Departmental Mission Statement

The History Department provides learning opportunities for students to develop the skills needed to engage in historical research and analysis and to engage the present by exploring and interpreting the past. The Department cultivates in our students the skills they will need to become critical and independent thinkers and citizens, imparting the skills necessary for full and successful participation in society.

 

The History Department divides its main learning objectives into four categories with specific objectives at each course level:

Category 1: Thesis

  • 100 Level: students will be able to identify an historical thesis

  • 200 Level: Students will be able to develop an historical thesis

  • 300 Level: Students will be able to develop an historical thesis and provide relevant supporting evidence

  • 400 Level: Students will be able to present and defend an historical thesis to an audience

 

Category 2: Evidence and Sources

  • 100 Level: Students will be able to identify and distinguish between primary and secondary sources and summarize a source

  • 200 Level: Students will be able to conduct both an external and internal critical analysis of a document with appropriate citation information

  • 300 Level: Students will be able to identify and locate multiple relevant sources on an historical topic and provide correct Chicago style citations

  • 400 Level: Students will be able to produce an essay demonstrating the inter-leveling of multiple relevant sources

 

Category 3: Historical Writing

  • 100 Level: Students will be able to produce work in standard written English

  • 200 Level: Students will be able to produce written work conforming to historical style based on the Chicago Manual of Style

  • 300 Level: Students will be able to produce a coherent, unified historical essay demonstrating awareness of the intended audience

  • 400 Level: Students will be able to produce and  present a substantial historical essay

 

Category 4: Understanding Historiography and Historical Debates

  • 100 Level: Students will understand that history is an interpretive discipline with debates

  • 200 Level: Students will demonstrate an awareness of different models, theories, and tools for doing history

  • 300 Level: Students will be able to critique and explain an historical debate

  • 400 Level: Students will be able to evaluate the relevant historiography of a particular topic, issue, or event