History Major
Chair: Lynne Hartnett, Ph.D.
Office Location: 403 Saint Augustine Center
Telephone: 610-519-7219
[Website]
About
The History Department at Villanova offers students a dynamic liberal arts education with courses that span from antiquity to the modern world and traverse every region of the globe. The undergraduate History program focuses on the attainment of deep historical knowledge and a critical understanding of the enduring influence of the past on contemporary societies. The Faculty members of the History Department work closely with our students and prioritize individual development. Our courses provide the essential transferable skills that make our students competitive on the job market after graduation, prepare them for graduate and professional training, and stimulate the intellectual curiosity our students need to become engaged citizens of the world.
History seeks to understand and to explain the story of human experience, since the past provides the only laboratory of human experience actually lived. Historical study complements and builds on the foundational courses in the core through its appreciation of the complexity of humankind, recognizing in the people who make history the intellectual, the material, social, and spiritual diversity of the human condition. History further advances the goals of the core curriculum through an interdisciplinary methodology that seeks to reconstruct our collective past. It is the story of individuals, and the story of the political, religious, economic, and social ideologies and institutions they create in their search for identity, purpose, and value. History recognizes both the commonality of the human experience and the reality of cultural, class, racial, and gender distinctions that enrich that experience.
PRIMARY MAJOR (122 credits)
Required Major Courses (33 credits)
Program Notes:
- The major is 33 credits and consists of 10 courses in history and one in art history.
- Majors must complete at least 18 credits/6 courses at Villanova.
- The Art History course required for the History major does not satisfy the Core Fine Arts requirement unless the History major is the student’s secondary or tertiary major. Students for whom History is the primary major need to take an Art History course for the major and a different course with the Fine Arts attribute for the Core.
- Students interested in additional opportunities to hone their expository writing skills, strengthen their ability to construct and present persuasive written and oral arguments, should consider the 19-credit Legal Studies minor, available through the History Department.
Required Major Courses:
Core Curriculum Requirements (41 credits)
History Majors meet the following core requirements in the major and therefore are omitted from the summary below:
- History (3 cr)
The Art History course required for the History major does not satisfy the Core Fine Arts requirement unless the History major is the student’s secondary or tertiary major. Students for whom History is the primary major need to take an Art History course for the major and a different course with the Fine Arts attribute for the Core
Free Elective Requirement (48 credits)
Students with a History primary major have forty-eight (48) required free elective credits.
Degree Credit Summary
- Major Credits: 33 credits
- Core Credits: 41 credits
- Free Electives Credits: 48 credits
- Total Required Credits: 122 Credits
Note: The above credit totals are based on the minimum number of required credits in each degree area. The minimum number of required credits in each area listed above must be met. Credits taken beyond the required minimum for one area may not be applied to another area.
SECONDARY MAJOR
Students who declare History as a secondary major must complete the Required Major Courses to achieve this major. Students are able to count any eligible course taken in their primary major, the core curriculum, minors, concentrations, or free electives toward these requirements.