History Major, BA

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Program Description

History is a systematic study of the human past in order to use that knowledge to help explain the complexity and diversity of human activities, affairs, ideas, and institutions. The discipline of history stresses research, analysis, and communication. In the History Program at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), students are educated to recognize the vast and complex range of human experience throughout the centuries, and challenged to discover and explain patterns of continuity and change in relation to historical events and developments. The History Program offers a wide spectrum of courses in African American, U.S., European and wider world history; in the pre-modern and modern eras; in cultural, economic, intellectual, political, religious and social history; and in the specialized areas of applied history, diplomatic history, military, oral history, urban history, and the history of science. At WSSU, a history major can pursue one of two tracks of different lengths: a major in history with a minor in another discipline; or a major in history with a concentration in a particular area of history that has been agreed upon by the student and a history advisor. The History Program at WSSU has prepared graduates who have pursued graduate studies in history, divinity, law, and education.

Mission

The history cognate is committed to contributing an essential link in the liberal arts curriculum of Winston-Salem State University. The undergraduate program in history provides an important knowledge base of history and introduces students to the skills of the professional historian.

Objectives

To provide the means for an understanding of historical development so students may become aware of the certainty of change and be prepared to meet it.
To provide a solid background for those students who pursue teaching professions in both lower and higher education.
To provide a general foundation for students who plan careers in professional fields outside of history.
To prepare students for graduate training in history.

Student Learning Outcomes

Command of historical content

Command of historical content
Conduct historical research
Think critically and analyze documents and artifacts
Recognize and evaluate primary and secondary sources
Create historical arguments with sufficient and appropriate evidence
Utilize multiple perspectives and methodologies
Compare and contrast historical processes
Identify connections between historical events

Major Requirements

Students majoring in history are expected to take a variety of history courses at the lower (1000, 2000) and upper (3000, 4000) levels. They should have made at least a “C” in one of the 1000 level courses before taking upper level courses. There are two options for students pursuing a general degree in history, either Option (1) 21 hours of 3000/4000 level history courses and a minor, or Option (2) 39 hours of upper division history with a concentration of study agreed upon by the student and a history advisor. History majors must earn at least a grade of “C” in all history courses to be counted towards the major requirements. Students are also expected to have taken a variety of courses in general education to support their development in the liberal arts. These include a course in philosophy, geography, sociology, and psychology. Students should also take POS 2311 and another political science course at the 3000 or 4000 level. Students who wish to go on to graduate programs in history are advised to attain a proficiency in a language in addition to English, but that is not required for the undergraduate degree.

Major Courses

History Core (33 semester hours)

All students majoring in history must take the following core classes.

POS 2311 (GE)

POS 3000/4000 level (1 course)

HIS 1301 or its equivalent (GE)

HIS 1302 or its equivalent (GE)

HIS 2306

HIS 2307

HIS 2311

African American History 3000/4000 level (1 course)

European History 3000/4000 (1 course)

Non-Western (non-US, non-African American, non-European) 3000/4000 level (1 course)

HIS 4316 (Historiography) or HIS 4347 (Materials & Methods of Research in Black History).

Option 1:

Additional 9 hours (3 courses) of 3000/4000 level history courses and a minor in another discipline.

Option 2:

Additional 27 hours (9 courses) of 3000/4000 level history courses with a concentration.

Students wishing to concentrate in African American history must take HIS 4347.

History Courses in Numerical Sequence

History
	• HIS 1301 - World Civilization to 1600
	• HIS 1302 - World Civilization from 1600 to the Present
	• HIS 2306 - United States History to 1865
	• HIS 2307 - United States History from 1865 to the Present
	• HIS 2308 - African World Cultures • HIS 2311 – Historical Thinking and Methodology • HIS 3303 – Islamic Civilization I • HIS 3304 – Islamic Civilization II
	• HIS 3307 - Latin American Economic History
	• HIS 3310 - The American Military Experience • HIS 3312 – History of the Indian Subcontinent
	• HIS 3313 - United States Diplomatic History
	• HIS 3320 - Oral History
	• HIS 3323 - History of England
	• HIS 3331 - History of Africa • HIS 3332 – Cultural Dimensions of the African Experience in the Caribbean
	• HIS 3335 - American Social and Intellectual History to 1865
	• HIS 3336 - American Social and Intellectual History since 1865
	• HIS 3341 - Black American History to 1865
	• HIS 3342 - Black American History from 1865 to the Present
	• HIS 3345 - Blacks in Urban America since 1945
	• HIS 3351 - History of Science
	• HIS 3352 - The African Presence in Mexico
	• HIS 3353 - The African Presence in the Americas
	• HIS 3354 - Modern Latin America
	• HIS 3356 - Modern Russian History
	• HIS 3361 - Urban History
	• HIS 3370 - Applied History I
	• HIS 3371 - Applied History II
	• HIS 3372 - Colonial Latin America • HIS 3381 – Public Archeology
	• HIS 4041 - Independent Study
	• HIS 4301 - Latin American Political Thought • HIS 4302 – Special Topics in History • HIS 4303 – Age of the Crusades • HIS 4305 - The Ancient World • HIS 4306 - The Classical World • HIS 4307 - The Early Middle Ages
	• HIS 4308 - History of North Carolina • HIS 4309 – The Renaissance & Reformation • HIS 4310 – Modern European Cultural History • HIS 4311 – Modern European Intellectual History
	• HIS 4316 - Historiography
	• HIS 4323 - Special Topics in Latin America
	• HIS 4326 - American Studies
	• HIS 4332 - History and Politics of East Asia
	• HIS 4346 - Economic History of the United States
	• HIS 4347 - Materials and Methods of Research in Black History
	• HIS 4351 - Recent History of the United States
	• HIS 4355 - African Experience in America
	• HIS 4356 - Seminar in Afro-American History
	• HIS 4371 - The South in Popular Culture
	• HIS 4372 – Latin America Since 1814 • HIS 4373 – Topics-History