Department website: http://history.wvu.edu/
Degree Offered
- Bachelor of Arts
Nature of the Program
The Department of History offers courses focusing on a variety of world regions and time periods. Degree requirements insure that majors obtain an acquaintance with the history of several such regions and periods and develop skills in research and writing. Majors and non-majors may qualify for membership in Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honorary.
Students who earn a degree in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences must complete the University requirements, the College requirements for their specific degree program, and their major requirements.
Minors
All students have the possibility of earning one or more minors; follow the link for a list of all available minors and their requirements. Please note that students may not earn a minor in their major field.
Career Prospects
The bachelor of arts with a major in history is designed to prepare students for careers in teaching, business, and government, and for graduate work in history, law, and related social sciences and humanities.
3+3 Program
The Department of History participates in the 3+3 Program with WVU's College of Law, which is an opportunity for qualified undergraduate students to earn their bachelor's degree and law degree in six years instead of seven years. Students accepted into the 3+3 program begin taking classes at WVU Law in what would be their fourth year of college. Students participating in this program must meet certain eligibility criteria and progress benchmarks. For questions regarding your eligibility, please contact your department advisor.
Faculty
Chair
- Kate Staples - Ph.D. (University of Minnesota)
Medieval, gender, England, material culture
Associate Chair
- Matthew Vester - Ph.D. (University of California)
Early Modern Europe, Italy
Professors
- Robert E. Blobaum - Ph.D. (University of Nebraska)
Eberly Family Distinguished Professor, modern Central and Eastern Europe - William I. Brustein - Ph.D. (University of Washington)
European fascism, European political and religious extremism, comparative anti-Semitism - Brian Luskey - Ph.D. (Emory University)
19th-century U.S., social and cultural - Jason Phillips - Ph.D. (Rice University)
Eberly Professor of Civil War Studies, Civil war and reconstruction, southern history, 19th-century U.S. - Matthew A. Vester - Ph.D. (University of California)
Early modern Europe, Italy
Associate Professors
- Melissa Bingmann - Ph.D. (Arizona State University)
Public history, 20th-century U.S. - William Gorby - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
West Virginia, Appalachia, Immigration - Sheena Harris - Ph.D. (The University of Memphis)
Race, Class, Gender, Education, Black Women's Organizations, Hip-Hop Feminism - Joseph Hodge - Ph.D. (Queen’s University at Kingston)
Modern Britian, British Empire, decolonization, international development, Africa - Tamba E. M'bayo - Ph.D. (Michigan State University)
West Africa, colonial and postcolonial, African diaspora and Pan-Africanism - James Siekmeier - Ph.D. (Cornell University)
U.S. diplomatic, modern Latin America - Kate Staples - Ph.D. (University of Minnesota)
Medieval, gender, England, material culture - Michele Stephens - Ph.D. (University of Oklahoma)
Latin American, indigenous peoples, race and gender - Mark Tauger - Ph.D. (UCLA)
20th-century Russia/USSR, historiography, world/comparative - Jessica Wilkerson - Ph.D. (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
Joyce and Stuart Robbins Chair, Appalachia and the South, Women, Gender, and Sexuality, 20th-c U.S., Labor and Working Class History
Assistant Professors
- Brooke Durham - Ph.D. (Stanford University)
Modern Europe, French Empire, North Africa, decolonization - Max Flomen - Ph.D. (UCLA)
Early American History, Native American History - Sean Lawrence - Ph.D. (University of California, Santa Cruz)
Germany, colonialism, Middle East, environment, political economy - Austin McCoy - Ph.D. (University of Michigan)
20th-Century U.S., African-American, labor, social movements - Devin Smart - Ph.D. (University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign)
Africa, World/Global, environmental - Jennifer Thornton - Ph.D. (University of California, Riverside)
Public History
Emeritus Faculty
- Katherine Aaslestad
Professor - William S. Arnett
Associate Professor - Elizabeth Fones-Wolf
Professor - Kenneth Fones-Wolf
Professor - Jack Hammersmith
Professor - Barbara J. Howe
Associate Professor - Elizabeth K. Hudson
Associate Professor - Emory L. Kemp
Professor - Ronald L. Lewis
Eberly Chair and Professor - Mary Lou Lustig
Professor - Robert M. Maxon
Professor - Stephen C. McCluskey
Professor - A. Michal McMahon
Associate Professor - John C. Super
Professor
Admissions
- First-Time Freshmen are admitted directly into the major.
- Students transferring from another major at WVU must have a minimum GPA of a 2.0 to be directly admitted to the major.
- Students transferring from another institution must have a minimum GPA of a 2.0 to be directly admitted to the major.
Admission Requirements 2024-2025
The Admission Requirements above will be the same for the 2024-2025 Academic Year.
Major Code: 1449
Click here to view the Suggested Plan of Study
General Education Foundations
Please use this link to view a list of courses that meet each GEF requirement.
NOTE: Some major requirements will fulfill specific GEF requirements. Please see the curriculum requirements listed below for details on which GEFs you will need to select.
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
General Education Foundations | ||
F1 - Composition & Rhetoric | 3-6 | |
Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric and Composition, Rhetoric, and Research | ||
or ENGL 103 | Accelerated Academic Writing | |
F2A/F2B - Science & Technology | 4-6 | |
F3 - Math & Quantitative Reasoning | 3-4 | |
F4 - Society & Connections | 3 | |
F5 - Human Inquiry & the Past | 3 | |
F6 - The Arts & Creativity | 3 | |
F7 - Global Studies & Diversity | 3 | |
F8 - Focus (may be satisfied by completion of a minor, double major, or dual degree) | 9 | |
Total Hours | 31-37 |
Please note that not all of the GEF courses are offered at all campuses. Students should consult with their advisor or academic department regarding the GEF course offerings available at their campus.
Degree Requirements
Students must complete WVU General Education Foundations requirements, College B.A. requirements, major requirements, and electives to total a minimum of 120 hours. For complete details on these requirements, visit the B.A. Degrees tab on the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences page.
Departmental Requirements for the B.A. in History
- Capstone Requirement: The university requires the successful completion of a Capstone course. Students majoring in History will complete HIST 484 to satisfy this requirement.
- Writing and Communication Requirement: The History Bachelor of Arts is a SpeakWrite Certified ProgramTM. SpeakWrite Certified programs incorporate and develop students’ written, verbal, visual, and mediated communication skills across the curriculum.
- Calculation of the GPA in the Major: A minimum grade of C- is required in all courses applied to major requirements. If a course is repeated, all attempts will be included in the calculation of the GPA, unless the course is eligible for a D/F repeat.
- Secondary Concentration: Students must complete a minor outside of History or a second major.
- Residence Requirement: Students must complete a minimum of 18 credits at WVU; a minimum of 6 of those 18 credits must be at the upper-division level (courses numbered 300 or above).
Curriculum Requirements
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
University Requirements | 57 | |
ECAS B.A. Requirements | 12 | |
History Major Requirements | 51 | |
Total Hours | 120 |
University Requirements
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
General Education Foundations (GEF) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (31-37 Credits) | ||
Outstanding GEF Requirements 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 | 25 | |
HIST 191 | First-Year Seminar | 1 |
General Electives | 31 | |
Total Hours | 57 |
ECAS Bachelor of Arts Requirements
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Fine Arts Requirement | ||
Foreign Language Requirement | 12 | |
Global Studies and Diversity Requirement | ||
Total Hours | 12 |
History Major Requirements
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Introductory History Courses | 12 | |
Practicing History | ||
Select three courses: | ||
European History: Antiquity to 1600 | ||
European History since 1600 | ||
Latin America: Past and Present | ||
The Middle East | ||
East Asia: An Introduction | ||
Growth of the American Nation to 1865 | ||
Making of Modern America: 1865 to the Present | ||
World History to 1500 | ||
World History Since 1500 | ||
History Concentration | 18 | |
Select two of the following regions and then select nine hours from each of the chosen categories (18 hours), with at least twelve total hours at the 300 or 400 level. | ||
United States | ||
Modern Military History | ||
West Virginia | ||
History of the American Revolution: 1763-1790 | ||
Antebellum America: 1781-1861 | ||
The United States: 1865-1918 | ||
Recent America: The United States since 1918 | ||
American Indian History | ||
Twentieth Century American Foreign Relations | ||
The Great Depression | ||
1920s America | ||
United States Cultural History: 1819-1893 | ||
America in the 1960's | ||
The Vietnam War | ||
Hollywood and History | ||
Field Methods in Historic Preservation | ||
Introduction to Public History | ||
Seventeenth Century Colonial America | ||
Eighteenth Century America | ||
History of American Women | ||
African-American History-1900 | ||
African-American Since 1900 | ||
Civil War and Reconstruction | ||
The Coming of the United States Civil War | ||
The Gilded Age in US History | ||
The United States from McKinley to the New Deal, 1896 to 1933 | ||
United States History: New Deal to Great Society | ||
World War II in America | ||
American Foreign Relations to 1941 | ||
American Foreign Relations 1941 to Present | ||
The Old South | ||
The New South | ||
United States Civil Rights Movement | ||
Appalachian Regional History | ||
Working Class America | ||
American Immigration History | ||
Introduction to Historic Preservation | ||
Europe | ||
History of Ancient Times: Stone Age to the Fall of Rome | ||
Introduction to Medieval Europe | ||
Renaissance and Reformation | ||
Absolutism & Enlightenment | ||
Revolutionary Europe | ||
Twentieth Century Europe | ||
Modern Military History | ||
The Mediterranean 1200-1800 | ||
History of Russia to 1917 | ||
History of Russia: 1900-Present | ||
History of Modern Germany | ||
The Holocaust (The Holocaust) | ||
Revolutions in Science and Technology | ||
Greece and Rome | ||
History of Sacred Places | ||
France from 1450 to 1750 | ||
France Since 1815 | ||
German Central Europe, 1648-1900 | ||
Twentieth Century German Central Europe | ||
History of Italy, 1200-1800 | ||
History of Italy since 1800 | ||
Women, Gender, and Kinship in Premodern Europe | ||
Greece: From Troy to Alexander | ||
Rome: From Romulus to Zenobia | ||
The Great War, 1914-1918 | ||
Early Modern Law & Society | ||
The French Wars of Religion | ||
World War II in Europe | ||
Eastern Europe Since 1945 | ||
Revolutionary Russia: 1900-1953 | ||
USSR and After: 1953 to Present | ||
Hitler and the Third Reich | ||
Twentieth-Century Germany from Weimar to Bonn | ||
History of Fascism | ||
Britain 1455-1603 | ||
Living and Dying in Medieval Europe | ||
Eighteenth Century Britain: 1715-1832 | ||
Africa, Asia, and Latin America | ||
History of Ancient Times: Stone Age to the Fall of Rome | ||
Gandhi and Beyond: Modern History of South Asia | ||
Latin America: Culture, Conquest, Colonization | ||
Latin America: Reform and Revolution | ||
Peasants to Agribusiness: History and Problems of Modern Agriculture | ||
Greece and Rome | ||
History of Sacred Places | ||
Myth and Culture in Pre-colonial Africa | ||
Pre-Colonial Africa | ||
Colonial Africa and Independence | ||
Modern China | ||
Modern Japan | ||
The Aztec, Maya, and Inca | ||
The Vietnam War | ||
Latin America and the World | ||
Greece: From Troy to Alexander | ||
Rome: From Romulus to Zenobia | ||
East Africa to 1895 | ||
East Africa Since 1895 | ||
West Africa to 1885 | ||
West Africa from 1885 | ||
History of Chinese Thought | ||
Africa in World History | ||
History of Modern Mexico | ||
Mexican Law from Montezuma to El Chapo | ||
Non-Western History Requirement | 3 | |
Select one of the following, may overlap with another course taken | ||
At least one course in the African/ Asian/ Latin American list above | ||
or: | ||
World History to 1500 | ||
or: | ||
World History Since 1500 | ||
Capstone Experience | 3 | |
Historical Research-Capstone | ||
Secondary Concentration/ Minor (fulfills the F8 requirement) | 15 | |
Students must complete a minor, double major, or dual degree | ||
Total Hours | 51 |
Suggested Plan of Study
The plan below illustrates a plan of study with a minor.
First Year | |||
---|---|---|---|
Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
HIST 191 | 1 | ENGL 101 (GEF 1) | 3 |
GEF 2 | 4 | GEF 3 | 3 |
HIST 302 | 3 | GEF 4 | 3 |
HIST Intro Course 1 | 3 | HIST Intro Course 2 | 3 |
Foreign Language 101 | 3 | Foreign Language 102 | 3 |
General Elective | 1 | ||
15 | 15 | ||
Second Year | |||
Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
ENGL 102 (GEF 1) | 3 | ECAS Fine Arts Requirement (GEF 6) | 3 |
GEF 5 | 3 | Foreign Language 204 | 3 |
Foreign Language 203 | 3 | HIST Concentration Area 1 | 3 |
ECAS Gobal Studies & Diversity Requirement (GEF 7) | 3 | Minor Course 1 | 3 |
HIST Intro Course 3 | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
15 | 15 | ||
Third Year | |||
Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
HIST Concentration Area 1 | 3 | HIST Concentration Area 2 | 3 |
HIST Concentration Area 1 | 3 | HIST Concentration Area 2 | 3 |
Minor Course 2 | 3 | Minor Course 3 | 3 |
General Elective | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
General Elective | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
15 | 15 | ||
Fourth Year | |||
Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
HIST Concentration Area 2 | 3 | HIST 484 (Capstone and Writing) | 3 |
HIST Non-Western | 3 | Minor Course 5 | 3 |
Minor Course 4 | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
General Elective | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
General Elective | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
15 | 15 | ||
Total credit hours: 120 |
Suggested 3+3 Program Plan of Study
First Year | |||
---|---|---|---|
Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
HIST 191 | 1 | ENGL 101 (GEF 1) | 3 |
HIST 302 | 3 | Foreign Language 102 | 3 |
Foreign Language 101 | 3 | HIST Intro Course 1 (GEF 5) | 3 |
General Elective | 2 | HIST Intro Course 2 | 3 |
GEF 2 | 3 | GEF 3 | 3 |
GEF 4 | 3 | ||
15 | 15 | ||
Second Year | |||
Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
ENGL 102 (GEF 1) | 3 | ECAS Fine Arts Requirement (GEF 6) | 3 |
Foreign Language 203 | 3 | Foreign Language 204 | 3 |
HIST Intro Course 3 (GEF 7) (Non-western and ECAS Gl. St. and Div. Req.) | 3 | HIST Concentration Area 1 | 3 |
Minor Course 1 | 3 | HIST Concentration Course Area 1 | 3 |
GEF 2 | 3 | Minor Course | 3 |
15 | 15 | ||
Third Year | |||
Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
HIST Concentration Area 1 | 3 | HIST 484 (Capstone) | 3 |
HIST Concentration Area 2 | 3 | HIST Concentration Area 2 | 3 |
Minor Course 3 | 3 | HIST Concentration Area 3 | 3 |
Minor Course 4 | 3 | Minor Course 5 | 3 |
General Elective | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
15 | 15 | ||
Fourth Year | |||
Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
LAW 641 | 1 | LAW 638 | 3 |
LAW 700 | 2 | LAW 706 | 2 |
LAW 703 | 4 | LAW 707 | 4 |
LAW 705 | 3 | LAW 711 | 2 |
LAW 709 | 4 | LAW 725 | 4 |
LAW 722 | 3 | ||
17 | 15 | ||
Total credit hours: 122 |
Degree Progress
- Students must maintain a 2.0 GPA overall and a minimum of a 2.00 GPA in History every semester (with a 2.2 in HIST required for graduation).
- All majors must meet with their History adviser every semester.
Students who do not meet these benchmarks may be removed from their major.
Major Learning Outcomes
History
Upon successful completion of their undergraduate degree in History, students will demonstrate competence in the following ways and areas:
- Students will be able to explain and analyze the histories of a variety of geographical and chronological contexts.
- Students will be able to identify and analyze primary sources, based on familiarity with the historiography and methodologies covered in their courses.
- Students will be able to evaluate and analyze secondary sources, based on familiarity with the historiography and methodologies covered in their courses.
- Students will be able to produce analytically-driven written and oral work based on the critical evaluation of evidence.
- Students will be able to research and write scholarly papers that develop an argument on a defined historical topic, based on primary and secondary sources and that relates their work to the historical literature.