History Major

SSH PEAK

Major Requirements

33 credits

HIS-270	Writing History	3 credits
HIS-390	Research Paper	0 credits
-
HIS-401	Seminar in Historical Methods	3 credits
-	or
HIS-480	Senior Thesis: historiography	2 credits
-	and
HIS-481	Senior Honors Thesis: monograph	4 credits

History majors are required to complete HIS-390 prior to enrolling in HIS-401 .

Asia

Complete one course from the following.

HIS-345	Modern China	3 credits
HIS-358	People's Republic of China	3 credits
HIS-359	Pre-Modern Japan	3 credits
HIS-384	Modern Japan	3 credits

Europe

Complete one course from the following.

HIS-339	National Socialism & the Final Solution	3 credits
HIS-347	18th-Century Europe: Empires and Modernity	3 credits
HIS-348	19th-Century Europe: Revolutions and Empires	3 credits
HIS-349	20th-Century Europe: Conflict and Unity	3 credits
HIS-351	History of Science	3 credits
HIS-360	Britain, Empire, and World, 1639-1832	3 credits
HIS-361	Britain, Empire, and World, 1832-2010	3 credits
HIS-362	European Jewish History	3 credits

Latin America

Complete one course from the following.

HIS-380	Colonial Latin America	3 credits
HIS-382	Revolutionary Mexico	3 credits
HIS-383	Authoritarian Governments in Latin America	3 credits
HIS-385	Conquest and Encounters	3 credits
HIS-386	Religions in Latin America	3 credits
HIS-387	Cuba	3 credits
HIS-388	Gender, Race, and Sexuality in Latin America	3 credits

Mediterranean

Complete one course from the following.

HIS-328	Mythology: Classical Hist and Archaeology	3 credits
HIS-331	Ancient Greece	3 credits
HIS-332	Ancient Rome	3 credits
HIS-333	Jews Under Islam	3 credits
HIS-364	The Life of Jesus: History and Archaeology	3 credits
HIS-376	History of Zionism and Modern Israel	3 credits

United States

Complete one course from the following.

HIS-300	The United States Since 1945	3 credits
HIS-301	Vast Early America	3 credits
HIS-305	The Presence of the Past: Introduction to Public History	3 credits
HIS-307	The American West	3 credits
HIS-310	Jewish History and Culture in the Americas	3 credits

History Electives

Complete 12 additional credits according to student interest.

Students accepted for Senior Honors (HIS-480 and HIS-481) must complete only nine additional elective credits.

All history majors are strongly advised to study at least one foreign language. Knowledge of at least two foreign languages, including French or Spanish and area-specific languages depending on region of interest, are especially important for students who plan to attend graduate school in history.

History majors intending to apply for teaching certification in history as a first teaching field in the State of Idaho must include HIS-204 History of the Modern U.S. and one other 300-level US History course in their major coursework. They may also want to include POE-110 United States Political Economy or an equivalent POE course dealing with American Government in their overall college curriculum. For more specific details on the courses necessary to achieve certification in history as a first teaching field, students should consult the Education Department.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this major:

First, students will be able to compare human experiences from a variety of historical, cultural, and geographical frames of reference.

Second, majors will be able to critically evaluate historical evidence by cultivating an awareness of bias, perspective, context, and reliability.

Third, majors will understand the principles and practice of history as an interpretive discipline and the different ways in which historians have practiced their craft over time. 

Fourth, students will be able to formulate and research historical questions in order to articulate historical arguments.

Fifth, majors will satisfy the Social Science PEAK outcome by being able to articulate the normative cultural, social, and political expressions of human experience, as well as the normative schema used by historians for interpreting, arranging, and narrating historical evidence.