History Learning Outcomes
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Identify and interpret social, economic, political, cultural, and intellectual changes over time.
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Evaluate and analyze primary and secondary sources in order to draw sound conclusions.
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Develop and communicate clear, concise, and coherent oral and written arguments supported by relevant evidence synthesized from a range of sources.
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Use the latest research tools and technologies to locate, access, and critically evaluate information.
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Learn collaboratively in diverse teams.
Program Requirements
The Department of History offers courses for a general introduction to the history of the world and a more specialized knowledge of particular historical topics and chronological periods. The program has also been designed to permit the student to take a double major if desired. For example, while majoring in History, a student may take the courses required of majors in Business, Political Science, or Economics. There is room in the History major’s program to accumulate the five courses leading to a minor in another field, such as Digital Humanities or Museum Studies. A minor in Secondary Education will lead to teacher licensure in Massachusetts. This wide range of choices open to the History major enables the student to prepare not only for graduate studies in history, museum and archival work, library science, or public administration, for example, but also for job opportunities in teaching and in business.
If you are interested in teaching immediately upon earning a bachelor’s degree, you can minor in Secondary Education to earn your initial licensure, which is accepted in more than half of the fifty states. Alternatively, you may apply to the 4 + 1 M.Ed. in Secondary Education with a Concentration in History, where you would start graduate-level coursework your senior year and then earn both a master’s degree and initial licensure in your fifth year.
Two (2) introductory courses to be apportioned as follows:
(a) One (1) 100-level course with a focus on the United States:
- HSTY 111 United States History to Reconstruction
- HSTY 112 United States History since Reconstruction
- HSTY 120 American Lives
- HSTY 165 Slavery, Race, and Rights in American History
- HSTY 169 Sex and the Sixties
(b) One (1) 100-level course with a focus outside the United States:
- HSTY 102 Comparative History of World Civilizations
- HSTY 105 Europe and the World to circa 1450
- HSTY 106 Europe and the World since circa 1450
- HSTY 123 Beasts, Battles, and Ballads: Life, Literature, and Art in Medieval Europe
- HSTY 134 Pharaohs, Slaves, and Cacao: Africa and the World
- HSTY 149 Twentieth Century China
- HSTY 176 Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? The Age of Revolutions, 1750-1850
- HSTY 186 History of Modern Violence
Two (2) core courses:
Capstone (1):
All of the above courses, with the exception of the Capstone, should be taken prior to the end of the sophomore year.
Remaining six (6) courses must be at the 290-level or above and be apportioned as follows:
- A minimum of one (1) HSTY course at 290 or 300-level (American history)
- A minimum of one (1) HSTY course at 290 or 300-level (European history)
- A minimum of one (1) HSTY course at 290 or 300-level (World history)
No more than four (4) 200-level courses, including HIST 225 Historiography and HIST 250 Historical Research and Writing, may be applied toward completion of major requirements (includes up to two (2) 200-level courses accepted as transfer credits).
The Department also offers History majors a number of internships and independent-study opportunities. History majors who anticipate pursuing graduate study in history are strongly encouraged to study a foreign language through at least the intermediate level.
Group A AMERICAN HISTORY:
- HSTY 290A Special Topics Seminar in American History
- HSTY 302 Colonial America
- HSTY 304 The American Revolution
- HSTY 306 The Early American Republic
- HSTY 308 American Civil War Era
- HSTY 309 Modern United States History: 1945 to the Present
- HSTY 313 Civil Rights Movements in the United States
- HSTY 317 The Family in American Life
- HSTY 323 African-American History
- HSTY 331 Harding to Roosevelt: The United States 1920 to 1945
- HSTY 340 Industrial Conflict in the United States
- HSTY 341 The Consequences of War on Modern America
- HSTY 350A Topics in American History
- HSTY 360 Media and Communications in American HistoryHSTY 386 Women in American History
- HSTY 386 Women in American History
Group B - EUROPEAN HISTORY:
- HSTY 290E Special Topics Seminar in European History
- HSTY 301 Ancient Greece: From the Homeric through the Hellenistic Age
- HSTY 305 Ancient Rome: The Republic and the Empire
- HSTY 329 The Viking Age
- HSTY 349 The 1960’s in Europe and the United States
- HSTY 350E Topics in European History
- HSTY 365 The History of Gender, Sexuality, and the Body
- HSTY 367 Faith and Reason in Medieval Europe
- HSTY 370 Intellectual History of Modern Europe
- HSTY 371 Women in Europe, 1500- 2000
- HSTY 372 Renaissance and Reformation Europe, 1350 to 1650
- HSTY 376 History of Modern France
- HSTY 377 History of Medicine and Society in the West – From the Ancient World to Present
- HSTY 378 History of Modern Britain
- HSTY 380 History of Modern Germany
- HSTY 381 Remaking Europe: History, Politics, Culture since World War II
- HSTY 382 Empires in Collision: Southeastern Europe, 1683 to the Present
- HSTY 384 Revolutionary France (1750-1815)
- HSTY 385 Portraits in European/World History
- HSTY 388 Peter to Putin: The History of Modern Russia
- HSTY 394 The History of Late Antiquity
Group C - WORLD HISTORY:
- HSTW 290W Special Topics Seminar in World History
- HSTY 303 Native American History, 1500-1800
- HSTY 318 The First World War: Conflict, Culture, and Society
- HSTY 321 European and American Muslims: A History
- HSTY 337 Caribbean History
- HSTY 345 Networks and Empires – Economic History of the Atlantic World
- HSTY 350W Topics in World History
- HSTY 356 Holocaust and Genocide in the 20th Century
- HSTY 359 Slavery and Abolition
- HSTY 369 The History of the Crusades
- HSTY 383 Making of the Modern Middle East
To be eligible for teacher licensure in History Grades 5-8 or Grades 8-12 students must complete the History major with History Teaching Concentration (UHIT) plus the minor in secondary education.
NOTE: Students are required to maintain a GPA of 3.00 or above within this concentration.
In addition to the requirements for the History Major listed above, the requirements for the History major with a History Teaching Concentration (UHIT) are as follows:
1) Students must also take the following social science courses:
- ECON 101 Principles of Macroeconomics (Gen. Ed. Domain III-A)
- GEOG 110 World Regional Geography (Gen. Ed. Domain III-C)
- POSC 110 Introduction to American Politics (Gen. Ed. Domain III-B)
2) Completion of the Secondary Education minor requirements. Prior to student teaching experience, the student must have taken all of the required education courses, plus nine (9) history courses and two (2) social science courses.
3) Recommended courses:
- SOCI 101 Introduction to Sociology (Gen. Ed. Domain III-B) or SOCI 130 Social Problems (Gen. Ed. Domain III-B)
- A world language course beyond the General Education requirement.
Required Core Courses (5)
- EDIL 910 Education Foundations
- EDIL 920 Learning and Human Development
- EDUC 998 Language Development and Communication
- EDUC 999 Research and Evaluation
- TESL 910 Sheltered English Immersion
Practicum Courses (5)
- EDIL 802 Professional Preparation Special Needs and Educational Technology
- EDIL 900 Field Study I in Education and Seminar
For Specialization in History/Social Science, Grades 5-12
- EDIL 822 Secondary Methods with Field Study II: History Grades 5-12
- EDPS 862A Secondary Professional Practicum A: History Grades 5-12 (2 course credits)
- EDPS 862B Secondary Professional Practicum B: History Grades 5-12 (2 course credits)
Elective Courses (3)
Three (3) graduate-level electives are required. The courses will be determined in connection with the student’s area of specialization (Art, English, History, or Mathematics).
Required Comprehensive Exam
- A timed comprehensive examination is required as the student’s culminating experience.
Any five (5) courses from the History Department with a maximum of one (1) internship and one (1) independent study.
Career Opportunities
History majors will be prepared to pursue career opportunities across a wide range of exciting fields, including:
Lawyer
Lawyers who understand the historical context of developments in the legal system have an advantage.
Curator
In charge of a collection of exhibits in a museum or art gallery.
Teacher
Lead classrooms at public and private schools, write curriculum, create worksheets, and give lectures.
Journalist
Gather, investigate, analyze, and report on news and current events.
Archivist
Work with paper documents, photographs, maps, films, and computer records to preserve original material.
Financial Planner
Reviews financial statements and finds any potential risks or opportunities for growth.
Bryan Sicard '17: From History to Law
The History major at Framingham State University was the perfect choice for Bryan Sicard's undergraduate studies prior to pursuing his Law Degree.
"FSU's History department taught me not just how to understand the past, but gave me the tools to better understand myself!" Sicard says. "The professors showed me just how many doors a history degree could open and that any dream is achievable. I never could've made it where I am today if they hadn't brought out the best in me."
Sicard is joining Brand & Tapply, LLC this fall as an Associate working on white-collar fraud litigation. He has secured his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, where he served as Director of Intelligence Division for the Ukraine Accountability Project and Writer for Journal of High-Technology Law. In his writing, he discusses how with Artificial Intelligence becoming an increasingly routine feature of our daily lives, it’s worth looking at what legal protections the people directing the AI have, and don’t have, when trying to copyright or trademark their work.
Meet Our Faculty
Maria Alessandra Bollettino, Ph.D.
Lori Gemeiner Bihler, Ph.D.
Kayla Nett, Coordinator of Interns and Fellows, Old Sturbridge Village
“My time as a history major at Framingham State not only prepared me for my current career, but it also shaped me to be a lifelong learner”
Suzanne Wright '19, Assistant Director at Christa McAuliffe Center
“Internship opportunities at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site and Christa McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning solidified my desire to work in informal education.”
Kellie Guittarr '19, Social Studies Teacher
“The faculty's genuine commitment to student success has been invaluable, and the quality and rigor of the education made me well prepared when entering the workforce as a middle school teacher.”