Program Description

History has been called the memory of human group experience, the collective record of all that has happened in the past, and the emotions, ideals, and values that have given human experience its sense of continuity, causation, and meaning. As an academic discipline, history is perhaps the broadest of the liberal arts, certainly the least restricted by subject and scope. It requires the development of analytical skills, the use of deductive and inductive reasoning, the mastery of knowledge from different cultures and epochs, and the ability to express ideas in clear, readable prose. The study of history has practical rewards as well. It provides students with a broad cultural background and inculcates skills of analysis and composition that are considered essential to the study of education, literature, law, government, communications, journalism, public service, and business.

Program Curriculum

The undergraduate curriculum in History is designed to prepare students to function effectively in an increasingly globalized world. It emphasizes the examination of historical events and developments through broad historical themes and cross-disciplinary histories. Required courses include lower-division courses in United States and world history designed to provide a broad foundation in national and global history, a lower-division course in historical methodology, an upper-division course in historical writing and advanced historical methods; and a capstone experience (Senior Seminar). Students will explore the wealth of human historical experience across time and place. They will take five courses in the history of the world’s regions, including the Americas, the Asian world, the Transatlantic world, the Mediterranean world, Europe, and Africa and the Middle East. They will also take three courses from at least two of the following themes: Empires; War and Freedom; Changing and Challenging Identities; and Science, Technology, Environment, and Medicine. Finally, students will have an opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge they have developed in an internship, supervised collaborative research, a public history course, or another project or setting.

American History and Institutions Requirements

Satisfaction of the American Institutions requirements shall be met by no less than one course in United States History and one other course in United States Government, or respective examinations administered by the History and Political Science Departments. Courses that satisfy the US history requirement are HIST 1218 Survey of US History to 1877 and HIST 1228 Survey of US History Since 1865, or their equivalents. For information about the United States History competency examination, see below.

Examination Procedure Statement

While the Department of History strongly advises all students to meet the history portion of the American Institutions Requirement through classroom experience, an alternative is available to those who want to fulfill the requirement by challenge examination. A student who intends to challenge the requirement by examination must apply to the Department of History during the first three weeks of the semester. A student who waits until the senior year to challenge the history requirement may jeopardize graduating on schedule.

Advanced Placement (AP) Program

The Department of History accepts scores of 3 or better on Advanced Placement examinations in United States History, European History, and World History as satisfying the most nearly equivalent lower-division courses in the major.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Major in History with a Concentration in Social Science Teaching

Students pursuing the BA in History with the Concentration in Social Science Teaching must maintain a 2.7 GPA overall with no grades below C- in order to earn the Social Science Waiver. In order to comply with currency standards, there is a ten-year expiration on all courses in this program.
 

Course List

Code	Title	Units
General Education Requirements
First-Year Seminar (FYS)		2
Lower Division Area A: Foundational Skills		9
Lower Division Area B: Natural Sciences		9
Lower Division Area C: Arts and Humanities		0
Lower Division Area D: Social and Behavioral Sciences		0
Lower Division Area E: Student Enrichment and Lifelong Learning (SELF)		3
Lower Division Area F: Ethnic Studies		3
American Institutions: Government and History		0
Junior Year Diversity & Reflection (JYDR) 1		0
Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) 1		0
Upper Division Thematic Area B and D		3
General Capstone 1		0
General Education Subtotal 2		29
Major Requirements
Lower-Division Requirements
HIST 1218	Survey of US History to 1877	3
HIST 1228	Survey of US History Since 1865	3
HIST 1418	World History, Pre-History to 1500	3
HIST 1428	World History, since 1500 CE	3
HIST 2000	Historian's Craft (or equivalent)	3
ECON 2018	Essentials of Micro-Economics	3
ECON 2028	Essentials of Macro-Economics	3
Breadth and Depth Requirements
HIST 3008	Historical Writing	3
EDTE 3000	Introduction to Education	3
HIST 4908	Senior Seminar	3
INST 3900	Educator as Social Scientist	3
Select one of the following:		3
HIST 3110	Colonial North America 1492-1776
HIST 3120	Revolutionary America 1750-1828
HIST 3130	The Civil War Era, 1828-1877
HIST 3140	The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era 1877-1917
HIST 3150	Twentieth-Century America
HIST 3240	California History	3
Select one of the following:		3
HIST 3410	The Rise of Islamic Civilization, 570-1258
HIST 3420	Science, Technology, and Engineering in Islamic History, 758-1406
HIST 3440	African Decolonization, 1922-1994
HIST 3470	Modern Japan
HIST 3480	Pre-Modern China
HIST 3490	Modern China
Select one of the following:		3
HIST 3560	Europe, 1815-1914
HIST 3570	Europe Since 1914
HIST 3310	Revolutions in Latin America
HIST 3320	Ancient and Colonial Mexico
HIST 3330	Modern Mexico
HIST 4510	The History of European Empires 1500-2000
Select two of the following:		6
HIST 3110	Colonial North America 1492-1776
HIST 3120	Revolutionary America 1750-1828
HIST 3130	The Civil War Era, 1828-1877
HIST 3140	The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era 1877-1917
HIST 3150	Twentieth-Century America
HIST 3210	The American South
HIST 3228	American Indian History
HIST 3230	The American West
HIST 3240	California History
HIST 3258	The American Environment
HIST 3260	History of the American Borderlands
HIST 3270	Sports History in the Americas
HIST 3310	Revolutions in Latin America
HIST 3320	Ancient and Colonial Mexico
HIST 3330	Modern Mexico
HIST 3410	The Rise of Islamic Civilization, 570-1258
HIST 3420	Science, Technology, and Engineering in Islamic History, 758-1406
HIST 3438	Muslim Societies in American History, 1539-2008
HIST 3440	African Decolonization, 1922-1994
HIST 3458	Health and Medicine in Colonial and Postcolonial Africa
HIST 3460	Pre-Modern Japan
HIST 3470	Modern Japan
HIST 3480	Pre-Modern China
HIST 3490	Modern China
HIST 3510	The Renaissance
HIST 3520	The Transformation of Europe: The Medieval West from 200 to 1300 CE
HIST 3530	The European Reformations
HIST 3540	Tudor-Stuart England
HIST 3550	Britain and Ireland Since 1750
HIST 3560	Europe, 1815-1914
HIST 3570	Europe Since 1914
HIST 3580	Twentieth-Century Spain
HIST 3590	Rise and Fall of Soviet Empire, 1917-91
HIST 3608	Black Europe: The History and Politics of Blackness in Modern Europe
HIST 3610	Mexican-European Connections, 1821-1982
HIST 3620	Revolutions in Atlantic World
HIST 3630	Women and Gender in the Transatlantic World
HIST 3640	The World of the Ancient Greeks
HIST 3650	Science, Medicine, and Empire in the Atlantic World
HIST 4210	Citizenship and Civil Rights in the United States
HIST 4220	Mexican-American History
HIST 4230	African-American History
HIST 4248	Film and Identity in History
HIST 4250	Slavery in North America
HIST 4410	Gender in East Asia
HIST 4420	Japan's Empire, 1895-1945
HIST 4430	Nationalism in Modern Pacific Asia
HIST 4440	The Cold War in Asia
HIST 4450	Afro-Asianism: Anti-Racism in Global History
HIST 4460	The Indian Ocean in World History
HIST 4480	Propaganda and History
HIST 4510	The History of European Empires 1500-2000
HIST 4528	Plagues and Public Health: Epidemiology and Society since 1800
HIST 4530	Fascism and Populism in Europe and the Americas
HIST 4638	Building an Empire: A History of Rome
HIST 4640	Pagans and Christians in the Roman World
HIST 4670	The Ottoman Empire, 1452-1923
HIST 4690	Muslim Societies in African History, 570-1918
Select one of the following:		3
ECON 3118	The Pacific Rim Economies
ECON 3410	Globalization & Development
PLSI 3040	International Relations
PLSI 3320	Government and Politics of China
PLSI 3340	Government and Politics of Latin America
PLSI 3350	Government and Politics of the Middle East
PLSI 3360	Politics of Mexico
PLSI 3510	International Organizations
Select one of the following:		3
PLSI 3140	Judicial Power and the Constitution
PLSI 3150	American Political Theory
PLSI 3210	Congress
PLSI 3220	The Presidency
PLSI 3450	Civil Rights & Civil Liberties
ECON 4108	International Economic Development	3
or ECON 4400	International Economics
or PLSI 4640	International Political Economy
SOC 3300	Cultural and Social Geography	3
or ECON 3550	Economic Geography
or PLSI 3370	Political Geography
Select one of the following:		3
RS 1108	Jesus, Buddha, and the Moral Life
RS 1128	A History of God
RS 1138	Religions of Asia
RS 3208	Explorations in Scripture
RS 3230	Islam
RS 3240	Hinduism
RS 3250	Buddhism
RS 3368	Women, Religion and Sexuality
RS 3538	Religion and Human Rights
RS 4528	Religion, Ethics, and Social Justice
Major Subtotal		66
Additional Units Needed Towards Graduation		25
Total Units		120

¹

JYDR may be satisfied in major, minor or other university requirement. Students are waived from UD area of their program. The GWAR must be satisfied through HIST 3008 Historical Writing (3), and the GE Capstone must be satisfied through HIST 4908 Senior Seminar (3).

²

Some General Education requirements are included in major.