History Major

PROGRAM INTRODUCTION

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.

Students can complete the History major in its entirety at Kent State Stark.

• Careers for History Majors

ELEMENTS OF THE HISTORY MAJOR

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.

HISTORY GRADUATES WILL

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• Obtain historical content knowledge and understand the connectedness of historical events and the wide varieties of human experiences.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