General Comments
First-year students
are encouraged to take any 100- or 200-level history course whose topic
interests them. Starting their sophomore year, non-majors and majors are
welcome to take 300-level courses.
The Department of
History encourages non-majors to consider any of our classes except HIST
480 Senior Capstone Seminar.
Students who plan
to apply for graduate work in history are strongly urged to take considerable
course work in at least one foreign language. Specifically, the department
recommends that such students take at least one course beyond what is stated in
the collegiate foreign language requirement.
Course Planning
First Year
First-year
students are encouraged to take any 100- or 200-level history course whose
topic interests them.
Second Year
Sophomores are
welcome to take any 100-, 200-, or 300-level history course whose topic
interests them. History majors who plan on studying abroad in the spring of
their junior year should take HIST 300 Historiography during
the spring of their sophomore year.
Third Year
All history majors
need to take HIST 300 Historiography by the end of their
junior year. They should also enroll in several other history courses, bearing
in mind the need to select classes that fulfill departmental requirements.
Students are urged to consult carefully with their advisors in the crafting of
their major. Majors should take at least one research-intensive course prior to
the spring of their senior year, and junior year is an ideal time to do so.
Academic advisors can help majors identify classes that have a strong research
component. Double majors or interdisciplinary majors whose advisors are not
historians must talk to a member of the department about how to fulfill their
requirements in history.
Fourth Year
Senior history
majors should ensure that the courses they register for will allow them to
complete all of the requirements for graduation, both collegiate and
departmental. Seniors who wish to pursue an independent research project or who
have not yet taken a research-intensive history course are urged to take HIST
450 Advanced Research and Writing in the fall, prior to taking
HIST 480 Senior Capstone Seminar in the spring. Participation
in HIST 450 is contingent upon the approval of the department.