History, B.A.

Professors: David Doellinger, Patricia Goldsworthy-Bishop, Bau Hwa Hsieh, Kimberly Jensen
Associate Professor: Elizabeth Swedo

Mission

Promote a community of scholars dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, professional and community service. This community connects students with the past through a global and comparative perspective and provides them with the tools for critical thinking and analysis that are the foundation of the liberal arts education.

Learning Outcomes

Critically analyze, synthesize and evaluate primary and secondary historical sources.
Engage multiple historical methodologies and multiple sources to produce well-researched written work.
Explain historical developments across multiple cultures and regions.

Core Courses

HST 104 World History: The Ancient and Classical World Credits: 4
HST 105 World History: Expanding Societies Credits: 4
HST 106 World History: The Modern World Credits: 4
HST 420 Philosophies of History Credits: 4
HST 499 Senior Seminar Credits: 4

Choose Two:

HST 201 History of the United States: Native American Cultures to Early 19th Century Credits: 4
HST 202 History of the United States: Reform and Progress Credits: 4
HST 203 History of the United States: First World War to the Present Credits: 4

Elective Credits: 44

Select at least two courses from four of the five focus areas below and an additional 12 credits of history electives or other electives approved by your advisor.

Consult a History Department adviser in developing your plan. This may include HST 407 seminars on topical/regional areas offered on a periodic basis. With prior approval from their History Department adviser, students may plan a program that includes up to 9 hours of social science electives relevant to their focus areas in history to complete the 44-hour sequence.

FOCUS AREAS:

Senior Seminar Projects:

Students will work with history faculty to develop a capstone project for their Senior Seminar. In consultation with History Department faculty, students may select to do a thesis paper or an internship or practicum. Both thesis and internship students will work with History Department advisers, across their senior year, completing their capstone projects in the History Senior Seminar (HST 499 ) in the spring term. HST 420 should be taken the winter term preceding HST 499 . In HST 420 , the student will explore the theoretical foundations of the discipline of history that will become the basis for the HST 499 senior capstone project.

Students planning on pursing graduate work are encouraged to complete the thesis option, for which students use a research paper created in an upper division history course at WOU as a foundation for their Senior Seminar thesis. These students will revise and expand this topical paper, completing it in HST 499 . For internship capstone projects, students engage in research and writing related to their internship topics in HST 420 . They then complete their practicum or internships with community partners and integrate their experiences and their research in writing in HST 499 .