The History Concentration

The major or the concentration in history consists of at least nine courses, distributed as follows:

1. Students are required to have two introductory courses at the 100-level, one in pre-modern history (100, 101, 103, 105, 107 or 109) and one in modern history ( 102, 104, 106 or 108). These courses should normally be taken in the first or second year. Only two 100-level courses may be counted toward the concentration.

2. Students are required to have at least seven courses at the 200, 300, or 400 levels, with at least one in each of the following geographic areas:

a. The United States
b. Africa, Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East
c. Europe, including the areas of the former Soviet Union

Of these seven courses, at least one but no more than two must be a 200-level "Craft of History" course, and at least one must be a 400-level seminar other than 490. No course may be be counted for more than one category (a-c).

3. One of the nine courses for concentration may be taught by a non-departmental historian. This includes courses offered on off-campus study groups, at other institutions, and at Colgate. All such courses are subject to approval by the History Department.

 

The History Minor

The minor in history consists of five courses: one 100-level introductory course, one 200-level "Craft of History" course, and three courses at the 300 or 400 levels, at least one of which must be a 400-level seminar. The five courses must be drawn from at least two geographic fields (U.S., Europe, non-Western).

Advanced Placement

An AP score of 4 or 5 in European History will exempt and exclude an incoming student from HIST 101 and 102. An AP score of 4 or 5 in American history will exempt and exclude a student from HIST 103 and 104. Concentrators who have AP credit are welcome to take one or two 100-level courses in the areas for which they do not have AP credit. Students with AP credit may take any 300-level course to fulfill the Modern World concentration requirement. No department credit or exemption is given for an AP score of 3, or for AP courses taken without the AP examination. Concentrators will not receive concentration or minor concentration credit for AP courses (ie. these high school classes will not count toward the total of nine or five courses needed for the major or minor respectively).

Requests for transfer of external credits towards concentration should be directed to the department chair. Courses must be of comparable quality to the department program to be approved for transfer. Courses may be submitted in subjects not offered at Colgate.

Colgate students who have not transferred from another institution should consult the department chair before enrolling in courses at other institutions or in study abroad programs not affiliated with Colgate. Permission to use such a course for concentration credit is granted selectively, and only one course may be approved. The department does not normally accept college-level courses taken in high school under the auspices of other universities.

Asian Studies/History

Students may select a topical/departmental concentration in Asian Studies/History. For more information, see Asian Studies.

 

Teacher Education

The Department of Educational Studies offers a teacher education program for concentrators in history who are interested in pursuing a career in elementary and secondary school teaching. Please refer to the Educational Studies webpage or their catalogue page.

 

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