When you enroll at Susquehanna, you’ll be paired with an advisor and application tool to guide you in your course planning and scheduling. The following is an excerpt from the complete course catalog. Enrolled students follow the requirements of the course catalog for the academic year in which they declare each major and/or minor, consult with their advisor(s) and the Academic Planning Tool.
History Studies
Students of history learn, above all, the skills of the historian — to read, analyze and express themselves well. They study the past to learn from it and to prepare for a variety of future careers. While students focus on a variety of subjects (culture, military, gender, race, politics) or a specific geographic region in their major, they leave here with a broad, international perspective on history. The major is flexible and works well with other majors and minors. It also offers students the ability to study abroad.
Learning Goals:
- Research, write and present a senior project following professional guidelines.
- Present and defend a historical argument in a public setting.
- Prepare for multiple career opportunities.
- Participate in at least one off-campus co-curricular activity in which students demonstrate connections to their study of history.
Requirements for the History Major
Requirements for the History major reflect the commitment to history as a way of knowing and thinking about the world.
2 Geographical Surveys at the 100-level that focus larger civilizations and longer timeframes. These courses nevertheless teach students to think like historians and develop their analytical and communication skills.
2 Specialized Thematic Surveys at the 200-level that dig deeper into a particular place or theme. Like the 100-level courses, these classes emphasize analytical and communication skills.
3 Upper-Division Courses at the 300-level, one of which must be in non-U.S. or -European history. These classes focus on more specific topics in a specific area or smaller thematic framework and ask students to compare historical material and the arguments of other historians in order to craft their own conclusions about the past.
3 Majors Courses that represent the “backbone” of the History Major:
- History Methods, a methodology course taken in the sophomore year, that teaches students the specific skills of the historian. This class then helps students learn to explain their analyses better in verbal and written form, with an eye toward the senior thesis.
- Collective Inquiry in History, taken in the junior year, continues to teach students the skills of the historian and prepares them for their senior thesis.
- Finally, in Senior Seminar, majors carry out detailed research on a topic of their choice and work one-on-one with a faculty adviser to write their senior thesis that is the capstone of their work as history majors.
In all three of these courses for majors, students spend time working on career plans (creating resumes, interviewing, discussing various career paths) and learning to explain the value of their history major.
Total: 40 semester hours. Students must maintain a 2.00 GPA in their major courses.
Transfer, AP, or study abroad classes may apply to the major.
Honors
Students may earn departmental honors by obtaining at least a 3.50 overall GPA and completing a senior research project deemed outstanding by members of the department.
Teacher Certification
Coursework required by the state of Pennsylvania for admission to the teacher certification program includes successful completion of ENGL-100 Writing and Thinking or equivalent course, at least 3 semester hours in British or American literature, at least 6 semester hours of mathematics coursework (or other courses which satisfy the Central Curriculum Analytical Thought requirement), and at least one 40-hour externship.
Education course requirements for secondary education are EDUC-101 Introduction to Education and Society, EDUC-250 Educational Psychology, EDUC-260 Introduction to Special Education, EDUC-270 Instruction of Exceptional Students, EDUC-330 Technology in Education, EDUC-350 English Language Learners: Theory and Instruction, EDUC-380 Instructional Design, EDUC- 479 Principles of Learning and Teaching in Secondary Education, EDUC-483 Differentiated Instruction and Classroom Management in Secondary Education, and the EDUC-500 Student Teaching package (EDUC-501, EDUC-502, EDUC-503, and EDUC-600).
In addition to completing the history major and the courses listed above, secondary education history students must complete certification in either social studies or citizenship. The requirements for certification in social studies are EDUC-425 Methods of Curriculum Instruction and Assessment in Teaching Social Studies, SOCI-101 Principles of Sociology, ANTH-162 Introduction to Anthropology, ECON-105 Elements of Economics, POLI-111 American Government and Politics, POLI-121 Comparative Government and Politics, PSYC-101 Principles of Psychology, HIST-322 Pennsylvania History or HIST-324 Pennsylvania’s Pasts and Their Publics, 1 course in U. S. history (HIST-111, HIST-112 or HIST-115), 1 course in European history (HIST-131 or HIST-132), and 1 course in non- Western history (HIST-151, HIST-152, HIST-171, HIST-172, HIST-180, or HIST-181). The requirements for certification in citizenship are EDUC-427 Methods of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment in Teaching Citizenship, ANTH-162 Introduction to Anthropology, ECON-105 Elements of Economics, POLI-111 American Government and Politics, POLI-121 Comparative Government and Politics, HIST-322 Pennsylvania History or HIST- 324 Pennsylvania’s Pasts and Their Publics, 1 course in U. S. history (HIST-111 or HIST-112), 1 course in European history (HIST-131 or HIST-132), and 1 course in non-Western history (HIST-151, HIST-152, HIST-171, HIST-172, HIST-180, or HIST-181).