Full Description

The Bachelor of Arts degree in History provides a well-rounded educational experience in which students have the independence and flexibility to explore and develop their individual interests while getting a solid grounding in different approaches to historical research, writing and analysis.

The study of history offers insight into the complexity of the human experience by exploring the political, cultural, social, economic and environmental factors that have shaped the past and the present. The study of history also offers training in a range of skills, including how to find, evaluate, manage and synthesize multiple sources of information; how to think critically and analyze complex evidence; how to undertake independent research and manage time effectively; how to develop and present reasoned arguments supported by evidence; how to present information and arguments effectively in writing; and how to develop and deliver effective oral presentations. The skills and experiences gained through the study of history provide preparation for a variety of career tracks.

The History major is comprised of several elements. Lower-Division History Electives provide history majors with an overview of the major themes and developments in world history from human origins to the present and in the history of the United States from pre-colonization to the present. The required Historical Research Methods course introduces students to the main tools and techniques of doing history, while providing them with the opportunity to develop and refine the skills of historical research, writing and analysis to do well in their upper-division coursework. The History major also includes distribution requirements in two categories of upper-division courses. Area Studies Electives are a group of upper­-division history courses in which the history of a place (state, nation or region) is the primary focus of the courses. Thematic Studies Electives are a group of upper-division history courses in which a specific topic or theme is the primary focus of the courses while the place and time period are secondary. The required Senior Seminar in History course is a capstone experience in which students develop, design and execute their own original historical research project that utilizes primary sources and engages with current historical scholarship.

Students in the History major are encouraged to undertake an internship for course credit to gain job experience and further strengthen their profile for their career after graduation.

Admission Requirements

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students who graduated from high school three or more years ago.

First-Year Students on the Kent Campus: First-year admission policy on the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon cumulative grade point average, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends. Students not admissible to the Kent Campus may be administratively referred to one of the seven regional campuses to begin their college coursework. For more information, visit the admissions website for first-year students.

First-Year Students on the Regional Campuses: First-year admission to Kent State’s campuses at Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas, as well as the Twinsburg Academic Center, is open to anyone with a high school diploma or its equivalent. For more information on admissions, contact the Regional Campuses admissions offices.

International Students: All international students must provide proof of English language proficiency unless they meet specific exceptions. For more information, visit the admissions website for international students.

Transfer Students: Students who have attended any other educational institution after graduating from high school must apply as undergraduate transfer students. For more information, visit the admissions website for transfer students.

Former Students: Former Kent State students or graduates who have not attended another college or university since Kent State may complete the reenrollment or reinstatement form on the University Registrar’s website.

Admission policies for undergraduate students may be found in the University Catalog.

Some programs may require that students meet certain requirements before progressing through the program. For programs with progression requirements, the information is shown on the Coursework tab.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Understand and apply a variety of basic historical methods.
2. Find, use and analyze historical evidence and communicate their findings in an effective manner.
3. Obtain historical content knowledge and understand the connectedness of historical events and the wide varieties of human experiences.
4. Understand history as a discipline based on interpretation with historical questions constantly being reframed and investigated.

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

¹

A minimum C grade must be earned to fulfill the writing-intensive requirement.

²

Maximum 3 credit hours of HIST 40092 may be applied towards the degree.

Graduation Requirements

Foreign Language College Requirement, B.A.

Students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts degree in the College of Arts and Sciences must complete 14-16 credit hours of foreign language.¹
To complete the requirement, students need the equivalent of Elementary I and II in any language, plus one of the following options²:

1. Intermediate I and II of the same language
2. Elementary I and II of a second language
3. Any combination of two courses from the following list:

• Intermediate I of the same language
• ARAB 21401
• ASL 19401
• CHIN 25421
• MCLS 10001
• MCLS 20001
• MCLS 20091
• MCLS 21417
• MCLS 21420
• MCLS 22217
• MCLS 28403
• MCLS 28404

¹

All students with prior foreign language experience should take the foreign language placement test to determine the appropriate level at which to start. Some students may start beyond the Elementary I level and will complete the requirement with fewer credit hours and fewer courses. This may be accomplished by (1) passing a course beyond Elementary I through Intermediate II level; (2) receiving credit through one of the alternative credit programs offered by Kent State University; or (3) demonstrating language proficiency comparable to Elementary II of a foreign language. When students complete the requirement with fewer than 14 credit hours and four courses, they will complete remaining credit hours with general electives.

²

Certain majors, concentrations and minors may require specific languages, limit the languages from which a student may choose or require coursework through Intermediate II. Students who plan to pursue graduate study may need particular language coursework.

Roadmap

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this major. However, courses designated as critical (!) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation.

• Delivery:
  • In person
• Location:
  • Kent Campus
  • Stark Campus

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Analyze secondary sources in a variety of areas of historical specialization and participate actively and positively in discussions of those sources.
2. Read and master the formative as well as the most significant recent scholarship in their particular areas of focus.
3. Construct effective and analytical book reviews, comparative review essays and historiographical pieces with a high level of proficiency, particularly when it comes to integrating various historical works together into an analytical/argumentative whole.
4. Form their own judgments about secondary historical works and the historiographical fields of which they are part.
5. Analyze a wide array of primary sources in a sophisticated manner; and integrate these sources with secondary sources in order to make an original historical argument.
6. Demonstrate an ability to conceptualize; research; and write book reviews, annotated bibliographical essays, historiographical essays and seminar papers.
7. Produce a professional-quality book-length piece of rigorous academic work.

For more information about graduate admissions, visit the graduate admission website. For more information on international admissions, visit the international admission website.

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree from an accredited college or university in history or related discipline
• Minimum 3.000 GPA on a 4.000-point scale
• Official transcript(s)
• GRE scores
• Goal statement describing professional objectives and proposed field of study
• Significant piece of written work
• Three letters of recommendation (preferably academic)
• English language proficiency - all international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions) by earning one of the following:
  • Minimum 550 TOEFL PBT score
  • Minimum 79 TOEFL IBT score
  • Minimum 77 MELAB score
  • Minimum 6.5 IELTS score
  • Minimum 58 PTE score
  • Minimum 110 Duolingo English score

Application Deadlines

• Fall Semester
  • Priority deadline: February 1
    Applications submitted by this deadline will receive the strongest consideration for admission.
• Spring Semester
  • Rolling admissions

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

¹

Students who did not complete a historiography class for their master's degree must take HIST 81002.

²

Students may take HIST 81070 more than once.

³

Students working in U.S. history must complete HIST 82070 and HIST 82071.

⁴

Students' electives must include at least four seminars/colloquia. Outside of the focus field, students elect one general and one specialized field. General fields include Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States. Specialized fields explore a particular subfield (e.g., history of American foreign relations) or methodology (e.g., cultural history) across a broad sweep of time and are designed to deepen students' knowledge of their general field.

⁵

Students may apply special topics courses HIST 79095, HIST 79195 and/or HIST 79295 to their focus field requirements with the approval of the graduate coordinator.

⁶

Each doctoral candidate, upon admission to candidacy, must register for HIST 89199 for a total of 30 credit hours. It is expected that a doctoral candidate will thereafter register for HIST 89299 until all requirements for the degree have been met.

Graduation Requirements

• All students must demonstrate reading knowledge of a foreign language.
• Course grades help to measure student performance. Only work of B- grade or better is considered "passing" at the graduate level. Any students whose grades are deficient are dismissed.

Candidacy

After completing all of the requirements, students must successfully complete written and oral examinations in the three elected fields of history.

• Delivery:
  • ​In person
• Location:
  • Kent Campus

Full Description

The Associate of Applied Business degree in Office Technology focuses primarily on front-end office functions, where employees use technology for daily job responsibilities that may include producing business documents, designing presentations, generating data reports and creating financial spreadsheets. Students use the most current versions of business software applications and learn the fundamentals of accounting, automated records management, business communications and resource management.

Graduates gain a wide variety of computer application skills needed for gainful employment in office administrative support positions, including office assistant, accounting clerk, office manager, administrative coordinator, executive administrative and administrative assistant–technology.

The Office Technology major includes the following optional concentration:

• The Medical Billing/ Coding Office concentration provides a basic understanding of software, medical terminology, billing/coding and procedures used in medical settings such as hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices and outsourcing facilities involved with providing billing operations.

Admission Requirements

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students who graduated from high school three or more years ago.

Kent State campuses at Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas, and the Twinsburg Academic Center, have open enrollment admission for students who hold a high school diploma, GED or equivalent.

Some programs may require that students meet certain requirements before progressing through the program. For programs with progression requirements, the information is shown on the Coursework tab.

For more information on admissions, contact the Regional Campuses admissions offices.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Organize, manage and analyze critical business data using spreadsheet and database software.
2. Create state-of-the-art documents, using design guidelines, terminology and basic publication concepts of industry standards.
3. Import and integrate data from their original software to another for upgraded usage.
4. Determine the most appropriate software to use in creating specific business documents that meet industry standards for mailing.
5. Contrast, compare and adapt to forces that influence emerging management practices.
6. Manage the people, productivity, technology and environment within the administrative function of an organization.
7. Integrate coursework with realistic office settings, emphasizing the total quality management environment.
8. Use multiple channels used in business to communicate with others
9. Participate in the activities of various businesses to determine the variety of job responsibilities assigned to employees in their profession; develop job search strategies for use in their outreach activities.
10. Track and provide administrative support in managing projects, using software designed for this specific purpose.
11. Examine, describe and exercise various leadership, decision-making and motivational skills.

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

¹

IT 11000 may count toward applied electives if taken before or with any other Information Technology (IT) or Office Technology (OTEC) course.

Additional Requirements for Students Not Declaring a Concentration

Medical Billing/Coding Office Concentration Requirements

Graduation Requirements

Office Technology (no concentration)

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this major. However, courses designated as critical (!) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation.

Medical Billing/Coding Office Concentration

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this major. However, courses designated as critical (!) must be completed in the semester listed to ensure a timely graduation.

• Delivery:
  • Fully online
  • In person
• Location:
  • Ashtabula Campus
  • Salem Campus
  • Trumbull Campus
  • Tuscarawas Campus

Full Description

The Master of Arts degree in History offers students the opportunity for advanced study in a variety of areas. Coursework emphasizes interpretation, methodology and original research. A student's program of study allows for the opportunity to conduct historical inquiry, research and analysis at the highest level. While students will be able to develop a core competence in their chosen field study, they will also study the histories of regions and times far removed from their central interests. Students may also pursue interdisciplinary work in cognate fields composed of courses in outside disciplines.

Students who anticipate continuing their graduate study beyond the M.A. degree should pursue one of the thesis tracks. Those who choose the thesis option, which is required of students on graduate assistantships, will produce a thesis based on original primary source research that engages a historiographically significant research question. Non-thesis options are available for those who do not expect to go on to doctoral work.

The program develops graduates who are educated scholar-citizens committed to historical empathy and in possession of critical thinking and communication skills honed by rigorous training.

The History major includes the following optional concentration:

• The History for Secondary School Teachers concentration is for educators interested in the advanced study of history. Coursework is focused on current scholarship and approaches to history. While the concentration's focus is not in history pedagogy, it is designed to encourage the application of current historical scholarship to the work responsibilities of the practicing teacher. The program provides school professionals with a structured but flexible approach to analyzing and teaching history while permitting interdisciplinary work in related fields or areas particularly relevant to students' professional objectives.

For more information about graduate admissions, visit the graduate admission website. For more information on international admissions, visit the international admission website.

Admission Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in history from an accredited college or university¹
• Minimum 3.000 undergraduate GPA on a 4.000 point scale
• Official transcript(s)
• GRE scores
• Goal statement describing professional objectives and proposed field of study
• Significant piece of written work that integrates primary and secondary sources
• Three letters of recommendation (preferably academic)
• English language proficiency - all international students must provide proof of English language proficiency (unless they meet specific exceptions) by earning one of the following:
  • Minimum 550 TOEFL PBT score
  • Minimum 79 TOEFL IBT score
  • Minimum 77 MELAB score
  • Minimum 6.5 IELTS score
  • Minimum 58 PTE score
  • Minimum 110 Duolingo English score

¹

Students who have not earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History are eligible to apply for admission if they have completed 12 credit hours of upper-division history courses (with a minimum 3.30 GPA).

Application Deadlines

• Fall Semester
  • Priority deadline: February 1
    Applications submitted by this deadline will receive the strongest consideration for admission.
• Spring Semester
  • Rolling admissions

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Analyze primary sources (texts, artifacts, images); locate, assess and analyze primary sources and incorporate those sources into original historical research projects with a high level of proficiency.
2. Conceptualize, research and write book reviews, annotated bibliographical essays, historiographical essays and research papers.
3. Dissect secondary sources in a variety of areas of historical specialization, and participate actively and positively in class discussions of those sources.
4. Understand that interpretation is one of the foundations of graduate-level study in the discipline, and offer their own interpretations of work both orally and in writing.

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

¹

Students must complete at least one research seminar (HIST 61070) no matter their specific program choice.

²

Students can count no more than 3 credit hours of HIST 60092 toward their degree no matter their specific program choice.

Additional Requirements for Students Not Declaring a Concentration

¹

Students selecting the thesis option must demonstrate a reading knowledge of one or more foreign languages if their advisers determine that it is necessary for research.

²

Students may elect to take two graduate-level courses in fields outside of history. Students who choose to pursue outside field coursework must take history graduate courses in two of the following three areas: American history, European history and global history (non-Western). Students who do not take outside field coursework must complete 12 credit hours of graduate coursework in history, and they must include coursework in each of the following areas: American history, European history and global history (non-Western).

³

Students may elect to take two graduate-level courses in disciplines outside of history. Students who choose to pursue outside discipline course work must take history graduate courses in two of the following three areas: American history, European history and global history (non-Western). Students who do not take outside discipline coursework must complete 15 credit hours of graduate coursework in history and they must include coursework in each of the following areas: American history, European history and global history (non-Western).

History for Secondary School Teachers Concentration Requirements

¹

Electives are to be approved by faculty advisor and may include courses from other disciplines, if appropriate. Maximum 3 credit hours of pre-approved workshops for teachers.

²

Students may petition the graduate coordinator to count other courses in pedagogy, regardless of department, toward the electives for this concentration.

Graduation Requirements

• Minimum B- grade is required in all specified courses.
• The culmination of the program's writing component for those students intending to go on to doctoral work is the completion of a substantial thesis based on original primary-source research and the oral defense of that thesis.

• Delivery:
  • In person
• Location:
  • Kent Campus

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Describe and apply some of the main methodologies historians employ to study the past.
2. Think critically about the varieties of evidence left by those in the past, including an understanding of the omissions, silences and agendas that often appear in primary sources.
3. Relate one's understanding of past time periods, places and themes to the circumstances of the present day.
4. Conduct basic research in both primary and secondary sources and analyze those sources in an argumentative essay.

Admission Requirements

Admission to a minor is open to students declared in a bachelor’s degree, the A.A.B. or A.A.S. degree or the A.T.S. degree (not Individualized Program major). Students declared only in the A.A. or A.S. degree or the A.T.S. degree in Individualized Program may not declare a minor. Students may not pursue a minor and a major in the same discipline.

Program Requirements

Minor Requirements

Graduation Requirements

• Students can only count a course in one elective list, even though the course may appear in more than one list.

• Minimum 6 credit hours in the minor must be upper-division coursework (30000 and 40000 level).
• Minimum 6 credit hours in the minor must be outside of the course requirements for any major or other minor the student is pursuing.
• Minimum 50 percent of the total credit hours for the minor must be taken at Kent State (in residence).

• Delivery:
  • In person
• Location:
  • Kent Campus
  • Stark Campus