and involves the preparation of a major research paper as the culmination of the major.
- History majors who are in the Honors Program take the Honors Human Drama sequence (HN 201-204) instead of HS 100 and may take up to two HS 200-level courses total. They may take a 300-level course or 400-level course (with the instructor's permission) to complete the second part of the Honors History/English Core. If a student elects to take a 400-level History course, that course may also count toward the seminar requirements of the History major.
Upper-division courses may be taken in any order, though students usually take seminar courses in the junior or senior years. Majors may also decide to exceed the minimum number of history courses.
Specialized and independent study courses, which serve a particular purpose (HS 401-409) can be taken as part of the 12 courses required for the history major, but cannot be used in lieu of the two seminars or the capstone (HS 499 ).
Specialized tracks: History majors have the option to follow specialized tracks within the major, which involves completion of at least three courses on a related theme. The Department currently offers the following tracks: Gender and Sexuality, Science, Technology, Environment, and Medicine, and Law, Politics, and Society.
Useful courses for history majors offered by other departments include Making Sense of Data with Database Management Systems (CS 105 ); Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis (ST 110 ); introductory courses in economics (EC), political science (PS), sociology (SC); and courses in art history (AH), English (EN), and modern languages and literatures (ML).
Interdisciplinary majors are required to take eight history courses:
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