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HistoryFull Time Faculty: Ernesto Capello, Andrea Cremer, Lynn Hudson, Jamie Monson, Peter Rachleff, Yue-him Tam (Chair), Peter Weisensel The discipline of history investigates events and cultures of the past by focusing on specific historical eras, particular geographic areas, and/or compelling thematic issues. It uses a wide range of written, visual, oral, and material evidence as the basis for constructing contemporary accounts about the past. Historical accounts suggest not only how the past has shaped the present but how any contemporary arrangement represents only one possible result of previous struggles and contingencies. In this sense, history highlights discontinuity as well as pattern, difference as well as similarity, conflict as well as consensus, trauma as well as triumph. The history department seeks to serve an array of educational goals for both majors and non-majors. Our first priority is to teach students to think historically. We recognize that our courses cannot cover every time period or geographic area. Rather, we seek to examine the interpretive problems that historians encounter while practicing their own discipline and when interacting with other fields of academic study and we encourage our students to apply the techniques of historical analysis both to their study of the past and to the problems of the contemporary world. Members of the department strive to encourage a broad interdisciplinary approach and to develop students’ proficiencies in analysis, writing, and speaking. As a result, students with any academic major who wish to explore discrete eras in time, different parts of the world, or specific historical issues should find departmental offerings, particularly at the introductory and intermediate levels, appropriate for their undergraduate education. The history department participates in many interdisciplinary programs and majors including African studies, American studies, Asian studies, environmental studies, humanities and media and cultural studies, international studies, Latin American studies, legal studies, urban studies, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. For details, consult the appropriate descriptions elsewhere in the catalog. Courses in history contribute to general education and the understanding of an individual’s place in society, preparing students to be better informed, active citizens in their community, nation, and world. Although an undergraduate major at Macalester can lead to specialized graduate-level study in history, most graduates pursue non-academic careers. Skills and perspectives developed through a history major, augmented by internship opportunities when appropriate, help prepare students for positions in professions such as teaching, law, business, international relations, and library and archival work; they may also contribute broadly to building successful careers in government, business, and the nonprofit sector. The department expects its majors to: *Become acquainted with the many, often competing, ways in which historians construct accounts of the past; *Become conversant with different approaches to textual analysis, with diverse forms of historical representation, with a wide range of conceptual frameworks, and with varied ways of assessing and interpreting evidence from the past; *Become more proficient in a) using a variety of research and informational tools, b) analyzing and evaluating historical arguments, and c) writing and speaking clearly and concisely; *Come to appreciate the diversity in human experience through comparisons across time (different historical eras) and space (different geographic regions). Students who are history majors will take part in an evaluation of the department and their majors through exit interviews with faculty members. General Distribution Requirement All history courses count toward the general distribution requirement in humanities. General Education Requirements Courses that meet the general education requirements in writing, quantitative thinking, internationalism and multiculturalism will be posted on the Registrar’s web page in advance of registration for each semester. Additional information regarding the general distribution requirement and the general education requirements can be found in the graduation requirements section of this catalog. Major Requirements A history major is planned in consultation with a student’s advisor and comprises no fewer than 40 nor more than 48 history credits. These credits may include up to four internship credits (History 624) if approved by a history department member, and four independent study credits (History 614) carried out under the supervision of a member of the department. Preceptorship in history credits (History 634) may not be counted among the first 40 credits for the major but may be a supplement to them up to a maximum total of 48 credits. Courses completed for college credit prior to matriculation at a collegiate level institution, such as Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses, may not be used in completion of a major. Except with consent of the department, the major will include no more than eight introductory level course credits and no more than eight history credits taught by non-departmental faculty. All history majors are required to take History 379, “The Study of History,” which examines the different approaches and analytical frameworks of historical scholarship. Prospective majors are strongly encouraged to take “The Study of History” during their sophomore year. All history majors are also required to take History 490 in the fall of their senior year, an advanced study seminar in which a major research paper is written. A history major must take 4 credits in each of three geographic areas. The department normally offers courses in the following geographic areas: United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa, East Asia, and Middle East/Islamic World. In addition, a history major must take at least four credits in courses that deal primarily with the history of a period prior to 1800, and at least four credits in courses that deal primarily with the period since 1800. Students are expected to plan to acquire skills necessary for their particular fields of study, such as paleography, cartography, statistics, and foreign languages, in consultation with their departmental advisor. The college senior capstone requirement is to be met by completion of History 490 during the fall of the senior year. Minor Requirements A minor in history consists of twenty-four credits chosen with the assistance of the student’s departmental advisor. Not more than twelve of these may be introductory level courses and not more than four of them taught by non-departmental faculty. Honors Program The history department participates in the honors program. Students working on honors projects must take History 490 in the fall of their senior year and can undertake an independent study (History 614) under the supervision of their honors thesis advisor the following spring. Eligibility requirements, application procedures and specific project expectations for the department are available either from the department office or the Director of Academic Programs. Topics Courses 194, 294, 394, 494 Topics courses are occasional, often experimental courses, offered by instructors at their own initiative or in response to student requests. Recent topics courses include: Family and Gender in Contemporary African History; Latin America: Art and Nation; Daily Life in Europe 800-1800; Public History; Transnational Latin Americas; 20th Century Early Arabic Literature and History; Race, Capitalism and Liberation Struggles in South Africa; Medieval History through Castles
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