History

View Programs and Courses  

Faculty

Professor, Andrew T. Darien, Chairperson

Professors: Bradley Austin, Annette Chapman-Adisho, Aviva Chomsky, Gayle V. Fischer, Alexandros Kyrou, Li Li, Christopher Mauriello, Dane A. Morrison, Donna Seger, Jamie Wilson

Associate Professors: Bethany Jay, Erik Jensen, Michele Louro, Kenneth Okeny

Assistant Professors: Margo Shea

Faculty Emeriti

Professors: Charles F. Ames, Jr., James T. Doyle, Julius W. Dudley, Charles Kiefer, Elizabeth Malloy, Joan M. Maloney, Paul Marsella, Mary-Emily Miller, William Thomson

Associate Professors: Vincent F. McGrath

Assistant Professor: Edward D. McGlynn

Programs Offered

Combined Bachelor of Arts History/Master of Education Secondary Education  

Bachelor of Arts - History  

Concentrations

Applied History: Pre-Legal/Business 
Applied History: Public History 
Africa, Asia and Latin America    
European History    
United States History   

Minor

History  

Programs in History

The Department of History is distinguished by the breadth of its faculty’s expertise. The faculty includes distinguished scholars in United States, European, Latin American, African, and Asian history. These faculty resources enable the department to offer major fields of study in United States history, European history, and African, Asian and Latin American history.

Most history courses are open to any undergraduate. Few have specific prerequisites. History majors have priority in registering for classes, but the majority of students enrolled in most history courses are majoring in other departments and schools. The history faculty welcomes this diversity of students.

Major in History

The purpose of the major is to help students understand themselves as products and makers of history. History courses introduce them to historical patterns and problems in a variety of areas and periods, as well as to different historical materials and techniques of analysis. Our courses encourage students to learn to think critically and to search deeply in at least one area of concentration. Achievement of these goals depends heavily on effective use of faculty advice, and each student should see his or her advisor as soon as one is assigned. Thereafter, each student should confer with the advisor at least once each semester to ensure smooth progress through the program of study.

Through a series of introductory and advanced courses, history majors become familiar with past knowledge, the forces of change, and the varieties of historical scholarship that treat societies throughout the world. They also learn to collect, evaluate, organize, and interpret evidence, and to present it in oral and written forms. Students with grounding in historical knowledge possess the central core of an excellent liberal arts education that may be applied to a variety of uses, including active citizenship, graduate school, and various occupations. Department graduates work in such fields as law, business, librarianship, archival and museum management, teaching at all levels, government service, and journalism-in brief, wherever expertise in critical thinking and clear writing are recognized assets.

The program for majors consists of 36 credits hours in history Students majoring in history may select a concentration. The History Department encourages, but does NOT require students to select a concentration.

Combined Bachelor of Arts History/Master of Education Secondary Education

The History department also offers an integrated bachelor’s/master’s degree program in History with an application process occurring in the second year. Students seeking initial licensure to teach in the public schools must apply to the combined program and complete an approved minor in Teacher Education. Students will apply to the licensure program in the spring of their second year and will begin the licensure program in their third year. Students who successfully complete the undergraduate portion will continue to a fifth year and will graduate with a Master of Education with eligibility for initial licensure at the conclusion of the fifth year of study, assuming all academic and licensure standards are met.

Admissions requirements to the licensure program include, but are not limited to:

• A passing score on the Communication and Literacy portions of the Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure (MTEL);
• 3.0 minimum GPA in prior college course work;
• Demonstrated work with children;
• Interview;
• Recommendation form from EDC115 Exploring Education instructor (if class was taken at SSU);
• In-person writing sample from a prompt.

Exceptions may be made to the above-referenced requirements at the discretion of the admissions committee.  Retention in the program is based on satisfactory academic progress (maintenance of a 3.0 GPA) and the passing of specific MTEL tests required for licensure in the chosen field.  Students who do not meet these retention guidelines must exit the program and complete a degree without licensure

Departmental courses (42 credits hours)

All History Majors (regardless of concentration)

History – No Concentration:

Required courses outlined above
27 credits hours (8 courses) chosen from the history electives)

Concentration in Applied History; Pre-Legal/Business

Required courses outlined above
Choose three of the following

Concentration in Applied History; Public History

Required courses outlined above
Choose three of the following:

Concentration in United States History:

Required courses outlined above
Choose four elective courses in U.S. History

Concentration in European History:

Required courses outlined above

Concentration African, Asian, and Latin American History

Required courses outlined above
Choose four elective courses in African, Asian, and Latin American History

Interdisciplinary and Other Minors

The History Department participates in the following IDS Minors: African-American Studies , Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies , East European and Russian Studies , Urban Studies , and Women’s Studies . In addition, a wide range of academic minors in other disciplines are available. Please consult the Programs of Study  section of this catalog for further information.