Program: History, B.A. - Cleveland State University

Apr 01, 2025

Undergraduate Catalog 2024-2025

Description

The History major is the essential foundation of knowledge. It provides the context for a liberal education, the tools to understand ourselves and our contemporary world, and the skills for an educated person to live a more fulfilled and gratifying life in a wide range of careers.

What careers can this major prepare you for?

The major program not only prepares students for teaching and for graduate study in history but many students have found history an appropriate preparatory foundation for careers in law, library science, international work, the foreign service, the ministry, business, government and archival and museum work.

What skills are developed within this major?

History majors develop the following skills: better understand our society and the times in which we live; better understand ourselves and to place our own society in historical perspective; balance present-mindedness with historical memory; to acquire skills such as conducting research, communicating effectively through writing or oral communication, critical thinking, evaluating evidence, and problem-solving; to understand the roles which individuals and groups have played in shaping their worlds; for the enjoyment of examining societies very different or very similar to our own.

Admission to Major

After admission to the university, a student obtains an “Entrance Interview” packet from the History Department in RT 1319 that explains the advising procedures and asks the student for a writing sample and answers to a few questions. Once this information has been gathered, the student calls the History Department at 216-687-3920 to arrange for an initial advising appointment with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The Director will evaluate transfer credits for the major and give the student a copy of the filled-out check-sheet. Following this advising session, students will receive a letter with the name of their individual faculty advisor in the department.

Hours Required for Degree

A minimum of 36 hours is required for the major, at least 27 of which must be upper-level (300- or 400-level).

College Requirements

See college page for college requirements.

Major Requirements

Survey requirement:

Students are required to complete two of the following survey courses:

Introduction to Historical Studies

All students are required to take:

HIS 299 - Introduction to Historical Studies

Geographical diversity:

Students are required to divide their 24 upper-level credits among at least four of the following six geographical areas.

North America
Europe
Latin America/Caribbean
Asia/Pacific world
Africa
Middle East

Chronological diversity:

At least two of the student’s upper-level credits (6 credit hours) must be in courses dealing with the pre-modern (before nineteenth century) period. These courses may also be used to fulfill the geographical distribution requirement.

Capstone requirement:

Upon reaching at least 18 credit hours in History, students are required to take one capstone research seminar. This three-credit hour course may be either HIS 400 - Local History Seminar or HIS 401 - History Seminar (topics to vary by instructor). Pre-requisite HIS 299 .

No course with a grade below C may be counted toward the History major.

Thematic concentration:

As a means of fulfilling the requirements for the major, students are encouraged to consult with their advisor about the possibility of developing a thematic focus (e.g., African Diaspora, Atlantic world).

Transfer students:

Transfer students must complete a minimum of 21 credit hours in history courses (which must include HIS 299 and HIS 400 or HIS 401 ) taken in the Department of History at CSU in order to major in History.

Honors Program/University Scholars Requirements

Honors and Scholars students in history have to complete:

A total of 4 Honors contract courses in upper-division history courses with a 3.5 average.
1 of the 4 courses will result in the production of a substantial historiographic essay.
The remaining 3 courses will require 25-page papers at least one of which uses primary sources.

Accelerated 3+3 Degree

The CSU College of Law 3+3 program permits a student who has completed three years of undergraduate study to be admitted to the College of Law to begin J.D. studies. The undergraduate degree will be awarded upon successful completion of the first full year of the J.D. curriculum, thus permitting the student to graduate with both an undergraduate and law degrees in six rather than seven years of full-time study (or its equivalent). In effect, the first year of law school completes the fourth year of the undergraduate degree (serving, in effect, as undergraduate elective courses) and serves as the first year of law school. This arrangement saves both time and money for the student.