First-year courses
First-year students are advised to take introductory level courses, most of which are broad overviews that not only prepare students for more in-depth, upper-level courses but also introduce students to the discipline of history. All emphasize basic skills of good writing and clear thinking. Introductory courses are those that start with either a 0 (e.g. History 016) or 1 (e.g. History 118). One exception is History 120, Writing History, which should ideally be taken in the sophomore year or after at least one course in the History Department. We strongly recommend that students take introductory-level courses before enrolling in 200-level courses. If you feel an exception should be made to this general rule, please consult the chair or course instructor.
History and the Program of Liberal Studies
As history is a discipline with connections to many other fields of study, the History Department recommends that students explore the Program of Liberal Studies during their first years. Many courses that you will take to fulfill your perspectives will prove to be valuable to your major in history.
Related Courses
History majors should aim to be liberally educated. That means being exposed to a variety of disciplines that provide them with a broad perspective and which will sharpen their critical thinking skills as well as their verbal and written expression.
Our majors tend to take a wide variety of courses across many departments. Among the most popular are Government courses (e.g. Introduction to American Government, Comparative Politics of Women, Introduction to International Relations), English courses (e.g. Major American Writers, Shakespeare); Sociology (Intro. to Sociology, Media and Society); and Foreign Languages (Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese).
Major Advisors
Once students declare a history major, they may choose an advisor in the History Department. Usually the advisor is someone the student has gotten to know through his/her coursework and teaches in the student’s area of specialization.
For additional information
For more information about the History Department and major at Clark, please contact Janette Greenwood, Chair. (Office: Jefferson 306; phone 7286; email jgreenwood@clarku.edu)