The Major

Advisers: Marnie Anderson, Ernest Benz, Darcy Buerkle, Daniel K. Gardner, Sergey Glebov, Jennifer Guglielmo, Richard Lim, David Newbury, Neal Salisbury, Ann Zulawski.

Requirements for the Major in History:

The History major comprises 11 semester courses, at least six of which

shall normally be taken at Smith, distributed as follows:

1.  Field of concentration: five semester courses, at least one of which is a

     Smith History department seminar. Two of these may be historically

     oriented courses at the 200-level or above in other disciplines approved

     by the student's adviser.

Fields of concentration: Antiquity; Islamic Middle East; East Asia; Europe, 300-1650; Europe since 1650 to the present; Africa; Latin America; United States; Women's History; Comparative Colonialism.

Note: A student may also design a field of concentration, which should consist of courses related chronologically, geographically, methodologically or thematically, and must be approved by an adviser.

2.  Additional courses: six courses, of which four must be in two fields

     distinct from the field of concentration.

3.  No more than two courses taken at the 100-level may count toward the

     major.

4.  Geographical breadth: among the 11 semester courses counting

     towards the major there must be at least one course each in three of

     the following geographical regions.

                Africa

                East Asia and Central Asia

                Europe

                Latin America

                Middle East and South Asia

                North America

      Courses both in the field of concentration and outside

      the field of concentration may be used to satisfy this

      requirement. AP credits may not be used to satisfy this

      requirement.

Courses cross-listed in the History Department section of the catalogue count as History courses toward all requirements.

A student may count one (but only one) AP examination in United states, European, or World history with a grade of 4 or 5 as the equivalent of a course for 4 credits toward the major.

The S/U grading option is not allowed for courses counting toward the major.

A reading knowledge of foreign languages is highly desirable and is especially recommended for students planning a major in History.

Special Studies Options in History

Students wishing to pursue individualized study in their junior or senior years on campus may enroll in a Special Studies tutorial (HST 404). A student must secure the agreement of a faculty member to supervise a particular project prior to enrolling for a Special Studies. Examples of the

kinds of work done in Special Studies tutorials include:

in-depth reading in an area not covered in another course;

the execution of a research proposal developed in another course (either library research or empirical research); and other options, to be negotiated between the student and a particular faculty member.

See the Course Catalogue description of the History major for more information.

Also consult the following Smith Library site for History Research Skills

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