The History Major and Minor At Muhlenberg
The Department of History offers a nine-course major or a six-course minor. History majors take seven elective courses and a two-semester Senior Reading and Research Seminar. Students must take one course in United States History, one course in European History, and courses from two additional geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. At least one of the seven courses must have content whose focus is primarily in the pre-Modern era and at least one course must be Modern. Students may count only one 100-level course toward the major or minor. Minors are required to take the two Senior Seminars and four additional courses.
Goals:
- Provide students with a broad and deep understanding of past societies and cultures and the forces that shaped them.
- Foster active citizenship through the application of historical knowledge to the contemporary world and develop historical thinking that reflects diverse perspectives.
- Challenge the assumption that the human condition always improves or that progress is inevitable.
Skills:
- Students will learn how to use a wide variety of historical sources and learn how to assess their merits and use them for historical analysis.
- Students will become critical thinkers. They will develop higher order reasoning abilities by analyzing and synthesizing disparate forms of information.
- Students will become proficient writers by presenting their analysis in persuasive prose. Their writing will grow in clarity and sophistication as they move through the curriculum.
- Students will acquire basic and advanced historical research skills. They will become fluent in the use of printed and digital sources, bibliographies, databases, primary source collections and search engines.
Declare Your History Major or Minor Here
