B.S. in History
Program Chair: Bill Vitek
Program Goals
History examines human experience, confronting students with facets of human life in the past and in the present. The history major at Clarkson provides students with the opportunity to learn about lives, times, and places distant from their own, and it provides them with the tools to think about them critically, gaining a greater understanding of the complexities of their world.
Students majoring in History will:
- Appreciate history as an interpretive discipline
- Have a broad understanding of history
- Demonstrate mastery of appropriate research methodologies in history by producing a capstone research paper
- Gain expertise in using technology to explore historical problems
History majors work closely with their advisors to develop a coherent program of study. In addition to traditional courses in American History, students have the unique opportunity to develop areas of expertise generally unavailable at liberal arts colleges, by taking sets of history courses focused on Science, Technology, and Society; War Studies; and the Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance World.
Through their History major at Clarkson, students will also gain the ability to:
- Write clearly and persuasively
- Speak effectively in a group setting
- Think critically
- Understand and analyze complex problems
- Examine and interpret evidence
- Organize and synthesize large amounts of information
Program Requirements*
120 credit hours, including:
- 1 credit Introduction to the Liberal Arts pre-seminar
- 9 courses in history, including:
- 6 courses above the 200-level
- 1 course in pre-modern history
- 1 course in modern history
- Humanities/Social Sciences Research Seminar
- 5 courses in a pre-professional concentration
- Fulfillment of the requirements of the Clarkson Common Experience
Students majoring in History are required to take a concentration of at least five courses in a pre-professional field, such as pre-law, pre-med, pre-physical therapy, business or communications and media. This concentration provides students with opportunities to increase career choices, while at the same time exploring a wide variety of interests through their major.
Finally, history majors will be encouraged to do:
- Study Abroad. Students who study abroad are required to take at least one course in the history of their host country.
- Historical Internships, for example, at local historical museums.
* Courses taken to fulfill requirements for a Humanities/Social Science Major can not be used to fulfill requirements for a Humanities and Social Science Minor.
| History Courses | ||||
| 200-level courses: | HIST333 | Science, Technology, and Society | ||
| HIST210 | Survey of Ancient History | in the Renaissance | ||
| HIST220 | American History, 1776-1877 | HIST340 | War in Ancient Greece | |
| HIST221 | American History, 1877-present | HIST341 | War in Ancient Rome | |
| HIST230 | Science and Society | HIST343 | War in the Middle Ages | |
| HIST240 | War and Society | HIST345 | The Civil War | |
| HIST241 | War Literature I | HIST347 | World War I in History and | |
| HIST25 | Twentieth-Century Germany | Literature | ||
| HIST291 | Survey of the Medieval and | HIST349 | Cold War History | |
| Renaissance World | HIST350 | History of Nazi Germany | ||
| 300-level courses: | HIST351 | History of the Holocaust | ||
| HIST320 | Medicine and Society in America |
HIST390-99 |
Special Topics in Political Science | |
| HIST325 | Sexuality and Health in American | |||
| History | 400-level courses: | |||
| HIST327 | History of Women in America | Hu/SS480 | Major Research Seminar | |
| HIST329 | History of the American Family | |||
| HIST330 | Science, Technology, and Society | |||
| in the Ancient World | ||||
| HIST331 | Ancient Medicine and Magic | |||
| History Curriculum | ||||||
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| FIRST YEAR | ||||||
| First Semester | Second Semester | |||||
| Course | Title | Cr. Hrs. | Course | Title | Cr. Hrs. | |
| UNIV190 | Clarkson Seminar |
3
|
HIST MAJOR COURSE |
3
|
||
| Hu/SS/120 | Introduction to Liberal Arts |
1
|
MA282 | Statistics |
3
|
|
| Common Experience Math |
|
Common Experience | ||||
| Requirement |
|
Science Requirement |
3
|
|||
| (MA180 recommended) |
4
|
Common Experience | ||||
| HIST MAJOR COURSE at |
|
Knowledge Area Course |
3
|
|||
| 200 Level |
3
|
Pre-professional | ||||
| Free Elective |
3
|
Concentration or | ||||
| FY100 | First Year Seminar |
1
|
Free Elective |
3
|
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 |
|
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|
15
|
15
|
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|
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| SOPHOMORE YEAR | ||||||
| First Semester | Second Semester | |||||
| Course | Title | Cr. Hrs. | Course | Title | Cr. Hrs. | |
| HIST MAJOR COURSE |
3
|
HIST MAJOR COURSE |
3
|
|||
| Common Experience | Common Experience | |||||
| Knowledge Area Course |
3
|
Knowledge Area Course |
3
|
|||
| Pre-professional | Pre-professional | |||||
| Concentration |
3
|
Concentration |
3
|
|||
| Common Science | Free Elective |
3
|
||||
| Requirement |
4
|
Free Elective |
3
|
|||
| Free Elective |
3
|
|
||||
|
|
15
|
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|
16
|
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|
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| JUNIOR YEAR | ||||||
| First Semester | Second Semester | |||||
| Course | Title | Cr. Hrs. | Course | Title | Cr. Hrs. | |
| HIST MAJOR COURSE |
3
|
HIST MAJOR COURSE |
3
|
|||
| HIST MAJOR COURSE or | HIST MAJOR COURSE or | |||||
| Free Elective |
3
|
Free Elective |
3
|
|||
| Common Experience | Common Experience | |||||
| Knowledge Area or | Knowledge Area or | |||||
| University Course |
3
|
University Course |
3
|
|||
| Pre-professional | Pre-professional | |||||
| Concentration |
3
|
Concentration |
3
|
|||
| Free Elective or Common | Free Elective or Common | |||||
| Experience Technology and | Experience Technology and | |||||
| Humanity Course |
3
|
Humanity Course |
3
|
|||
|
|
|
|||||
|
15
|
15
|
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|
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| SENIOR YEAR | ||||||
| First Semester | Second Semester | |||||
| Course | Title | Cr. Hrs. | Course | Title | Cr. Hrs. | |
| H/SS RESEARCH | H/SS RESEARCH | |||||
| SEMINAR (C2) or | SEMINAR (C2) or | |||||
| MAJOR COURSE |
3
|
MAJOR COURSE |
3
|
|||
| Pre-professional | Free Elective |
3
|
||||
| Concentration or | Free Elective |
3
|
||||
| Free Elective |
3
|
Free Elective |
3
|
|||
| Knowledge Area or | Free Elective |
3
|
||||
| University Course |
3
|
|
||||
| Free Elective |
3
|
15
|
||||
| Free Elective |
3
|
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|
|
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|
15
|
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Students in the Class of 2010 and later — see Academic Requirements for details of the Clarkson Common Experience including the First-Year Seminar, the Clarkson Seminar, Knowledge Area (KA) courses, University Courses (UC), and related requirements.
