Offered in: Chicago

The major in history empowers students not only with knowledge of the past, but also with the critical reasoning skills needed to navigate today’s world. As such, the history program at Roosevelt has a deep commitment to the study of cultural and social history with special attention given to the areas of gender, race, class, and historical grass-roots social movements.  It emphasizes how past values and experiences inform today’s world and gives voice to those whose histories may have been silenced or marginalized.  The knowledge acquired through the study of history helps people forge a sense of identity and create blueprints from which to construct a more just society.  When considering career paths, a bachelor’s degree in history remains one of the most flexible and useful liberal arts degrees students may obtain.  Among the skills that history majors take into the workforce are: critical thinking, effective oral and written communication, qualitative analysis, the ability to edit, present information to different audiences, view issues in context and from multiple perspectives, and assess the meaning and significance of information. 

Experiential learning opportunities, including internships and study abroad, prepare students for graduate school as well as life in an increasingly interconnected and complex world in diverse fields that include education, law, business, journalism, and not-for-profit organizations. Small class sizes encourage deep critical engagement with faculty and fellow students. The program focuses on history from a local and national as well as global perspective and offers undergraduate sequences in the fields of African American, European, Latin American and United States history, with individual courses in other fields. Students in the History program may also take advantage of a seminar course offered at the Newberry Library, as well as the resources of the university’s Center for New Deal Studies and the St. Clair Drake Center for African and African American Studies.

Requirements

• Eleven courses in history with an overall GPA of 2.0 and no grade lower than C-.
• At least 15 credit hours must be taken at Roosevelt.
• At least 12 credit hours must be at the 300 level.
• No more than 12 credit hours at the 100 level may be counted toward the major.
• History “Ideas” courses may count toward the major and the CORE Ideas requirement, except in cases where the student completes all four 100-level surveys and HIST 110 (Topics in Ideas I), in which case HIST 110 may not count toward the major.
• Students should work with their advisor to ensure that they take HIST 280 TOPICS IN HISTORIOGRAPHY AND METHODOLOGY in their sophomore or junior year, as this course will prepare students to write their 300-level research and writing assignments.
• History has no foreign language requirement, but students intending to do graduate study in history or whose interest is in the study of a foreign culture are strongly advised to take at least two years of a foreign language.
• Transfer students may substitute a Western civilization survey for HIST 111 THE WORLD TO 1500 and HIST 112 THE WORLD SINCE 1500.

Students choose 9-12 credit hours at the 100 level, including 3 credits in US History and 3 credits in World History:

CORE Requirements (General Education)

¹

Higher level of Math may be required by major

²

Coursework must come from outside of students' major discipline

³

A maximum of 9 credits can be applied from a single discipline towards humanities and social science requirements

These quantitative requirements also apply to degrees.

• Students must earn a minimum of 120 semester hours.
• Students may apply no more than 60 credit hours of 100-level courses toward the degree.
• Students must apply no fewer than 60 credit hours of 200- and 300-level courses toward the degree.
• Students must have at least 18 credit hours (of the 60 credit hours above) at the 300 level.
• Students may transfer in no more than 70 credit hours from community colleges.
• Students earning less than 60 total hours in residence must take their final 30 hours at Roosevelt University. Note that some majors have additional requirements for RU hours.
• Students must have a grade point average of 2.0 or higher to graduate. Note that some majors have additional GPA requirements.
• Students may apply no more than 51 hours in the major (BA) or 57 hours in the major (BS)

Your degree map is a general guide suggesting courses to complete each term on the academic pathway to your degree. It is based on the most current scheduling information from your academic program. Your program’s degree map is reviewed annually and updated as schedules change (although you retain the same course requirements as long as you are continuously enrolled in your degree program).

Always work closely with your academic advisor to understand curriculum requirements and scheduling, as each student’s academic plan can look slightly different.

¹

Or course towards an optional Minor.

²

Any course at the 200 level within the discipline.

³

Any course at the 300 level within the discipline.

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Can be fulfilled by HIST 110.

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One Natural Science course must have a lab.

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Experiential Learning class must be 200/300 level and can be a HIST course or taken outside the major. Satisfies CORE Experiential Learning requirement.