Undergraduate Program
Studying history sheds light on human experience and thought in different times and places. It enables students to make sense of the present in terms of the past, and the past in terms of the present. Involving the analysis of evidence and the formulation of arguments, studying history is excellent preparation for a wide field of endeavors - from law, government, and public policy to the arts and business.
History is a versatile field that accommodates various perspectives and, in keeping with the University of Chicago tradition, history students incorporate a number of other disciplines into their study. Many students complement their history course work with electives in fields such as anthropology, classics, English, languages, law, philosophy, political science, religious studies, and sociology. The University of Chicago has pioneered a curriculum of Civilizations studies that promotes a careful study of primary texts to provide a strong intellectual foundation for historical research. For decades, the University of Chicago has been a leader in the study of history, pioneering such programs as the series Readings in Western Civilization, used by historians world-wide.
Curriculum
More than 140 history courses are offered each year to undergraduates. Within these offerings, students can choose to pursue a wide range of specializations, methodologies, and philosophies of history and of historical practice. Each history student is assigned to a preceptor, or adviser, who helps him or her define an appropriate and coherent course of study within the department's expansive offerings. A typical history student's curriculum would include regional fields such as African History and British History, temporal fields such as Ancient History and Early Modern History, and topical fields such as the History of Medicine, Gender History, and the History of Human Rights. In addition, students can construct their own main field in consultation with the undergraduate program coordinator.
All history concentrators write a third-year pre-B.A. research paper and fourth year B.A. thesis . Thesse projects allow students the opportunity to pursue independent research on a topic of their choice while working closely with a preceptor and a faculty advisor. Some examples of recent B.A. essay topics are:
- “First Class Americans, Second Class Texans: The American GI Forum and the Politics of Citizenship in Post-World War II Texas”
- “Surviving While Surrounded: Why Hussein Had to Enter the 1967 War and Why it Strengthened Jordanian Legitimacy”
- “France Enters the Cold War: External and Internal Pressures”
- ““Cain, where are they, those whom you brought here?” Soviet War Correspondents Confront the Nazi Genocide, 1941-1945”
For general questions or information about the History Concentration, contact Traci Parker, Undergraduate Program Coordinator.