Program Requirements - Total Semester Hours: Minimum 30
The BA major in history consists of a minimum of 30 semester hours in history, including a minimum of 18 semester hours of course work on the advanced level (100-level courses or above).
Students may also pursue a Concentration in Public History. For more information, see specific requirements below.
A grade of C- or above is required in each course in the major.
The History Department also strongly recommends that students take courses in other departments that relate closely to historical subjects in which they are particularly interested, or consider taking a co-major in another field or discipline. It is also highly desirable that students acquire skills in reading and speaking a language other than English, taking their level of proficiency beyond the minimum university requirement.
The History Department requires the following for majors in history:
Concentration in Public History - Semester Hours: 30
Representations of the Past, Museums, Digital Humanities
Public History includes those practices and activities that put the methods, theory and content of the history discipline to use in public settings. In this sense, it is history that is applied to real-world issues. Such work can range from public-facing digital work in such mediums as websites and film to live exhibitions, performances and public meetings and events. The focus on narrative that is core to professional history and the concrete skills that public history training provides together prepare public history experts to work as historical consultants, museum professionals, government historians, archivists, oral historians, cultural resource managers, curators, tour guides, film and media producers, historical interpreters, historic preservationists, policy advisers, local historians, and community activists, among many other career options. All share an interest and commitment to making history relevant and useful in the public sphere. Students trained in Public History methodologies also work in fields such as journalism, law and advocacy, computer programming, cartography and story-based mapping, narrative medicine, and many others. Undergirding all study in Public History is training in historical thinking and methodologies, memory and remembrance, and community engagement with the past. Emphasis is also placed on new media and historical digitization; exhibition and museum studies; non-profit management; library and archive studies; community-based history; history and preservation; and New York/Long Island heritage as our local case study. This concentration aims to build connections between students, faculty, community groups, and residents in the New York/Long Island region.
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