History / Bachelor of Arts
Total Credit Hours: 128
Major Credit Hours: 39-42
History majors must select History electives from courses numbered 20000 and above. No 10000 level History courses, except for Global History and Culture 1 and 2 (HIST 10100 and HIST 10200), may count toward the 39 credit hours required by the major.
The Public History concentration will prepare students for entry into a master’s programs in Public History, for employment in local history museums and government archives, for curatorships, and for writing in Public History. Public Historians provide a great service to society through the study and preservation of heritage. A prime example of the work of public historians is our very own Adelmann Regional History Collection at Lewis University. This special collection preserves the maps, the photographs, and documents related to the history of the Illinois and Michigan canal and surrounding region.
Students in Public History must take workshops and/or internships in Public History. These workshops and internships are important components of this program. The workshops involve such elements as travel to regional sites, hands-on experience with historical artifacts, and written work which will be assessed by the instructor. Internships at such institutions as the First Division Museum at Cantigny, the Joliet Area Historical Museum, and the Adelmann Regional History Collection, have produced successful internship reports as well as positive assessments from the staffs of these institutions. The Public History Portfolio is an additional requirement in this concentration and will consist of reports written for Workshops in Public History and/or Internships in Public History during the course of the major and filed with the History Department chair. The student will submit a minimum of three such reports.
Degree Requirements
Program: BA-HIST-4
I. Core Courses (12):
II. Concentration Courses (27-30):
A. No Declared Concentration (27)
i. United States History Course (3)
Choose one of the following courses on the History of the United States:
ii. Additional United States History Course (3)
iii. European History Course (3)
iv. Outside the European and United States Experience (6)
v. Four Department of History Electives (12)
(Please note: Up to 3 credits in one-hour workshops / courses may be taken.)
B. Public History (30)
Concentration: PUBH
i. Public History Courses (6)
HIST 397XX must be taken three times, if this option is chosen.
HIST 39800 must be taken for 3 credits to fulfill this requirement.
ii. United States History Courses (6)
Choose two of the following U.S. History courses:
iii. Additional United States History Courses (6)
Select two additional U.S. History courses:
iv. European History (3)
Choose one of the following History courses:
v. Outside the European and United States Experience (3)
Choose one of the following History courses:
vi. Two Department of History Electives (6)
Students may apply up to 3 one credit hour History workshops toward this category. However, those workshops may not be workshops used to fulfill category
B.i. of this concentration.
III. The Senior Capstone
The History major is required to complete the senior capstone. This non-course requirement consists of one researched essay, which will be orally defended by the student in a meeting with the Department of History faculty. The senior capstone must be successfully completed if the Department of History is to endorse the student in continuing on to graduate studies or teaching the subject at the secondary school level.