History

Undergraduate

History is a critical and analytical method of inquiry into our collective past based on our cumulative experience, informed understanding, and careful judgment.

Program Overview

Using evidence from the past, historians investigate the relationship between cause and effect and between agency and responsibility to understand better how things change over time. These general habits of sorting through the past allow us to appreciate the profound differences between ourselves and others and to imagine (and to some degree experience) the world as people have in times now lost and in places we shall never see.

If you wish to major in history you would typically declare your intention sometime in the fourth semester of College. The requirements for a major in history emphasize both a broad exposure to different time periods and regions of the world, as well as a rigorous engagement with the practice of history as a discipline grounded in the use of primary sources.

Historians can be found in many guises, including in other departments: Geoffrey S. Sumi, Professor of Classics, Lauret Savoy, Professor of Environmental Studies and Paula Debnar, Professor of Classics are all faculty affiliated with the history department.

Taking  and the , Amherst College Department of History, and the  also offer many additional opportunities.

Why study history?

There are as many answers to this question as there are stories to be told of the past, but the American Historical Association’s – developed with the help of Íøºì±¬ÁÏ history alum professor Anne Hyde ‘82 — offers a clear and compelling statement on the value and skills of historical thinking.

Community Voices

Spotlight on History majors

Our courses

We offer courses at several levels. More advanced levels do often involve heavier reading and writing assignments, but critical reading and clear writing are valued in all history courses, and the distinction between levels is often as much about the kinds of questions asked as the level of rigor involved. Many courses can be taken without any prerequisites.

First Year Seminars are only open to first-year students and introduce history as a field of inquiry and stress the development of basic writing, arguing and research methods.

100-level regional surveys focus on particular geographic areas; they have no prerequisites and are open to all students.

200-level courses examine particular times and places in history and range in size from large survey courses to small seminars. In most cases, all students are welcome to enroll.

300-level courses (colloquium and research seminars) offer opportunities to examine topics in depth; some do have prerequisites or require permission of the instructor. If permission is required, please complete and submit the 300-Level Application Form.

Take one history course and you will undoubtedly want to take more!

Selecting your first history course

You may prefer to start with the kind of broad introduction available in a survey, to learn about the diversity of peoples, places, and ways of living that have come before us and out of which the world as we know it has emerged. Or you may prefer to dive into an area of history that seems particularly intriguing or relevant to your interests, and perhaps turn to one or another survey later to gain a broader understanding of the past. Since history always involves the interplay between broad contexts and particular places in time, you can begin on either end of the spectrum. You are not required to begin at the 100 level.

Selecting courses in your first year

These fall courses are recommended for first-year students:

Surveys

  • HIST-124-01 History of Modern South Asia, 1700 to the Present
  • HIST-137-01 Modern East Asia, 1600-2000
  • HIST-141-01 Introduction to Modern African History
  • HIST-142-01 Introduction to Pre-colonial African History
  • HIST-151-01 Modern & Contemporary Europe
  • HIST-171-01 The American Peoples Since 1865
  • HIST-180-01 Introduction to Latin American Cultures

Courses and Requirements

Generally speaking, history courses are reading and writing intensive. To succeed as a student of history, you must, therefore learn to read actively and write clearly.

Learning Goals

Students of the History department can expect to:

  • Understand the dynamics of change over time, the complexity of human experience across time and space, and the ways people both shape and are shaped by the particular worlds they inhabit.
  • Evaluate a wide range of historical materials for their credibility, position, and perspective, and for the clues they offer about past worlds and experiences. Discern from such fragmentary evidence meaningful patterns that illuminate our understanding of the past.
  • Develop empathy for the people whose lives we seek to understand and a respectful appreciation of the range and diversity of human experience.
  • Generate significant, open-ended questions, and devise research strategies to find suitable evidence to answer such questions.
  • Engage in lively, meaningful conversation about the nature of historical inquiry and conflicting understandings of the past. Work cooperatively with others to develop positions that reflect deliberation and differing perspectives.
  • Write effective and logical prose that describes and analyzes the past, and consider a range of media best suited to communicating a particular argument, narrative, or set of ideas.
  • Develop a disciplined, inquiring stance and outlook on the world that demands evidence and sophisticated use of information. Apply historical knowledge and historical thinking to contemporary issues.

Contact us

The History Department helps students to appreciate the profound differences between ourselves and others and to imagine (and to some degree experience) the world as people have in times now lost and in places we shall never see.

Holly Sharac
  • Academic Department Coordinator

Next steps

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