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ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2016-2017
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to the present, the history student comes to see an age in relationship to what came before
and what follows. A sense of continuity is developed that expands mental horizons,
permits fruitful comparisons to be made with the present, and allows a more acute
awareness of one’s surroundings. The effort to understand the peoples of the past makes
use of various skills and techniques including the evaluation of evidence, employment of
imagination, research skills in diverse sources of information, and effective oral and
written communication skills. A primary concern of the study of history is change. The
student who is conscious of the continuous process of change is better prepared for the
conditions of change taking place today.
Historical study provides a training that helps prepare students for graduate study and
for widely varied careers in teaching, law, the church, government, diplomatic
service, museums, libraries, social services, business, journalism, and other fields.
Upon completion of the history major, students will be able to
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articulate a thesis that is historical and argumentative
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compose an historical argument using primary sources in support of an
appropriate thesis
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engage with secondary sources by situating one’s own thesis and argument
within the topic’s historiography
Major Requirements
The following courses are required (11 units):
two units from the following:
HI 102, and either HI 103 or HI 110
or
HI 181 and HI 182
HI 151 or HI 155
HI 152
HI 300 (normally completed in the sophomore or junior year)
HI 400
five elective units, two at the 200 level and three at the 300 level;
at least one must be in United States history, one in European
history, and one in Latin American, Asian, or Middle Eastern history
History courses at the100 level deal with events and processes that affect human societies
over long periods of time and across broad geographical areas not confined to national
boundaries. History courses at the 200 level examine a single cultural or national entity,
or a clearly related group of such entities (usually a century or more). History courses at
the 300 level are focused temporally or topically.
History majors are encouraged to develop a degree of competence in one or more
foreign languages and to use this competence in their historical reading and
research. Knowledge of a foreign language is particularly important for students