History

First-Year Seminars

First-year seminars (HIST 001A-001Z; 1 credit) explore specific historical issues or periods in depth in a seminar setting; they are open to only first-year students and are limited to 12 students. Students who are not admitted to first-year seminars in the fall will receive priority for seminars in the spring.

Survey Courses

Survey courses provide broad chronological coverage of a particular field of history. Survey courses (002-010; 1 credit) are open to all students without prerequisites and are designed to offer a general education in the field as well as provide preparation for a range of upper-level courses. Although these entry-level courses vary somewhat in approach, they normally focus on major issues of interpretation, the analysis of primary sources, and historical methodology.

Upper-Division Courses

Upper-division courses (HIST 011-099; 1 credit) are specifically thematic and topical in nature and do not attempt to provide the broad coverage that surveys do. They are generally open to students who have fulfilled one of the following: (1) successfully completed one of the courses numbered 001-010; (2) received an Advanced Placement score of 4 or 5 (or a 6 or 7 IB score) in any area of history; (3) successfully completed one of the following Ancient History courses: 016, 023, 030, 031, 032, 034, 035, 042, 044, 056, or 066; or (4) received the permission of the instructor. Exceptions are courses designated “not open to first-year students” or where specific prerequisites are stated.

Double-Credit Seminars

Double-credit seminars are small classes in which students are expected to take substantial responsibility for the development of the discussion and learning. These seminars focus on the literature of a given field. Critical thinking about secondary sources and historiographical writing constitute their principle objectives. Seminars are limited to 10 students. Admission to these seminars is selective and based on the department’s evaluation of the student’s potential to do independent work and to contribute to seminar discussions. A minimum grade of B+ in at least two history courses taken at Swarthmore and a record of active and informed participation in class discussions are normally required of all students entering seminars. In addition, recommendations from department faculty members who have taught the student are solicited.

Language Attachment

Certain designated courses offer the option of a foreign language attachment, normally for 0.5 credit. Arrangements for this option should be made with the instructor at the time of registration.

Senior Research Seminar

All majors must complete the Senior Research Seminar (HIST 091) in which students write a research paper based on primary sources. This course (which counts as one of the required nine credits) satisfies the College’s requirement that all majors have a culminating exercise and is only offered during the fall semester. The department encourages students to consult faculty members about their topics by the end of their junior year and select their topic prior to taking the Senior Research Seminar. Juniors are also strongly encouraged to apply for summer research fellowships through the Division of Social Sciences.

Acceptance Criteria

Admission to the department as a course major normally requires a B average in at least two history courses taken at Swarthmore and a satisfactory standard of work in all courses. Courses in Greek and Roman history offered by the Classics Department count toward the two history courses prerequisite. The department reserves the right to withhold evaluation of applications submitted after the deadline. If after applying a student is deferred, the department will review their application at the end of each semester until the student is either accepted into the major or withdraws his or her application.

Seminars

Seminars are a collective, collaborative, and cooperative venture among students and faculty members designed to promote self-directed learning. Because the seminar depends on the active participation of all its members, the department expects students to live up to the standards of honors. These standards include attendance at every seminar session, submission of seminar papers according to the deadline set by the instructor, reading of seminar papers before coming to the seminar, completion of all reading assignments before the seminar, respect of the needs of other students who share the reserve readings, and eagerness to engage in a scholarly discussion of the issues raised by the readings and seminar papers. Students earn double-credit for seminars and should be prepared to work at least twice as hard as they do for single-credit courses. The department reminds students that the responsibility for earning honors rests squarely on the students’ shoulders and will review on a regular basis their performance in the program. Failure to live up to the standards outlined previously may disqualify students from continuing in the Honors Program. Students in seminars take a 3-hour written examination at the end of each seminar and receive a grade from the seminar instructor based on the quality of seminar papers and comments during seminar discussions, in addition to the written examination. Seminar instructors will not normally assign grades during the course of the seminar, but they will meet periodically with students on an individual basis during the course of the semester to discuss their progress.

External Examiner Evaluations

Honors students will revise one paper per seminar for their portfolio submitted to external examiners. Revised papers will not be graded but will be included in the portfolio to provide examiners a context for the evaluation of the written examination taken in the spring of the senior year. The thesis and revised seminar papers are due by the end of classes in the spring semester of the students’ senior year.

Revised seminar papers are written in two stages. During the first stage, students confer with their seminar instructor about what paper to prepare for honors and what revisions to plan for these papers. Seminar instructors will offer advice on how to improve the papers with additional readings, structural changes and further development of arguments. The second stage occurs when the student revises the papers independently. Faculty members are not expected to read the revised papers at any stage of the revision process. Each revised paper must be from 2,500 to 4,000 words and include a brief bibliography. Students will submit them to the department office by the end of classes in the spring semester of the students’ senior year. Students who fail to submit their revised papers by the deadline might adversely affect their honorific. Examiners will be notified about late papers.

Study Groups

The department encourages students to form their own study groups to prepare for the external examinations. Although faculty members may, at their convenience, attend an occasional study session, students are generally expected to form and lead the study groups, in keeping with the department’s belief that honors is a collaborative, self-learning exercise that relies on the commitment of students.

Acceptance Criteria

Admission to honors is selective and based on an evaluation of the student’s potential to do independent work and to contribute to seminar discussions. A minimum grade of B+ in at least two history courses taken at Swarthmore and a record of active and informed participation in class discussions are required of all students entering seminars. In addition, recommendations from department faculty members who have taught the student are solicited.

Sophomores hoping to take history seminars in their junior and senior years should give special thought to the seminars that they list in their Sophomore Plans. Seminar enrollments are normally limited to 10. If you are placed in a seminar at the end of your sophomore year, you will be one of 10 students guaranteed a space and you are, in effect, taking the space of another student who might also like to be in the seminar. Consequently, you should not list any seminar in your Sophomore Plan without being quite certain that you intend to take it if you are admitted.

Honors students are expected to maintain a B+ average to continue attending honors seminars and being an honors student. 

Requirements

Students designing a special major in history and educational studies must take six courses in history, including one course in a field other than the United States or Europe. To graduate with a major in History and Educational Studies, a student must also complete our culminating exercise, HIST 091: Senior Research Seminar. With permission, students can complete a two-semester, two-credit thesis (but one credit of this thesis must be HIST 091). Special majors in history and educational studies will work with both an educational studies faculty member and the HIST 091 instructor(s) to complete their one-credit senior research paper or two-credit thesis.

Acceptance Criteria

Admission to the department as a special major follows similar requirements as course majors. Advisers in each department should be consulted when designing a plan.

Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate

The History Department will automatically grant one credit to students who have achieved a score of 4 or 5 in the U.S., European, or World History Advanced Placement examinations (or a score of 6 or 7 in the International Baccalaureate examinations) once they have completed any history course number HIST 001 to HIST 010 and earned a grade of C or higher. Students who want credit for a second Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate examination (in a different area of history) must take a second history course at Swarthmore (any course number, including ANCH 016, 023, 030, 031, 032, 034, 035, 042, 044, 056, or 066) and earn a grade of C or higher. The History Department will grant up to two credits for Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate work. Only one credit from AP/IB will count toward the 9 credits required for the history major.

A score of 4 or 5 for Advanced Placement (or a score of 6 or 7 for International Baccalaureate) allows students to take some upper-division courses in the History Department.

Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate credit may be counted toward the number of courses required for graduation and may be used to help fulfill the College’s distribution requirements.

Off-Campus Study

The History Department encourages students to pursue the study of history abroad and grants credit for such study as appropriate. We believe that history majors should master a foreign language as well as immerse themselves in a foreign culture and society. To receive Swarthmore credit for history courses taken during foreign study, a student must have departmental preapproval and have taken at least one history course at Swarthmore (normally before going abroad). Students who want to receive credit for a second course taken abroad must take a second history course at Swarthmore. Students must receive a grade of C or higher to receive history credit at Swarthmore.

Transfer Credit

The History Department does not grant credit for any history courses taken at other U.S. colleges and universities except courses at Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and the University of Pennsylvania while a registered Swarthmore student.

Graduate School

Students who intend to continue the study of history after graduation should bear in mind that a reading knowledge of one or two foreign languages is generally assumed for admission to graduate school.

Career Opportunities

With strong analytical, writing, and research skills, history majors are prepared for a wide range of occupations and professions. Swarthmore College history majors can be found pursuing a broad range of career paths, ranging from government service to the world of medicine, from elementary and high schools to trade unions and public interest foundations, from journalism and publishing to consulting, and from the private to the public sector. Many find that studying history is excellent preparation for law school and business. And others have gone onto graduate school in history and now teach at universities and colleges in the United States and overseas.

Seminars

• HIST 111. Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Medieval Mediterranean
• HIST 116. European Intellectual History
• HIST 126. Supranational Institutions and Modern Europe
• HIST 128. Russia in the 19th and 20th Centuries
• HIST 130. Early America in the Atlantic World
• HIST 131. Gender and Sexuality in America
• HIST 135. Labor and Urban History
• HIST 137. Slavery, 1550 to 1865
• HIST 140. The Colonial Encounter in Africa
• HIST 143. Political Economy of the Middle East
• HIST 145. Women and Gender in Chinese History
• HIST 148. Issues and Debates in Modern Latin America
• HIST 149. Reform and Revolutions in Modern Latin America
• HIST 180. Honors Thesis