The major consists of at least nine semester courses as follows:
Required Courses in the Major:
| One Major Seminar (History 301, “Approaching the Past”) |
| At least one Advanced Seminar (History 402-479) or Advanced Tutorial (History 480-492) |
Elective Courses:
Seven (or more) additional semester courses in History, at least one to be chosen from among three of the following groups:
| Group A | The History of Africa |
| Group B | The History of Asia |
| Group C | The History of Europe & Russia |
| Group D | The History of Latin America |
|
Group E
|
The History of the Middle East |
| Group F | The History of the United States & Canada |
| Group G | The Premodern Period |
Students must take at least one course dealing with the Premodern Period (Group G. This course may also be used to fulfill the A-F group requirement.
Concentration in the Major:
All students are required to adopt a concentration within the History major. Students are responsible for designing their own concentration in consultation with a faculty advisor in the fall semester of their junior year. Each student’s concentration will be formally approved by the Department’s Curriculum Committee. A concentration will consist of at least three courses linked by common themes, geography, or time period; only one of those courses can be a 100-level course; at least one must be a 300- or 400-level course. Courses in the concentration may be used to fulfill the group requirements and courses taken abroad may be used to meet both the concentration and the group requirements. In the Concentration Proposal, students must list a minimum total of six courses that could satisfy the requirements of the concentration, from which they can select three to fulfill the concentration requirement (recognizing that not all courses are offered every year). A registration hold will be placed on those students who fail to complete and submit their Concentration Proposal.
Study Abroad:
Students who major in History are strongly encouraged to study a foreign language and to consider studying abroad during their junior year. History courses taken as part of a study abroad program normally can be used to satisfy departmental concentration and group requirements, up to a maximum of three courses (both HIST 301 and the 400-level course requirement must be completed at Williams, however). See the College catalog or the Department website for further details.
