Department of History

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Undergraduate ProgramGraduate ProgramCourse DescriptionsFaculty

 

About the Program

This department supervises the following degree programs:

• Bachelor of Arts in History
• Master of Arts in History
• Doctor of Philosophy in History

The department also participates in the Latin American and Iberian Studies and Russian Language and Area Studies programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree; a minor in women’s studies; Honors College programs; and Arts and Sciences minors in Asian studies, community and urban studies, environmental studies, ethnic studies, European studies, family life studies, humanities, and religion studies.Back to Top

Undergraduate Program

The broad liberal arts foundation available through a major in history can deepen students’ understanding of the complex world in which they live, stimulate intellectual attitudes conducive to effective participation in contemporary society, and cultivate those mental skills required for meaningful employment in many areas of the modern economic system. A history student may consider a career in teaching within colleges, universities, or public schools; in park administration; in regional and local historical society work; in archives and records management; in museum work; in various branches of government work; and in business and industry generally. Many students use their undergraduate history major as a preparation for advanced studies in such areas as law, medicine, and theology.

Bachelor of Arts. Students seeking an undergraduate degree in history will complete 30 hours of history, including the following:

• HIST 1300 or 2322 and HIST 1301 or 2323
• 6 hours of U.S. history including 3 hours in a pre-1877 course
• 18 hours in advanced courses, including 3 hours each of U.S.; European; and African, Asian, or Latin American history
• Nine hours of the major must be in writing intensive 4000-level courses.
• With prior departmental consent, 3 advanced hours in related disciplines may be counted toward the major.
• At least 12 of the 30 hours required for a history major must be taken in residence, including 9 upper-division hours.

Art History Concentration. The department offers an art history concentration in conjunction with the School of Art. It consists of 33 hours as follows:

• 21 hours of history approved by the undergraduate history advisor, at least 12 of which must be at the advanced level and include HIST 4398 and at least 6 hours of U.S. history.
• 12 hours of art history courses from the Department of Art, including one of the courses from ART 3310, 3315, 4310, or 4311. In exceptional cases, HIST 4397 may be substituted with the prior consent of the undergraduate history advisor.

History of Religions Emphasis. The department also offers a history major with a history of religions emphasis. This program consists of 36 hours as follows:

• 6 hours of Western Civilization (HIST 1300-1301).
• 6 hours of American history.
• 15 hours of advanced history (including HIST 4398 and 3 hours each in American; European; and African, Asian, or Latin American).
• 9 hours chosen from courses taught outside the department and having an emphasis on the study of religion.
• At least 9 of the total history hours must be chosen from HIST 3301, 3302, 3328, 3342, 3344, 3348, 4347, 4349, and 4374. HIST 4397 may be chosen with consent of instructor.
• All courses must be chosen with the approval of the undergraduate history advisor.

History Minor. A minor in history consists of 18 hours, including the following:

• 6 hours must be in U. S. history.
• 6 hours must be in non-U.S. history.
• 9 hours, including 3 at the 4000 level, must be in advanced courses.
• At least 6 of the 18 hours required for a history minor must be taken in residence, including 3 at the 4000 level and 3 in an advanced course.

General Requirements. Under state law, all students who receive bachelor’s degrees from Texas Tech must complete 6 hours in American history. Students will normally fulfill this requirement by completing HIST 2300 and 2301. However, juniors, seniors, or students with approval by the department undergraduate advisor may satisfy this requirement by completing any 6 hours from among the approved American history courses.

All courses numbered above 3000 are advanced courses. All courses above 4000 are writing intensive courses and require junior standing or consent of the instructor. A student must receive at least a C in any history course if it is to count toward the major or minor.

Teacher Education. In the teacher education certification programs, history may be used at the secondary level as either a teaching field or as part of the composite field of social studies.

 

Teaching Field Options:

Secondary Education Teaching Field in History
(36 hours—6 hours must be 4000-level)

• HIST 1300 and 1301, also 2300 and 2301
• HIST 3310 (History of Texas) and 3 advanced hours in U.S. History
• HIST 2322 or 2323 (Studies in World History) and 3 advanced hours in African, Asian, or Latin American History
• 6 advanced hours in European History
• 6 advanced hours in history (including HIST 4398)

Secondary Education Teaching Field in Social Studies
(69 hours— 6 hours must be 4000-level history courses)

• HIST 1300 and 1301; HIST 2300 and 2301; HIST 3310 or 3316
• 15 advanced hours in history, including 3 in U. S., 3 in European, and 3 in African, Asian, or Latin American
• POLS 1301 and 2302; also two from 3323, 3325, 3327, and 3351
• GEOG 1401 and 1300; 3353 or 3360; and 3352, 3354, or 3356
• ECO 2301, 2302, and 3311
• PSY 1300
• SOC 1301

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Graduate Program

Information on departmental admission standards, prerequisites, and other matters dealing with graduate study in history may be acquired by writing the graduate advisor or the chairperson of the department or by consulting the departmental Web site.

Master’s Programs

M.A. Degree in History. A student in the standard master’s degree program must complete 30 hours of graduate courses, including HIST 5304. HIST 6301 is the required seminar in the 6000 course series. HIST 5304 must be taken in the first semester that it is offered after admission, and HIST 6301 must follow in the next semester offered after the student has completed HIST 5304. Students must also complete a 6-hour nondepartmental minor and 6 hours in thesis work. Coursework is planned in consultation with the graduate advisor or thesis director soon after admission to the graduate program. The department requires a reading knowledge of one foreign language. Instead of the standard master’s degree requirement of a 6-hour minor taken in another department, students with an interest in archival administration can substitute a 6-hour minor composed of HIST 5309 and 3 hours of archival practicum taken as HIST 7000.

M.A. Degree in History, Nonthesis Option. To provide a program of study for persons whose interests may not be oriented toward formal research, the department offers a nonthesis master’s plan designed to contribute significantly to their intellectual development. The plan is not recommended for students contemplating doctoral work. To complete the program, a student must offer a minimum of 30 semester hours in history and 6 in a minor. Of the history hours, 6 must be from HIST 5304, 6301, and either 5305 or 5306. Students must also take an additional 6000-level class and earn a grade of B or better in both courses under two or more instructors. No more than 18 semester hours may be offered in any of the three geographical areas: North America, Europe, or World. Students following the nonthesis route must pass a comprehensive examination during the semester they plan to graduate.

Doctoral Programs

Doctoral students must choose four fields of study for their programs organized according to the following requirements:

Geographic Major Field (27 hours). Upon entering the program, all doctoral students must first declare their major geographic field from among the following three fields. Each geographic field requires a sequence of courses designed to provide the student with the necessary background for teaching competence in the entire breadth of the geographic field:

• North America—Students choosing U.S, history as their major geographic field must take HIST 5311, 5312, and 5313.
• Europe—Students selecting Europe as their major geographic field must take HIST 5305. Those selecting Europe as a geographic field must take HIST 5305 and are required to choose, in consultation with and with the approval of their committee, two other 5000-level European history readings courses that satisfy their particular area and era of specialty.
• World—Students who choose world history as their major geographic field must take 9 hours of differing world history “Studies in” courses, excluding HIST 5307, which is already a general degree requirement.

Within their primary geographic field, students must also choose two emphases represented by two different faculty members within that geography. The selection of those emphases is left to the discretion of the students, their advisor, and their committee.

Non-Major Geographic Field (9 hours). Students must also select one non-major geographic field (one of the two geographies not selected for the major field).

One Thematic Field (9 hours). Students must also select one thematic field from the following list (or petition the Graduate Studies Committee for approval of a thematic field not appearing on the list) and complete 9 hours of coursework in that thematic field. Thematic fields must include coursework that examines the particular historical theme across different geographies. Students are required to select for the thematic field a committee member who does not represent either of their geographic fields.

• War, Diplomacy, Social Conflict
• Economic and Business
• Sports and Recreation
• Religion and Society
• Science, Medicine, and Technology
• Environmental
  
• Memory and Memorialization
• Globalization
• Urbanization & Identity
• Empire and Conquest
• Diaspora and Immigration
• Borders and Barricades
• Atlantic World
• Ethics and Annihilation
• Propaganda and Rhetoric
• Indigenous Peoples
• Gender and Sexuality
  

Other Course Requirements (9 hours)

• All doctoral students regardless of which primary or secondary fields they choose are required to take HIST 5307.
• All doctoral students who have not previously taken HIST 5304 are required to take it in the first fall semester of their Ph.D. program.
• All doctoral students must also take HIST 6301 after the student has earned a grade of B or higher in HIST 5304.
• In the 60 hours required beyond the B.A. for the Ph.D. degree, all students must have taken a total of 6 hours of 6000-level research seminar courses.
• No more than 15 of the 60 hours of coursework required beyond the B.A. can be taken at the 7000-level.

Dissertation (6 hours minimum). Dissertations may be written in North American, European, or world history (projects in other areas require the specific approval of the department’s Graduate Studies Committee).

Foreign Language Requirement. If not satisfied at the Master of Arts level, proficiency in one language other than English is required of all candidates for the Ph.D. degree. Proficiency in other languages and/or greater linguistic fluency in a language will be required (or not required) for the Ph.D. degree as specified by the candidate’s exam committee in the candidate’s formal degree plan. The language proficiency specified therein will reflect the judgments of the graduate advisor, the examination committee chairperson, and the examination committee regarding the linguistic competencies the candidate will need to successfully complete dissertation research in the proposed area(s) of specialization.

For the purpose of the requirements listed above, “proficiency” in a language is defined according to the following parameters: attainment of a grade of C- or better in a fourth semester undergraduate course (in Texas numeration, the 2302 course); attainment of a grade of B- or better in the second semester of an accelerated graduate language course (in Texas numeration the 5342 course); other class work equivalent to the above; or demonstration of an equivalent level of competency through an approved examination (administered by the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures when possible, by an approved outside agency, or by a scholar with demonstrable experience in the language in question) or by some other means acceptable to the committee, the department, and the Graduate School.

For the purposes of the above listed requirements, “linguistic fluency” is defined in two alternative ways: (1)the candidate should be able to demonstrate the ability to conduct an unprepared spontaneous complex conversation with a native speaker for a duration of five minutes or longer in such a way that he or she can be easily understood or (2) the candidate should have completed two upper-division courses with grades of C- or better or graduate courses with grades of B- or better in the language in question (i.e., two advanced courses beyond the 2302 or 5342 sequences or their equivalents).ext in a manner acceptable to both the student’s Ph.D. committee and the graduate advisor.
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Course Descriptions

• History (HIST)Back to Top

 

Faculty

Click here to view alphabetical listing of all TTU faculty and their academic credentials.

Randy McBee, Ph.D., Chairperson

Horn Professor: Kuethe
Professors: Bell, Howe, Iber, Rainger, Reckner, Walker
Associate Professors: Adams, Brink, Forsythe, McBee, Miller, Mosher, Pelley, Stoll, Willet, Wong
Assistant Professors: Abi-Hamad, Cunngingham, D’Amico, Fallwell, Hahn, Hart, Levario, Milam, Schmidt, Wilson
Adjunct Faculty: Inglis, Serrano
Lecturers: Kreidler, MonroeBack to Top