USC Catalogue: The Schools: USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: History: Undergraduate Degrees

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Undergraduate Degrees

Advisement

All history department majors should consult with the department student advisor. Students should seek an appointment early in each semester so that an advisement file may be established for each student. The file will be kept current.

Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in History

Ten courses in history are required, three at the lower division level and six at the upper division level along with HIST 300 Approaches to History. The three required lower division courses must include one from the 100 level and one from the 200 level, and each of the three must be from a different geographic category. The department will accept scores of 4 or 5 on either Advanced Placement European History or Advanced Placement American History as a substitute for one requirement at the 100 level. At the upper division, majors are required to take a minimum of three courses in a thematic, temporal or geographic concentration they articulate under the guidance of faculty; they must also take at least two upper division seminars, approved by the department, including one in their concentration. No more than 4 units of HIST 490 Directed Research may be counted as satisfying the upper division seminar requirement.

For geographic breadth, at least one of the 10 courses must be taken from approved course work in each of the three following areas: Asia and Eurasia, Europe, and North and Latin America. For temporal breadth, at least one of the 10 courses must be taken from approved course work in each of the three following time periods: before 1300, 1300 to 1800, 1800 to the present. Students must consult with a department advisor in order to determine which courses meet these requirements.

Bachelor of Arts, Social Sciences, with an Emphasis in History Requirements

Eight social sciences courses, of which five and no more than seven courses must be history courses, are required. Not more than two may be lower division history courses and not more than one may be a lower division course in another social science. History and social sciences courses must include at least one each from: United States; Europe; and Latin America, Asia or Africa.

Minor in History Requirements

Prerequisites: cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better and approval of a minor plan of study by the department's undergraduate advisor.

Requirements: 20 upper division units, including a minimum of 16 upper division units from Department of History offerings. Up to 4 upper-division units from outside department offerings may be included with the approval of the undergraduate advisor. An appropriate capstone course chosen from HIST 300, HIST 304, HIST 440, HIST 441 and HIST 494 must be included in the proposed program as part of the departmental work. The capstone course will normally be the last (or among the last) courses taken for the minor.

Honors Program

The department offers a two-semester honors program, in which qualified students spend their first semester in an honors track in an upper division seminar or take HIST 490 Directed Research in their concentration. During the second semester, all honors students are required to take HIST 492 Honors Thesis in which each completes a thesis project on a topic of his or her choosing under faculty direction. Contact the department honors director for further information. To graduate with honors, department majors must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 in their major course work.

Teaching Credential Requirements

Credential requirements in California and elsewhere are complex and changeable. Students interested in preparing for public school teaching should contact the Credentials Office, Rossier School of Education, and the undergraduate advisor, Department of History, for up-to-date information.

Catalogue 2005-06