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Contact Information

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Roberta Magnusson
Undergraduate inquiries: history@ou.edu

Requirements for a Bachelor of Arts in History

The History Department is delighted to announce that our proposal for adding a new “geographic or thematic field” option to the undergraduate degree program has finally been approved by the OU Regents, and is now official! Many of you have heard something about this from your advisors already, and based on your comments we believe that many of you will want to take advantage of this new plan.

For those of you who prefer to stick to our traditional degree plan (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader), it is still fine. You don’t need to make any changes!

For those of you who would prefer to focus on a particular geographic or thematic field, here’s how the new option will work:

Geographic & Thematic Fields

The History Department is offering ten new fields, beginning in Fall 2009:

Geographic fields:

1. Asian History
2. European History
3. Latin American History
4. Middle Eastern History
5. U.S. History

Thematic Fields:

1. Premodern History
2. Cultural and Intellectual History
3. Race and Ethnicity
4. Women’s and Gender History
5. History of War, Revolution and Diplomacy

To have a concentration in a specific field, you will be required to take 18 credit hours within that field (out of a total of 36 hours for the major). At least 15 of your field hours must be at the upper-division (3000 or 4000) level.  History colloquia, capstone classes, and surveys may all be used for the completion of a field, but it is not required to have them in your field. (We will encourage you to take them in your field whenever possible, but we realize that scheduling difficulties sometimes occur!) Some classes offered under non-HIST designations such as International and Area Studies (IAS) or Honors (HON), which are taught by members of the History Department faculty using historical methodology may, upon approval by the department, be counted towards the completion of a field.  Your remaining major elective hours can be met by classes in any type of history.

Surveys

Your current configuration of History surveys will remain the same, with the addition of a new methods survey, HIST 2573: History Sleuth. This will be a small seminar open only to history majors, with an emphasis on how historians (like detectives) search for clues to the past and piece them together. All new history majors (as of Fall 2009) will be required to take this survey, but current majors will only be required to take it if they choose the new geographic/thematic field option. This will bring the total number of survey hours up from 12 to 15 (US survey, History Sleuth, plus three surveys distributed between any three of the following four fields: Ancient/ Medieval, European, Near/ Far Eastern, Latin American/African). The total number of hours for the major will remain unchanged (36 hours). Therefore, you will only need to take 21 additional history hours (instead of the traditional 24) if you take HIST 2573.

Please note: If you are already a history major and are sticking to the traditional degree plan, you do not need to take HIST 2573, but if you do take it you will only need 21 additional history hours instead of the usual 24.

Requirements for the overall number of hours, colloquium, and capstone will remain the same, whether you choose to follow the current degree pattern or the new field track.

• 36 hours within major
• HIST 3573, Colloquium
• HIST 4973, Capstone

Checksheets and Advising

The new College of Arts & Sciences degree checksheets list 15 hours for a field in the major elective section (since you will need at least 15 upper-division hours for the field). To complete the field, however, you will need a total of 18 hours in it. The remaining 3 hours can be either lower or upper-division, so if there is an appropriate survey course you may use it for both a survey requirement and your field requirement. We will provide new internal departmental checksheets for advisors that will go in your files, which will make it easier to track your history requirements. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space on the college checksheets to include a full explanation of the new options. We apologize for any confusion!

We are working with IT to have Degree Navigator incorporate the new field options, but there may be a few glitches along the way. It is ultimately up to the History Department (not the College of Arts & Sciences advisors) to make sure that you have completed a field.

Why did we make these changes?

Here is the rationale that we gave when applying for permission to add this new option to the major:

“Major concentrations will make the history major more attractive to students who find one of the named fields of study more compelling than the general topic of “history.”  In addition, the field concentrations may attract new majors who might otherwise have gravitated towards a major that already allows for such specialization. Students considering a concentration may be more apt to structure their major coursework in a planned rather than a haphazard way, thus establishing a greater degree of verticality in their degree program. For example, they may be more likely to take a lower division survey, a history colloquium, and ultimately their capstone all within one field. Finally, history majors within a given field of concentration who take colloquia, capstones, and other classes together are more likely to generate a sense of community and identity as history majors.”

Should I stick to my current degree plan or switch to a geographic/thematic field?

The answer to this is up to you! If you are nearly finished with the traditional degree, it would probably make more sense to stick to the current degree plan, since switching might delay your graduation. Those of you who plan to teach history at the secondary level should also follow the traditional plan, as you will probably be called upon to teach different types of history (typically US history, Western Civ., and World Civ.). If you are not already close to graduating and have a strong interest in one of the fields, then the chance to focus your courses within a particular area might be a better choice for you. Either option offers a strong platform for graduate school, law school, and other career paths.

Questions?

If you have any questions feel free to contact one of the History Department advisors. Over the summer you can email any questions to Professor Roberta Magnusson at rmagnusson@ou.edu. Please include your student ID number if you would like her to review your records or course selections to see how they would fit into a particular field.

We will be posting lists of courses for each field on the departmental website very soon. In the meantime, I am attaching Word files for each of the current field lists. We will keep the website lists updated as new courses become available or as additional existing courses are deemed appropriate for a field. (We leave it to the professor who teaches each class to determine which field or fields best fit the subject matter of the course).

Best wishes,
Roberta Magnusson
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of History

Requirements for a Minor in History

A Minor in History may be obtained by taking fifteen hours of History courses, nine hours of which must be upper-division. In order to have the minor recorded on his/her transcript, a student must pick up the appropriate form from the College of Arts and Sciences office, have it endorsed by the Department of History and then return it to the College of Arts and Sciences office. This procedure should be done after completion of the required History minor course work.

Course Equivalency and Transfer Evaluations

For general information on transfer evaluations, see: http://admissions.ou.edu/transadm.html

The application of transfer work toward General Education requirements is usually done through the Office of Admissions and Office of Student Academic Services. If you are transferring to OU as a History major, you should contact academic counselor Kathy Martin in the College of Arts and Sciences Office of Student Services (Ellison Hall 124, phone: (405) 325-4411).

For individual transfer evaluations of history courses:

-	If you have completed a history course at another 2 or 4 year college, you may apply for an OU transfer equivalency evaluation.
-	If the class was taken at a college in Oklahoma, check the Course Equivalency Tables, to see if it has been equated to an OU course. See http://admissions.ou.edu/tetables.htm
-	If the class was taken at a college outside Oklahoma, and you would like me to evaluate it for an OU equivalency, I will need a copy of the course syllabus and/or catalogue description, and a copy of your A/DA. History courses which do not have an exact OU equivalent may not be used to satisfy Gen Ed requirements, but they may still transfer as elective credit. In some cases they may also be used to satisfy the history major requirements.

Advisement

A student in the College of Arts and Sciences must be advised prior to enrollment each semester. Each student will be assigned a permanent adviser by the department, and will need to contact their adviser each semester to arrange to be advised.

Note: even though students now enroll online, they still must be advised. The majority of faculty members participate in the advising process and post a signup sheet on their office doors for the convenience of their respective advisees. Most advisors are not available during the summer or intersession periods, so students are advised to make appointments with their advisors during the fall and spring semesters.

Immediately prior to being advised in the History Department, the student should pick up his/her academic records and an advisement form in the main History office 403A Dale Hall Tower. If you are a new major, please be sure your records have been sent to the History Department before the advisement period begins.