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QUESTIONS & ANSWERSUndergraduate ProgramThis page attempts to cover some common questions that undergraduate students have about majoring in History at Purdue. Categories below for Questions & Answers include: credits, requirements, courses, and careers. Links have been provided where applicable. If you have questions that are not covered here, please view the pages in the Undergraduate Program section of our web site. If you need more information about the program after viewing the web pages please contact:
QUESTION: How does AP (Advanced Placement) history affect my major/minor? ANSWER: In order to receive credit for AP history, you must take the AP exam and have your score sent to Purdue.
AP exam credit satisfies the same requirements as History 104, 105, 151 and 152. [Special Note: History Page w/Credit and Advanced Placement Information displayed together & Purdue University - Advanced Credit page]
QUESTION: Are any History courses available for test-out? ANSWER: At the present time, NO History courses are available for test-out. For more information, please contact the Purdue University Office of the Dean of Students web page or your undergraduate academic advisor. [Special Note: History Page w/Credit and Advanced Placement Information displayed together & Purdue University - Advanced Credit page]
QUESTION: Can college-credit courses taken in high school be applied to the major? ANSWER: The Department of History will accept credit for college-level courses taken by high school students if one of the following criteria is met:
If none of these criteria are met, students may receive credit by taking the CLEP exam while they are enrolled at Purdue University. For information about the CLEP exam (College Level Examination Program), please contact the Office of the Dean of Students. [Special Note: History Page w/Credit and Advanced Placement Information displayed together & Purdue University - Advanced Credit page]
QUESTION: Is there an honor society in this major? ANSWER: Yes. Phi Alpha Theta is the history honor society. Please consult the Phil Alpha Theta web site for further details.
QUESTION: When and how do I apply for graduation? ANSWER: When you sign up for your last semester of classes, you will talk to your academic advisor about getting on the candidate list. Once you have been registered as a candidate you will receive mailings from the Office of the Registrar. You are then responsible for responding to the Registrar's mailings about graduation and your diploma.
QUESTION: What are the requirements for a Major in History? ANSWER: The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) Academic Advising website contains the official forms noting specific requirements.
QUESTION: What are the requirements for a Minor in History? ANSWER: The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) Academic Advising website contains the official forms noting specific requirements.
QUESTION: Can I specialize in the history in one area of the world? ANSWER: The purpose of an undergraduate education in history is to provide students with the broadest possible background in all areas, fields, and periods of the past. Thus students must take courses in U.S., European, and Global history along with history of the period before A.D. 1500. Once those requirements have been fulfilled, students may follow their own scholarly interests. Area of Specialization in History has been added to give recognition to undergraduate history majors & minors that expand their course work in a specific area.
QUESTION: Are there any requirements or prerequisites to CODO (Change of Degree Objective) into history from another department or school? ANSWER: No
QUESTION: May a course be used to fulfill more than one requirement? ANSWER: Yes. For example, History 102: Introduction to the Ancient World, may be used to fulfill requirements in category B on the departmental Bingo Sheet (European history) and D (history course before 1500 A.D.). More to the point, upper-division courses may be used to fulfill the 15-hour requirement of 400-level courses as well as categories A, B, C, and D. View the Bingo Sheet (Plan of Study for History Major) to review your choices.
QUESTION: Who may I contact for further information about the History program at Purdue University? ANSWER: For more information about the History program view the pages in the Undergraduate Program section of our web site. If you need more information about the program after viewing the web pages please contact:
QUESTION: What are the differences among 100 to 500-level courses? ANSWER: The department's 100-level courses are large survey courses (80 to 400 students) that cover United States, European, and Global history. Some of these survey classes have discussion sections (in lieu of a lecture period), others do not. The 200-level courses tend also to be large-enrollment classes that, among other topics, provide surveys of Asian and Latin American history. Three-hundred level courses are defined topically, (e.g., "The Crusades", "Monarchy: Its Rise and Fall", "Women in America") and have enrollments as high as 120. The 400-level courses have enrollment capped at 30 students, and emphasize extensive writing, discussion, and interactive learning along with lectures. The department's 500-level classes are graduate classes that are open to advanced undergraduates. Sometimes the professor's permission is required before enrolling in these courses. The department also offers a variety of variable-title undergraduate seminars.
QUESTION: What is a seminar? ANSWER: Seminars are small classes of no more than fifteen students. The department has three types of undergraduate seminars. They are all variable title seminars, which means that the content of the course will vary depending on the faculty member who teaches the class. History 195 is a freshman seminar for incoming history majors. History 492 is an undergraduate reading seminar in which students will immerse themselves in the historical literature on a given topic. History 495 is a research seminar in which students will do primary-source research on a relevant historical topic. The value of seminars are many. Because they have limited enrollment, they afford students the experience of a small college classroom environment at a large land grant, research university. They allow for more interactive learning in a small group setting. And finally, they create scholarly and personal bonds among the students and between the class and faculty members.
QUESTION: What courses will be offered in Summer School? ANSWER: As a rule the department offers a limited selection of courses during Maymester and the second and third modules of summer school. The classes are usually limited to introductory survey classes (History 102, 103, 104, 105, 151, and 152) and Indiana History. However, the classes offered vary from year to year, and no history major should depend on a summer school course to complete degree requirements.
Go to the Summer School course offerings page.
QUESTION: What Study Abroad programs does the History Department offer? ANSWER: The department develops faculty/student exchange programs and offers a variety of study abroad course formats as a spring break component of a regular semester history course, or as a Maymester or summer course.
Purdue University offers students within all fields of study the opportunity to participate in international study programs in more than 30 countries. In most programs, students earn Purdue credit for courses completed. Students may spend a year, a semester, a summer, or a spring break abroad. For more information see the following sites:
QUESTION: How can I find an internship program for the summer? ANSWER: The department has contact information for, and descriptions of, a variety of internships available to undergraduates. Opportunities are many, and they continue to grow every year. For the current list of internships please consult the Awards, Funding, & Internship page on this web site. Students may also seek out internships on their own. If they are willing to work for the experience, instead of for pay, their chances of securing an internship will increase. Paid internships are harder to come by. Students may also receive credit for internships by enrolling in History 499: History Internship. The credit and course requirements are arranged with the instructor.
QUESTION: Why major in History? ANSWER: Much has been made, and rightly so, of the challenges of the twenty-first century. As we move into a post-industrial world, educators and the public that they serve place increasing emphasis on acquiring the skills and mastering the technology that will allow all citizens to compete and succeed in the global marketplace. In this age of rapid social, economic, and political change, the study of history may appear to be increasingly irrelevant. To cope with change, however, we need an informed citizenry that can bring judgment and wisdom to bear on the challenging questions and issues that are part of and will shape this unknown future. Although the study of history is intrinsically valuable, it also teaches us to appreciate nuance, multiple perspectives, complex motives, paradox, the fragile nature of republics and democracies, and, above all, the responsibilities and burdens of citizenship.
Although many parents of students who would like to major in history question the value and relevancy of the discipline—what does the past have to do with the present and a rapidly changing future—it is precisely this complex present and uncertain future that point up the importance, not irrelevance of history. The study of history conveys a sense of paradox, tragedy, and comedy of the human condition. This, in turn, imparts a sense of judgment and wisdom about human societies. History conveys a sense of context; it teaches us to accept the burdens of living with tentative answers and unfinished business. History teaches us to accept costs and compromises and to take on responsibilities as quickly as we claim the rights of citizenship. In short the study of history creates a critical-thinking public that can ask the hard question, and is suspicious of simplistic analyses. Thus history majors acquire skills and a sense of judgment that serve them well both as students and in their public and private lives.
QUESTION: What can I do with a degree in history? ANSWER: In considering your career, one of the first decisions to make is whether you wish to practice history directly, or whether you wish to apply the knowledge and skills you have learned in the study of history to any one of many fields. Practicing the craft is where history is taught, written, recorded, filmed, preserved, interpreted, and reenacted. Fields in which graduates in history apply their skills and knowledge include government relations, public and community affairs, public relations, market research, advertising and sales support, commercial intelligence, and business analysis. Please consult the Careers for Students of History chart below for more detailed information.
Careers for Students of History:
Helpful Links for Career Opportunities:
QUESTION: If I want to teach in an elementary or secondary school, what do I have to do? ANSWER: An individual with a Bachelors Degree in history can apply to have their transcript evaluated for licensure in any of the teacher education majors offered through Purdue University. These applications can be obtained from the College of Education - Office of Professional Preparation & Licensure, Beering Hall - Room 3229.
QUESTION: If I hope to teach in a college or university, do I need to take teacher education courses? ANSWER: No. Training in teaching is not a formal part of the training of college and university professors.
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