Undergraduate History Courses
Notes to History Majors
Notes to Non-Majors
Fall 2008 Course Descriptions
Overview Fall 2008
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Overview
Welcome to the Department of History’s Fall 2008 undergraduate course offerings and descriptions. As you’ll see, the History Department offers a diversity of courses, in terms of geography, chronology, and topic. If you have questions about the content of a particular course, please contact the listed instructor.
• While the Department aims to make our courses available to as many students as possible, we cannot guarantee individuals access to particular courses. If you prove unable to register via InsideND for a desired course, you may make a special request for an exemption by contacting Dan Graff, Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS), at dgraff@nd.edu. However, please do not email until after your designated registration time, and note that no exemptions will be given until AFTER all students have had their registration appointments. In any request for an exemption, please note your class year and reason for wanting the course (breadth requirement, concentration course, elective, etc.). Priority is always given to graduating seniors and those with particularly compelling cases
If you have questions regarding registration, counting courses toward particular requirements, or any other related issues, please consult the guidelines below:
Guidelines for History Majors
• History majors may count no more than two lower-level courses toward the major (those that begin with a 1 or a 2). AP credit does not count toward the major.
• Most regular major-level courses contain two sections, simply a way of allocating seats to protect the interests of majors. The first section of a course restricts a number of seats to majors, while the second section is open to all university students. Majors can register for either section of the course, but should try to claim a seat in section 1 before taking one in section 2.
When a course or section is restricted to majors, there is no distinction made between standard or supplementary majors. In other words, all majors have the same access to all major-level courses. For the single exception to this rule, see below.
The History Workshop, HIST 33000, is restricted to those completing the standard 10-course major. It is intended as a “gateway” course into the major, so all standard majors should take this course as soon as possible, ideally the semester following the declaration of the major. With three sections of this course available, majors should aim to build their schedule around the Workshop, rather than the other way around.
Those completing the standard 10-course major should declare their concentration with their faculty advisor as soon as they begin taking courses beyond the Workshop and four breadth courses, if not before (and by the end of the junior year at the latest).
All majors (standard and supplementary) must complete at least one departmental seminar [History Honors Program students are exempt from this requirement because they write a year-long senior thesis.]. These courses share the number sequence 43XXX; they are open only to majors; and they feature as the main assignment the writing of a 25-page paper rooted in primary research. Standard majors should choose a departmental seminar in the area of their concentration whenever possible, while supplementary majors should choose one on a topic with which they have some familiarity due to prior coursework. Note that majors do not have to wait until they are seniors to take one of these courses; also note that majors are encouraged to take more than one. Most importantly, beginning in the Spring 2008 semester, departmental seminars will be coded as "permission required" to ensure the fairest possible method of registration. Students seeking to take a departmental seminar should e-mail the Director of Undergraduate Studies to request permission and provide an explanation for seeking the desired course(s).
If you have any other questions, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies: Daniel A. Graff, Ph.D., Department of History, 219 O’Shaughnessy Hall, 631-5733; dgraff@nd.edu
Guidelines for Non-Majors
Please note that while the Department aims to make our courses available to as many students as possible, we cannot guarantee individuals access to particular courses. If you prove unable to register via InsideND for a desired course, you may make a special request for an exemption by contacting Dan Graff, Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS), at dgraff@nd.edu. However, please do not email until after your designated registration time, and note that no exemptions will be given until AFTER all students have had their registration appointments. In any request for an exemption, please note your major, class year, and reason for wanting the course (university requirement, elective, etc.). Priority is always given to majors, graduating seniors, and those with particularly compelling cases.
Unless noted in the individual course description, any three-credit History course listed below satisfies the university History requirement. Students may not use a Special Studies course (HIST 47050) to satisfy this requirement.
Courses (or crosslists) beginning with a 1 are generally reserved for first-year students, and other students generally need permission from both the Department and the Dean of First Year Studies to register for them. University seminars, designated by the number HIST 13184, are restricted exclusively to first-year students.
Most courses beginning with a 2 are generally open to all students, but often seats are reserved for sophomores and/or first-year students during initial registration. However, some of these courses are reserved exclusively for sophomores.
Courses beginning with a 3 or 4 are generally open to all students, but since they are major-level courses, some seats are restricted to History majors. Most regular major-level courses contain two sections. The first section of a course restricts a number of seats to majors, while the second section is open to all university students. If there are open seats in the first section of a major course at the end of the initial registration period, the department may lift the restriction to accommodate more non-majors.
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Spring 2008 Course Descriptions
Fall 2007 Course Descriptions
Spring 2007 Course Descriptions
Fall 2006 Course Descriptions