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.
Women’s and Ethnic Studies (WEST) is an interdisciplinary program that brings together faculty from across the campus. The WEST major centers on the histories, experiences, and cultural expressions of women and racial or ethnic groups not only in the United States but also across the world. Our approach is intersectional in that it explores the connections among race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and other socially constructed hierarchies. WEST emphasizes cultural responsiveness, critical and cross-disciplinary thinking, creative and innovative teaching, community engagement, and local and global awareness. We aim to create an equitable and sustainable world by analyzing structural inequality from a historical and cultural perspective and exploring strategies to achieve these goals. WEST offers one-on-one mentoring, small classes, travel courses, and a range of scholarship and internship opportunities.
General Information
The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in History and Women’s and Ethnic Studies 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 WEST course work. At least 21 of those hours must be upper division.
- A grade of C or better in courses applied to the major.
- A minimum 2.0 GPA must be maintained in all HIST and WEST course work.
Additional course work is required to complete the History and Women’s and Ethnic Studies, BA degree. Please see the advising guide on the Academic Advising website for more information.