Bachelor of History at University of California, Berkeley

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

The Department of History offers a program of instruction ranging widely over the historical record of human experience. The chronological, geographical, and topical range affords great flexibility to students working toward degrees in history and to those who wish to give a historical dimension to their studies in other disciplines. History at Berkeley is a highly flexible major that allows students to follow their interests. It is also a major that places strong value on original student research, with all students completing capstone projects on topics they choose in consultation with members of the faculty.

Declaring the Major

Students may declare the major after completing three letter-graded courses in the Department of History with a 2.0 grade-point average (GPA) or better. This must include at least two lower division courses.

Honors Program

To graduate with honors in History, a major must achieve a general GPA of 3.5, a departmental GPA of 3.7, and a minimum grade of "A-" in HISTORY 101. To be eligible for graduation with high or highest honors in History, a major must complete the one-year thesis program, achieve a general GPA of 3.5, a departmental GPA of 3.7, and a grade of "A" in HISTORY 101. The student must also receive a nomination for high or highest honors from the 101 instructor. The decision to award high or highest honors rests with the Honors Committee.

A major who is eligible for honors after completing HISTORY 101 (but not the one-year thesis program) and is interested in continued research may pursue a second thesis project under the rubric HISTORY H195. The second project may substitute for the 101 thesis in determining eligibility for high or highest honors if the student meets the GPA standards and receives a nomination from the H195 instructor.

Minor Program

The Department of History offers a minor in History.

Students are welcome to meet with the minor advisor to file a "History Minor Application" once they have completed at least one course towards the minor.  Students who have taken their lower division minor course elsewhere should indicate the school on the application so the course can be verified on assist.org and the grade can be verified through CalCentral.

All students must submit a completed "History Minor Application" no later than one semester before a student's Expected Graduation Term (EGT).  If the semester before EGT is fall or spring, the deadline is the last day of RRR week. If the semester before EGT is summer, the deadline is the final Friday of Summer Sessions.  L&S students must additionally submit a signed "Completion of L&S Minor" during their final semester.

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The History major helps students learn to think critically and deeply about the historical processes that have shaped the world we live in. History majors are exposed to a temporally and geographically broad range of historical experience, but they are also required to concentrate on a world region or theme or a period in history, both in order to develop depth of understanding and in order to prepare for the capstone of the History major: an article-length, primary-source based, original research project. The major is designed to develop critical reading, thinking, and writing skills that will be needed to succeed in this capstone course.

Learning Goals for the Major

1. Distinguish and characterize significant periods of historical experience in multiple societies from different parts of the globe.
2. Describe events and developments in the history of multiple societies in terms of continuity, change, and causation.
3. Understand interpretive debates about the past.
4. Appreciate the complexities involved in interpreting societies and social change: for example, the local and the global, particular and general, contingent and structural.
5. Identify different kinds of historical evidence and understand their role in the production of historical knowledge.

Skills

1. Recall factual claims about the past and synthesize them into coherent interpretive arguments.
2. Read documents closely and critically.
3. Formulate a well-organized, well-supported argument.
4. Demonstrate clear writing in the form of essays of varying lengths.
5. Make cogent oral arguments about reading assignments in the context of a seminar discussion.
6. Conduct original research with primary sources.
7. Locate good, relevant secondary scholarship, and distinguish good from poor scholarship.
8. Observe ethical practices of citation and intellectual self-presentation.