History Major, B.A., B.S.
B.A. degree or B.S. degree
Major Map
Admission Requirements, Retention & Termination Standards
- Students planning or considering a major or minor in history are urged to consult with an advisor as early as possible in their college careers. Students may select any history faculty member to serve as advisor.
- Six (6) hours of Credit/No Credit in history courses will be accepted in the major or minor, but these hours may not be in 400 level or 500 level courses.
- Survey or introductory courses (when transferred from another college or university) are accepted for no more than 3 hours per course on the major or minor.
- History majors, particularly those planning to do graduate work in history, are strongly urged to include two years of foreign language study in their undergraduate programs.
- History majors and minors planning to do graduate work in history are strongly urged to take both the general aptitude and advanced history tests of the Graduate Record Examination early in their senior year. These examinations are generally required for admission to graduate schools.
- Credit Limitation. Courses in the department that are subject to graduate credit limitation under the policy covering unspecified content or variable credit include HST 532, 590, 595, 597, 601, 690, and 791.
- The department does not accept the CLEP examination for credit toward a major or minor.
- Up to 6 hours of credit for AP examinations will be approved as follows: 3 credits for a score of three for History (American) in HST 111 or HST 112; History (European) in HST 101 or HST 102; or History (World) in HST 201 or HST 202 or 6 credits for a score of four or five for History (American) in HST 111 and HST 112; History (European) in HST 101 and HST 102; or History (World) in HST 201 and HST 202.
- The department strongly urges all history majors and minors to study abroad, particularly those planning to teach history or to go on to graduate study. Students are encouraged to meet with a department study abroad faculty advisor or an Office of Study Abroad advisor as early as possible.
See information on accelerated admissions to the MA in History at the bottom of this program.
Program Requirements
Required Courses I (4 hours)
Required Courses II (3 hours)
Note: HST 496WI or a substitute approved by an advisor.
Required Courses III (3 hours)
U.S. History
Select one of the following:
| HST 110 | The American Experience | 3(3-0) |
| HST 111 | The Quest for Liberty: The United States to 1865 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 112 | The Struggle for Equality: The United States, 1865-Present | 3(3-0) |
| HST 221 | Growing Up in America | 3(3-0) |
| HST 222WI | Cherokees, Slaves and the Struggle for Racial Justice | 3(3-0) |
| HST 226/WGS 226 | From Witch Trials to Women’s Liberation: Women in America | 3(3-0) |
| HST 228 | American Business: A History | 3(3-0) |
| HST 302 | Comparative Environmental History | 3(3-0) |
| HST 303 | The American Revolution | 3(3-0) |
| HST 312 | American Military Experience | 3(3-0) |
| HST 315 | The Vietnam War | 3(3-0) |
| HST 319 | The United States since World War II | 3(3-0) |
| HST 320 | United States Social History to 1865 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 321 | United States Social History since 1865 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 322 | Westward Movement in America | 3(3-0) |
| HST 323 | History of Native Americans | 3(3-0) |
| HST 324 | 'Death is Better than Slavery': African American History to 1877 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 325 | 'By Any Means Necessary': African American History, 1877-Present | 3(3-0) |
| HST 328 | Technology in American History | 3(3-0) |
| HST 329 | Film and the Politics of Gender, 1960-Present | 3(3-0) |
| HST 330 | 'We the People': U.S. Constitutional History | 3(3-0) |
| HST 333 | History of Michigan | 3(3-0) |
| HST 335 | History of the Rock and Roll Era | 3(3-0) |
| HST 511 | Colonial British America | 3(3-0) |
| HST 513 | Era of the Early Republic, 1789-1825 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 515 | Civil War and Reconstruction | 3(3-0) |
| HST 516 | Emergence of Modern America, 1877-1920 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 522 | Indians of the Great Lakes Region | 3(3-0) |
| HST 524 | American Diplomatic History Since 1898 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 526 | Modern American Political Culture, 1865-Present | 3(3-0) |
| HST 532 | Michigan History Studies | 1-3(Spec) |
Required Courses IV (3 hours)
Modern European History
Select one of the following:
| HST 102 | The Development of Western Civilization: From 1700 to the Present | 3(3-0) |
| HST 106 | Twentieth Century: Western World Issues | 3(3-0) |
| HST 254/WGS 254 | Women in European History | 3(3-0) |
| HST 280 | Nazi Germany and the Holocaust | 3(3-0) |
| HST 343 | History of Paris | 3(3-0) |
| HST 344 | Modern Europe, 1815-1918 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 347 | The French Revolution and Napoleonic Period | 3(3-0) |
| HST 349 | Russia in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries | 3(3-0) |
| HST 353 | Germany since 1870 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 356 | Europe Since 1945 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 542 | The Enlightenment in Europe | 3(3-0) |
| HST 543 | Napoleon | 3(3-0) |
| HST 558 | Europe, 1914-1945 | 3(3-0) |
Required Courses V (3 hours)
Non-Western History
Select one of the following:
| HST 163 | The Latin American Experience | 3(3-0) |
| HST 168 | Modern East Asia | 3(3-0) |
| HST 176 | The African Experience | 3(3-0) |
| HST 236 | Babylon and Beyond: Ancient Civilizations of the Near/Middle East | 3(3-0) |
| HST 237 | Baghdad and Beyond: The Middle East from 600 C.E. | 3(3-0) |
| HST 261 | Indigenous Peoples of Latin America: Precontact to 1821 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 336 | Iran and Iraq in History | 3(3-0) |
| HST 361/REL 361 | Sinners and Saints of Colonial Latin America | 3(3-0) |
| HST 362WI | Revolutions in Latin America | 3(3-0) |
| HST 369 | Traditional China | 3(3-0) |
| HST 370 | Modern China | 3(3-0) |
| HST 375 | Continuity and Change in Contemporary Africa, 1960s to the Present | 3(3-0) |
| HST 376 | East/Central Africa: Issues | 3(3-0) |
| HST 377 | West Africa | 3(3-0) |
| HST 378 | South Africa | 3(3-0) |
| HST 379/HUM 340 | Race, Class and Power: South Africa in the 20th Century | 3(3-0) |
| HST 382/REL 382 | History of Israel | 3(3-0) |
| HST 560 | Mind Games | 3(3-0) |
| HST 576 | Colonialism in Africa, 1880s-1960s | 3(3-0) |
Note: HST 236, HST 237, and HST 369 may fill requirements for either Required Courses V or Required Courses VI, but cannot fill requirements for both categories.
Required Courses VI (3 hours)
Pre-Modern History
Select one of the following:
| HST 101 | The Development of Western Civilization: From Ancient Times to 1700 A.D. | 3(3-0) |
| HST 200 | Medieval Civilization | 3(3-0) |
| HST 201 | World History to 1500 | 3(3-0) |
| HST 236 | Babylon and Beyond: Ancient Civilizations of the Near/Middle East | 3(3-0) |
| HST 237 | Baghdad and Beyond: The Middle East from 600 C.E. | 3(3-0) |
| HST 238 | Ancient Greece and Rome | 3(3-0) |
| HST 336 | Iran and Iraq in History | 3(3-0) |
| HST 338 | The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | 3(3-0) |
| HST 341 | Renaissance and Reformation | 3(3-0) |
| HST 342 | The Culture of Renaissance Italy (Study Abroad) | 3(Spec) |
| HST 346 | The World of Versailles: Power and the Politics of Splendor in 17th-Century France | 3(3-0) |
| HST 348 | Russia through the Reign of Catherine the Great | 3(3-0) |
| HST 350 | English History to 1688: From Stonehenge to the Glorious Revolution | 3(3-0) |
| HST 369 | Traditional China | 3(3-0) |
| HST 505 | Tudor England | 3(3-0) |
| HST 537 | The Age of Cicero | 3(3-0) |
Note: HST 236, HST 237, AND HST 369 count for either non-Western or pre-Modern. No course, however, can fill requirements in more than one area.
Required Courses VII (6 hours)
Six (6) additional hours of history courses numbered 100-599.
Electives I (6 hours)
Two additional courses at 300-500 level
Electives II (3 hours)
One additional course at 500 level - HST 590 cannot be used for this requirement
Total: 34 semester hours
Accelerated Master of Arts in History
(Currently enrolled CMU Undergraduate students only)
The Accelerated M.A. degree allows highly motivated students to accelerate their academic careers by undertaking graduate work toward the traditional Master of Arts degree (not the Joint M.A. in History) concurrently with undergraduate work. This is not for students seeking teaching certification as part of their undergraduate degree work.
Admission Standards:
- Written recommendation of a CMU history professor.
- Six (6) hours of history coursework completed with at least a 3.25 GPA in those courses and a 3.25 overall GPA.
Retention Standards:
- Candidates for the Accelerated Masters Degree Program must meet with the History Graduate Director and complete the Acknowledgement and Approval Form.
- Candidates must earn at least a “B” grade in each of the courses listed on the Approval Form.
- Students who earn less than a “B” grade in any of their AMDP courses will be notified by the office of Graduate Studies of their removal from the program.
Degree Requirements
The degree requirements for the Accelerated M.A. combine the non-teaching major and the traditional M.A. as follows:
- The student must meet with an advisor in the department and submit an Accelerated M.A. Program Plan to the department by the beginning of the second semester of his or her second year of study for the B.A. An accelerated Masters Program Approval Form must also be submitted to the office of Graduate Studies, along with an application for admission to Graduate Studies.
- HST 496WI must be taken in the junior (third) year.
- In the student’s junior undergraduate year, he or she must apply to CMU Graduate Studies for accelerated admission in the senior year and be admitted to accelerated graduate status.
- Three to twelve (3-12) hours of M.A. graduate credit, including one graduate seminar or colloquium, may be taken once the student has achieved senior status (86 credit hours).
- The accelerated plan is intended to encourage research and writing competency in a particular research field; therefore, the candidate is encouraged to elect Plan A, the Thesis Option of the M.A. program.
- It is highly recommended that the student undertake a one- semester study abroad in history, preferably in the third year of the B.A. work. This can be arranged through the department.