History Major
Majoring in History
Students due to graduate in 2024 and 2025 must take eleven semester courses in history (of at least three credits each). Of those eleven courses, students must take the following:
- HI276: Patterns and Processes in World History;
- Two 300-level courses, both of which must be taken at Colby;
- A senior research seminar at 400 level, which should also be taken at Colby;
- At least one course in each of three areas:
- Category I: Africa, Asia, and world history
- Category II: Europe, Russia, and the USSR
- Category III: Colonial and Native America/United States
- At least two courses that are defined as dealing with “early” history.
Other important information and departmental policies:
- Students should take no more than three courses at 100-level.
- Students doing an honors thesis are required to complete a 400-level seminar.
- Up to three semester courses in history may be taken from historians at other colleges and universities in the United States and abroad (please consult with the department chair if you have questions about non-departmental courses that are approved for the major).
- No requirement for the major may be taken satisfactory/unsatisfactory.
- No course will count for the history major if the grade is lower than C-.
- Seniors with a GPA of 3.75 or higher in history courses will graduate with “Distinction in the Major.”
The Checklist History Major Requirements for the class of 2025 and above can be downloaded here.
Students due to graduate in 2026 and beyond must take eleven semester courses in history (of at least three credits each). Of those eleven courses, students must take the following:
- HI276: Patterns and Processes in World History (requirement for 300-level courses), preferably in their first or sophomore year;
- HI376: Doing History (requirement for 400-level courses), preferably before or during their junior year;
- Two 300-level seminars (HI376 does not count toward this requirement), both of which must be taken at Colby;
- A senior research seminar at 400 level, which should also be taken at Colby;
- At least one course each in four of the following fields:
- African history
- Atlantic World history
- East Asian history
- European history
- Latin American History
- Middle Eastern history
- Russian/USSR history
- Southeast Asian history
- US and Native American history
- At least two courses that are defined as dealing with “early” history.
- Declare a concentration:
- Students are required, in consultation with their advisor, to articulate a concentration in the fall of their sophomore year or upon declaring as a history major (e.g., comparative history of religion, reproduction and gender, power and racial inequality, nations and nationalism, etc.)
- This concentration should be explored in at least four courses
- All majors are required to participate in a one-credit colloquium (HI476) series in their senior year.
Other important information and departmental policies:
- Of the 11 courses for the major, no more than three may be at the 100-level.
- Students doing an honors thesis are required to complete a 400-level seminar.
- Up to three semester courses in history may be taken from historians at other colleges and universities in the United States and abroad (please consult with the department chair if you have questions about non-departmental courses that are approved for the major).
- No requirement for the major may be taken satisfactory/unsatisfactory.
- No course will count for the history major if the grade is lower than C-.
- Seniors with a GPA of 3.75 or higher in history courses will graduate with “Distinction in the Major.”
The Checklist History Major Requirements for the class of 2026 and on can be downloaded here.