Studying the past -- whether it’s near or distant, foreign or familiar -- is fascinating. And understanding the past enhances your ability to understand the present. As a History Major at the University of Oklahoma, you will work closely with a faculty distinguished for both its teaching and research. The research, analytical, and writing skills that you develop as a History major will help you advance in a wide range of careers. In fact, most of our majors do not become professional historians. Instead, they pursue careers in fields such as law, public service, business, journalism, information management, military service, or even medicine. Others use their historical expertise and knowledge of other cultures more directly as teachers, museum curators, public historians, workers in non-profit agencies, or Peace Corps volunteers. Some even go on to graduate school to become professional historians. For those students entering the field of education, the OU Rainbolt College of Education has a scholarship fund to assist with student debt. For more information, see Debt-Free Teachers.
The History Department allows majors to tailor their upper-division coursework to reflect their historical interests. As a major, you will choose from two tracks: The Traditional Major offers a variety of geographic, chronological, and thematic perspectives. The Field of Concentration major allows you to focus on a particular region (like the U.S. or Asia) or theme (like Women's and Gender History or History of War, Revolution, and Diplomacy). Whichever track you choose, you will progress through three small seminars designed to teach you the skills that are central to our discipline: HIST 2573 (History Sleuth); HIST 3573 (The Junior Colloquium); and HIST 4973 (The Senior Capstone). Because each of these courses builds on its predecessor, you are strongly encouraged to take them in order.
If you have any questions about majoring or minoring in history, please contact our Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Jane Wickersham (jwickersham@ou.edu).
The field of concentration track offers breadth and depth. Lower-division surveys introduce students to multiple regions and periods while upper-division electives enable students to concentrate their studies on a particular region or theme.
History majors must complete 15 hours of lower-division surveys in a variety of geographic and chronological areas; they are expected to complete this coursework before selecting either the traditional major or the geographic and thematic major. 12 of those hours will include a US History Survey (either HIST1492 or HIST1493, required of all OU students) and any one course from any three of the four following areas: Ancient/Medieval; Near/Far Eastern; European; or Latin American/African. The final required survey is HIST 2573, discussed below.
All History majors must complete the following seminar sequence:
The History Sleuth emphasizes how historians (like detectives) search for clues to the past and piece them together. Since this course teaches students how to perform historical research, it is recommended that students take the course in the first year as a major.
The Junior Colloquium is a small seminar that immerses students in research and writing, preparing them for the senior capstone. For this reason, it is recommended that students take the course in their second year as a history major. Students are welcome to enroll in more than one colloquium; additional colloquia count as 3000-level courses for the major. The three different sections offered every semester cover a wide variety of geographic and thematic topics.
The Senior Capstone is the senior-level research paper the university requires of all CAS majors to graduate and the culmination of the major. History majors, having taken HIST2573 and HIST3573, will find themselves well prepared to undertake and write a significant research paper. The three different sections offered every semester also cover a wide variety of geographic and thematic fields.
Students are expected to complete 21 hours of coursework overall. To have a concentration in a specific field, you will be required to take at least 15 upper-division credit hours within that field, consisting of 3000- and 4000-level courses. There is no difference between 3000 and 4000-level courses in terms of expectations, assignments, or level of difficulty, with the exception of the capstone.
Students also take the colloquium (HIST3573) and the capstone (HIST4973); both courses may be used for the completion of a field (15 hours total), but it is not required to have them in your field. (We will encourage you to take them in your field whenever possible, but we realize that scheduling difficulties sometimes occur.) Students may use up to two 2000-level courses to complete the 21 hours required for the major. However, but they cannot use those courses to also fulfill survey requirements, nor can they use them to complete the field of concentration.
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for major credit in other departments:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for Major Credit in Other Departments
Majors following the traditional track are expected to take 21 hours of major elective courses; 6 of these hours may be taken at the 2000 level; but at least 15 major elective hours must be at the 3000 and 4000 level, including a Junior Colloquium (HIST3573) and a Senior Capstone (HIST4973). A 2000-level course that has been used to fulfill a survey requirement cannot be used toward the 21 elective hours. There is no difference between 3000- and 4000-level courses in terms of expectations, assignments, or level of difficulty, with the exception of the capstone.
The capstone can be in any area. The remaining 18 hours of major elective courses (including the colloquium) must be divided between three geographic categories as follows: 6 hours US, 6 hours African/Asian/Latin American/Russian/Near East, and 6 hours European.
Approved for history major credit:
African History:
Approved for history major credit:
Asian History:
Latin American History:
All of the above:
Approved for history major credit:
Russian/Eastern European History:
Near/Middle Eastern History:
Approved for history major credit:
World History:
Approved for history major credit:
Approved for history major credit:
Provisional and subject to change.
Provisional and subject to change.
A Minor in History may be obtained by taking fifteen hours of History courses, nine hours of which must be upper-division. In order to have the minor recorded on his/her transcript, a student must pick up the appropriate form from the College of Arts and Sciences office, in Ellison Hall at any time before graduation.
History Minor Checksheet (pdf)
History Minors also may qualify for membership in Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society.
