Changes to the History Major for 2009-2010

This year, the department developed a series of changes to the history major, all of which we believe will benefit students. These changes will take effect in the 2009-2010 catalog. Overall, we have reduced the size of the major from 45 to 36 credits. This reduction will allow students to minor in other fields more easily, and brings the size of our major into line with others nationwide. More specificially, we have introduced new lower division surveys on Islam, Africa, and Latin America, some of which all majors will now have to take. Finally, we’ve introduced a new “capstone” seminar (History 498), which will be offered three times a year and will be required of all majors. This course will be devoted entirely to writing a research paper in a seminar setting. Different professors will offer the seminars. In the fall, our first two seminars will be offered by professors Michael Zirinsky and Shelton Woods, and students who take those seminars will write research papers that fall into those professors’ areas of expertise.

The changes in the major will force many students to make a choice: graduate under the new requirements, or under the old ones? Generally, if you are well on the way to graduating under the old requirements, you should probably continue on that path. But if you have questions, get in touch with a faculty member in the department, who can advise you on the best strategy for you.

Please note that the History/Secondary Education and History/Social Sciences/Secondary Education majors will not change.