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Major and Minor Requirements

The Major
The Minor

The Major

The history major requires students to complete 36 hours of history courses within the total of 120 hours for a bachelor’s degree from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  Courses used to meet the requirements of another major or minor may not be used toward the major in history.

Of the 36 total hours, at least 27 must be at the 3000 or 4000 level.

At least 21 hours of history courses must be taken at the University of Florida, even if a student is transferring credit for history courses from another college or university.

Students are required to begin their history major with the mandatory three-credit course: HIS 3942 (History Practicum).

Students are required to take courses in a range of geographic areas, including:

  • 9 hours in American history (AMH) and European history (EUH):
    *one course in AMH, one course in EUH, and one course in either AMH or EUH
  • 9 hours in African (AFH), Asian (ASH), or Latin American (LAH) and World (WOH) history                                                                                                                                                                                                 *with a maximum of two courses under any one prefix (i.e. AFH, ASH, LAH, or WOH)

In their junior or senior year, students are required to take a research-oriented seminar limited to twenty students (History Senior Research Seminar), on a topic close to the research expertise of the professor concerned.  The seminar may have any history prefix but always carries the suffix 4930, e.g. AMH 4930 or AFH 4930.  Advanced students, who are contemplating the possibility of writing an honors thesis as part of the honors program, are encouraged to take this course at the junior level (3LS). Other students should probably wait until their senior year.

Courses in the History Department have the following prefixes: AFH, AMH, ASH, EUH, HIS, LAH, and WOH. Only these courses may be counted toward the major.  Courses used to meet the requirements of another major or minor and courses in other departments such as Art History and Classics may not be used toward the major though history courses may also count to the fulfillment of General Education requirements.

NOTE 1:  students may now register for their research seminar the way they register for other courses. Typically, registration for spring seminars is in November while registration for fall seminars is in March.

NOTE 2:  only with the permission of the Undergraduate Coordinator or the Associate Chair will students be given more than one opportunity to take a seminar. Only classes for which a student has earned a C or better will count toward the major. A grade of C- (1.67) will not count. Courses taken under the S/U option are therefore unacceptable.

NOTE 3:  Students may enroll in a maximum of three history courses per semester.

The Minor

A minor in history consists of 15 credits minimum, at least 12 of which must be at the 3000- or 4000-level with grades of C or better in each course.  Individual study and the S-U option are not acceptable.  Only six (6) credit hours used to meet the requirements of another major or minor may be used toward the minor in history.  Transfer students who minor in history must take at least nine hours of history at UF.