History (Undergraduate)

History is an excellent focus for undergraduate education and serves to provide students with skills necessary to succeed in the twenty-first century.  The student who majors in history learns how to think critically and write clearly.  He or she also learns the importance of interpreting evidence and how various sources can be woven together into compelling arguments and intriguing narratives.  Above all, the historian is well-versed in the diversity of cultures, both in the United States and around the world and is uniquely qualified to understanding human differences through the lens of change over time.   

Program Strengths

• Student-Faculty Interaction.  The Section does an excellent job of fostering interaction between faculty and students, and graduating majors generally give the highest marks to the personal qualities of the faculty.  A significant number of our majors are engaged in mentoring relationships with faculty.  The Student History Association [link to: http://www.emich.edu/studentorgs/patsha/emu/history_files/page0001.html] and Phi Alpha Theta [link to: http://www.emich.edu/studentorgs/patsha/emu/history_files/page0002.html] generally sponsor several talks by history faculty, and students are always alerted to the guest lectures sponsored by the section. 

• Academic Excellence.  In the last five years, History Section has sponsored more than fifty students in the University’s annual Undergraduate Symposium [link to: http://www.emich.edu/symposium/].  Such efforts among the undergraduates help to create a community of scholars. 

• Student Satisfaction.  In upper-level courses in which our majors predominate, student satisfaction with instructors is quite high.  Most instructors receive ratings of “Excellent” and “Above Average” from at least eighty percent of the students. 

• Financial Aid.  In recent years, students in the program have received more than $21,000 in scholarships from the Department of History and Philosophy.  The Section is committed to increasing this amount in the next few years.  For specific information on scholarships, see the Scholarships page. [link to: http://www.emich.edu/history/opp-scholarships.html]

•  Accessibility.  The program makes itself accessible to students by providing a variety of courses at a variety of times and through a variety of delivery methods and formats.  The Section regularly offers courses in EMU’s extension campuses at Livonia, Traverse City, and Gaylord.  There are also an increasing number of on-line courses as well as courses offered on weekends and in the evening. 

• Innovative Courses.  The Section offers a number of broadly innovative travel courses, including a Civil Rights Movement course and a spring break course titled Power, Place, and Image in Florence and Rome [link to: http://www.emich.edu/abroad/winterbreakitaly/index.html].  The latter course innovatively uses web delivery before the week abroad to prepare students.  Other course offered as part of study abroad tours have included both sections of our Western Civilization course, and the Asia Cultural History tour affords students the opportunity to earn credit in the History section as well. 

Degree Requirements

• History Major

• History Minor