BA in History
Career Options
History graduates work in a variety of areas including business, law, politics, communications, museums, libraries, social service, and education.
History majors frequently pursue advanced degrees in a number of fields. Many careers do not require a specific degree, but depend on a wide range of demonstrated skills and accomplishments. History majors learn to collect, evaluate, organize and interpret evidence.
The training, education, and experience you develop through the pursuit of a history degree at USM will prepare you well for for a number of career choices.
Programs and Requirements
The Department of History offers a major that leads to a bachelor of arts degree. The major consists of 39 credit hours in history plus a foreign language requirement. In addition, the Department offers an internship program in cooperation with area historical societies, museums, libraries, and other institutions. Majors should, after consultation with an advisor, focus at least three of their history electives (300-level courses) upon a particular country, continent, era, or theme of their choosing and select courses from other departments that complement this concentration.
College Level Equivalency Program (CLEP) examinations are available in Western Civilization and United States History. Unusually well-prepared entering students who pass one or more of these examinations may substitute 300-level course(s) for the HTY 101/102 and/or HTY 121/122/123 introductory surveys. A history major must achieve at least six credits of B or better grades in history courses. No grade of D will count toward fulfillment of a history major. Majors are reminded that, in addition to Department requirements, they must also meet those of the University Core curriculum.
Courses & Requirements
Bachelor of Arts in History
History Requirements:
To graduate with a bachelor of arts in history, a student must successfully complete a minimum of 39 credits in history courses as follows:
Field I
HTY 101 Western Civilization I
HTY 102 Western Civilization II
Field II (complete one of the following pairings)
HTY 121 and one other: HTY 122, 123, or 142
HTY 122 and one other: HTY 121, 123, 141, or 142
HTY 123 and one other: HTY 121, 122, or 141
HTY 141 and one other: HTY 122, 123, or 142
HTY 142 and one other: HTY 121, 122, or 141
Field III (select two)
HTY 152 The Islamic Near East
HTY 171 Traditional East Asia
HTY 172 Modern East Asia
HTY 181 Latin America I
HTY 182 Latin America II
Research methods course
HTY 200 Reference, Research, and Report Writing
Elective advanced history courses
Select five 303-399 level courses in consultation with your major advisor.
The Department of History will occasionally double-list upper-level courses from other departments. History majors may count only one course offered by another department and double-listed as a history course as fulfilling a history major requirement.
Capstone
HTY 400 Senior Seminar
Foreign Language Requirement
Students majoring in history must demonstrate an intermediate competence in one foreign language as part of the Departmental requirements for graduation. This requirement can be fulfilled by achieving a grade of at least C- in the final semester of an intermediate level course or by examination, and by approved international programs and study abroad experiences. Students should consult with their advisor about these options.
Completion of the following courses at USM fulfills the language requirement:
American Sign Language: ASL 202I (Intermediate American Sign Language)
French: FRE 202I (Intermediate French II) or FRE 207I (Intensive Intermediate French) or FRE 206 (Reading French II)
German: GER 202I (Intermediate German II)
Greek: GRE 251 (Introduction to Greek Literature I)
Latin: LAT 251 (Introduction to Latin Literature II)
Russian: RUS 202I (Intermediate Russian II)
Spanish: SPA 202I (Intermediate Spanish II) or SPA 207I (Intensive Intermediate Spanish)
It is recommended that History majors complete most of their introductory courses in Fields I, II or III prior to taking the research methods course, HTY 200 Reference, Research, and Report Writing or advanced history courses at the 300-level. Introductory courses may be recommended as prerequisites for some upper level courses. Students should read course descriptions carefully and plan accordingly.
Successful completion of HTY 200 Reference, Research, and Report Writing is required before taking the major capstone course, HTY 400 Senior Seminar.
Each student should work closely with a faculty advisor to develop a plan for meeting the major requirements and fully exploring courses within the major and outside of the major that support a particular interest, theme, era, or region.
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