2024-2025 Catalog 
    
    Oct 31, 2024  
2024-2025 Catalog

Philosophy and History Double Major


The perspectives, content, and skills you will gain as a History major or minor will improve your understanding of the complex global world around you and strengthen your professional abilities in many areas. Employers, whether in business, government, education, international organization, or any other field, are looking for employees who can read carefully, write clearly, think logically, learn independently, work with people across cultural and geographical perspectives, and analyze problems within the appropriate critical contexts. The study of history cultivates all of these skills as well as your pathways of humanistic empathy and understanding of the world around you, your scientific skills of objective investigation, and your creative skills of expression and interpretation.

Philosophy is the systematic and critical inquiry into thinking and the nature of existence. As a practice, philosophy teaches analytical and critical thinking, develops oral and written communication skills, and contributes to interdisciplinary understanding. Philosophy attempts to answer perennial questions about values, human existence, and the nature of reality. Skills developed in this inquiry help philosophy students excel in careers in law, medicine, management, education, government, writing, computer science, psychology, sociology, and ministry among many others.

General Information

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in History and Philosophy requires the following:

  • A minimum of 30 credit hours of HIST course work. At least 18 of those hours must be upper division (courses numbered 3000 or higher).
  • A minimum of 30 credit hours of PHIL course work. At least 21 of those hours must be upper division.
  • A grade of C or better in courses applied to both majors.
  • A minimum 2.0 GPA must be maintained in all major course work.
  • Both History and Philosophy require a Senior Thesis of all its majors, but students in the double major need to complete only one.  Students may choose to complete either HIST 4990  or PHIL 4950 .

Additional course work is required to complete the History and Philosophy, BA degree. Please see the advising guide on the Academic Advising website for more information.

History Major Course Requirements


Upper-Division Global History Courses


Complete two courses from the following list (2 courses/6 credits):

History Electives


  • Complete 12 credit hours of upper-division (3000+ level) History electives (4 courses/12 credits).

Senior Thesis


Students must complete one Senior Thesis course for the double major, but may choose to take it from either the History or Philosophy department. The Senior Thesis will count as an upper-division elective in the major for which it is taken. Students must take an additional upper-division (3000+ level) elective in the department not selected for the Senior Thesis.

HIST 4990 is the History department’s capstone experience, and is done under the close supervision of a regular faculty member or instructor. Students will prepare a full-length (usually 25-30 pages) essay on a selected topic in History, relying heavily on original or primary sources. Please see the Guide to History 4990 Senior Thesis for further details, including a schedule of topics and instructors.

Note 1: Prior to taking HIST 4990, it is recommended that History majors complete HIST 3001 - The Historian’s Craft: Introduction to the Discipline of History  .

Note 2: Students must complete 9 credit hours of History course work at UCCS before taking HIST 4990.

Philosophy Major Course Requirements


Logic Course


Complete one of the following courses:

Philosophy Electives


  • Complete 27 credit hours of Philosophy electives. At least 21 hours must be upper-division (3000+ level) Philosophy course work.

Senior Thesis


Students must complete one Senior Thesis course for the double major, but may choose to take it from either the History or Philosophy department. The Senior Thesis will count as an upper-division elective in the major for which it is taken. Students must take an additional upper-division (3000+ level) elective in the department not selected for the Senior Thesis.