The Major in History

Before you can declare the major, you must set up a Declaration Advising Session with the Undergraduate Program Administrator, Violeta Rivera. You may submit the Major Declaration Form to them prior to your Declaration Session by emailing history.undergrad@nyu.edu.

A minimum of 36 points in history (typically 9 courses) with a grade of C or better in each course. (No pass/fail courses may count towards the Major or Minor, except for courses from the Spring 2020 semester.)

• History Workshop
• At least 5 advanced-level history courses (course # HIST-UA 100 or above).
• 1 course in each of the three geographic areas: US, European (Eastern / Western Europe & Russia) and Non-Western (Africa, Asia, Latin America & Middle East)
• 2 Pre-1800 courses
• 1 Capstone Seminar
• One course can count towards no more than 2 georgraphical or temporal requirements
• Students can fulfill the geographerical requirements at any course level

Introductory Courses (Below HIST-UA 100)

• 16 of the 36 points (4 classes) may be in introductory courses.
• Introductory Courses, usually broad and general, are useful to prepare students for courses that treat subjects in more depth and detail. 

Advanced Courses (HIST-UA 100 & above)

• All 36 points of the history major may be in advanced courses, but 20 of the 36 points (5 classes) must be in advanced courses.
• Advanced courses examine themes or narrower subjects, usually over shorter periods of time, in greater depth and detail than introductory courses. Many of these courses have limited enrollments.

The Workshop (course number in the 900 range, HIST-UA 9XX) (previously HIST-UA 101)

• This course introduces majors to the core skills, methods, and approaches of the discipline. This course teaches this key disciplinary content, such as reading primary sources and analyzing historical arguments, through a series of case studies related to a particular theme (ie: revolutions, warfare, slavery, capitalism, etc). The goal of the Workshop is to prepare our majors to succeed in more advanced seminars, including, eventually, a Capstone Seminar.
• The Workshop must be taken before a Capstone Seminar. Students may not take a Workshop concurrent with the Capstone Seminar.
• Transferred courses never count toward this requirement.
• The Workshop must be taken at NYU Washington Square Campus Fall or Spring semester.

Capstone Seminar (course number in the 400 range, HIST-UA 4XX)

• One Capstone Seminar is required for the history major. Students must take the Workshop and be at least second-semester sophomores to enroll in a Capstone Seminar.
• Seminars are designed to offer students an opportunity to discuss a series of topics or issues around a table in an intimate setting of fewer than twenty students and a faculty director. Each student is expected to undertake a research project and make an oral presentation in class about some or all aspects of the project. The professor and fellow students critique each other’s work in progress and offer helpful suggestions and insights of their own.
• At the end of the semester, the student will submit a final paper to the professor who will then assess a grade based on the quality of the paper as well as class participation throughout the semester. This is not a lecture course and normally there are no mid-term or final examinations.
• The Capstone Seminar can double count towards the Geographic or pre-1800 requirements, as long as the student takes 9 courses total.
• Regular history seminars are not considered capstone advanced-level seminars, a capstone seminar must have a course number in the 400 range. 
• The Capstone Seminar must be taken at NYU Washington Square Campus Fall or Spring semester.

AP/IB/A-Level Credits

• For majors, we will allow up to 4 points of AP/IB/A-Level credit to count as one intro history course. 
• To receive AP credit, you must have achieved a score of 4 or better on the AP test in AP European History, AP United States History, or AP World History.
• If AP/IB/A-Level credit is used toward the major, the student may only petition two other non-History or non-NYU course toward their major.

• Courses cross-listed with the history department and HIST-UA courses taken during study abroad will count towards the history major. Due to the large number of cross-listed courses, it is the student’s responsibility to remind their history advisor that the cross-listed course coming from the non-history department counts for the history major.
  
• Courses that are not cross-listed with the history department must be approved by the DUS.  Students can petition for up to three courses to count towards their major by turning in a course petition form and a syllabus to the History Department. No course is guaranteed. The credits must be accepted by CAS first, and then evaluated by the DUS. 
  
• If AP/IB/A-level credit is used toward the major, only two other non-History or non-NYU course may be petitioned. As previously mentioned, students must take at least 6 history courses in the history department.

• Transfer students (including Liberal Studies students) can petition for up to four courses to count towards their major by turning in a course petition form and a syllabus to the History Department. No course is guaranteed.
• If AP/IB/A-level credit is used toward the major, only three other non-History or non-NYU course may be petitioned. Transfer students must take at least 5 history courses in the history department.

CORE Courses and First Year Seminars

• CORE courses (CORE-UA) and First Year Seminars(FYSEM-UA) can only count towards the history major if they are taught by a history professor.
• CORE courses (CORE-UA) and First Year Seminars (FYSEM-UA) can only count as introductory courses.

Liberal Studies Courses

• Three LS courses may be counted toward the major: Global Works and Society Sequence. Students must take 5 advanced courses so only one more introductory course (below HIST-UA 100) course may be counted toward the major.
  • GWA-UF 101 Global Works and Society: Antiquity fulfills the Pre-1800 requirement as an introductory course.
  • GWC-UF 102 Global Works and Society in a Changing World fulfills the European requirement as an introductory course.
  • GWM-UF 201 Global Works and Society: Modernity fulfills an intro elective course.

Double Counting of Courses

• Up to 2 courses may be double counted between the history major and another major, and 1 course maybe be double counted between the history major and another minor, as long as this also adheres to the other department’s policy.

Internships (HIST-UA 980/981)

• Students who wish to engage in history related work in an agency or institute within or outside New York University (ie. UN agency, an archive, museum or library, philanthropy, a publishing house or an appropriate television program) may submit an internship application to the DUS for 2 points or 4 points of course elective credit. 
• Internships may not be used towards satisfying the georgraphical requirements but are considered advanced history electives.
• Internships may be either paid or unpaid.

Independent Study (HIST-UA 997/998)

• Independent Studies may count towards the major if they are classified as HIST-UA and do not exceed a total of 8 points. They may also be used towards satisfying the geographical requirement upon formal approval from the DUS.
• Students interested in undertaking independent study on a specific or specialized topic of their choice may do so by submitting an independent study application to the DUS for 2 or 4 points of course credit. 

Graduate Classes (HIST-GA)

• Undergraduate seniors with a history GPA of 3.8 or better may take some graduate level history courses. Consult the current course schedule and then seek permission to register from the instructor of the course.