Bachelor of Arts in History

History majors are uniquely equipped for understanding our ever-changing world and the diversity of the human experience. Our majors study the causes and consequences of change and learn to see the world from the perspectives of others. As History majors practice the arts of explanation and empathy, they also cultivate a broad set of research, communication, and critical thinking skills. These skills include the location and analysis of texts, data, and evidence, the mastery and synthesis of large bodies of written and visual media, the furnishing of written and oral arguments and descriptions, the evaluation of the arguments of others, and the application of interpretive, quantitative, and digital tools. Our majors are encouraged to hone all these skills in the process of independent research conducted under faculty guidance, either in the Capstone Experience (HIST 302) or the more ambitious Honors Thesis (HIST 391, 392). They are also encouraged to craft the major to their own particular interests, either by pursuing a geographically broad historical education or by concentrating on a particular region or theme that interests them. Concentrations pursued by our majors include War, Empire, and Revolution, Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Global Connections, Race, Ethnicity, and Diasporas, Religion, Thought, and Culture, Medicine, Technology, and Environment, and Public and Digital History.

Applicants must be completing or have completed the equivalent of 12 years of education (primary and secondary) or the program of study that leaves them eligible for admission to university-level study in the educational system in which they are enrolled. For example, students who are completing or who have only completed O level or GCSE/IGCSE study are not eligible to apply and should do so when they are completing the final year of A level study, or the equivalent.

Scores must be submitted directly from the testing/assessment agency and the most competitive candidates score above a 90 on the TOEFL, 7.0 on the IELTS or 110 on Duolingo. SAT, SAT Subject Test, and ACT results cannot be used to meet the English proficiency requirement.