Handouts - For Undergraduate Students Majoring in History
History

The purpose of this web page is to assist undergraduate history majors in planning their study program. Students should see their advisors frequently and keep a copy of their advising worksheet (a copy should be in each student’s file) up to date. At least two semesters before graduating, they should check their entire program in conference with a history advisor, and should get all decisions or judgments in writing.

I. Full-Time Members of the History Faculty

II. Requirements for the BA in History

A student majoring in history must meet all general education requirements, complete 33 semester hours in history and submit three approved term papers or an undergraduate thesis.

A. The History Major

All majors must take History 106-107 (U.S. History Survey sequence) and History 111-112 (World History survey sequence). The European, or Western Civilization, survey sequence taken at another institution may be substituted for one or both of the World History surveys. In addition, students entering the program in the FALL 2002 or in subsequent semesters, will be required to take a special 200-level Historiography & Methodology  class (History 280 OR 281 OR 282). A grade of “C” or better must be earned in all courses. A student will be dropped from the history program and may not receive the B.A. degree in history if he or she received a grade of “D” within the previous calendar year in two courses (or six semester hours) of history work, unless he or she has retaken the course or courses concerned and earned a grade of “C” or better.

Students must also take an additional 18 hours (usually six courses) of upper-level history classes. Of these, at least twelve semester hours must be at the 300 level. We encourage students to take most of their upper-level classes as 300 level courses. 200-level courses are designed for sophomores.

At least 15 of the 33 semester hours in the major must be taken at Roosevelt University.

History majors who are planning to teach at the secondary school level should meet regularly with an advisor in education to make certain the proper requirements for education are fulfilled. Please note that there is no “secondary education major.” Students wishing to teach at this level should major in a subject, such as history, within the College of Arts & Sciences and take the appropriate education courses.

B. Foreign Language Requirement.

While the program has no foreign language requirement, it is essential that students who intend to go to a Ph.D. program in history take at least two years of a foreign language. Generally, non-American specialists must demonstrate competence in two foreign languages; American specialists must demonstrate competence in one foreign language.

C. The Term Paper Requirement

As a prerequisite to graduation, each history major must write either THREE term papers, usually in the process of meeting normal course requirements for 300-level history courses, or an undergraduate thesis guided by a full-time faculty member.

Each term, or research, paper must be typewritten. Two copies should be handed into the instructor. One copy will be returned to the student; the other copy will be signed by the instructor and placed in the student’s file located in the Department of History, Art History, and Philosophy office in Room 724 of the Auditorium building. It is the student’s responsibility to make certain that these term papers are on file before the student applies for graduation.

The faculty has issued a leaflet, Instructions for Writing Term Papers. This leaflet is obtainable from Room 724 or from any member of the faculty. For questions of form and usage not answered in that leaflet, see Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations or the Chicago Manual of Style.

History | Handouts