Mar 29, 2024  
Loyola Marymount University Bulletin 2014-2015 
    
Loyola Marymount University Bulletin 2014-2015 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

History, B.A.


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Objectives


The study of history is integral to Loyola Marymount University’s mission as a university in the Jesuit/Marymount, Catholic, and liberal arts traditions. It contributes to “the encouragement of learning” through intellectually demanding courses that cultivate an understanding of both familiar and unfamiliar pasts and cultures. It educates “the whole person” by focusing on a multiplicity of perspectives and experiences, and by attempting to understand the lived, bodily experience of the “whole person” in the past. History courses ground discussions of “the service of faith and the promotion of justice” by putting these ideas in context, showing change over time, and emphasizing how today’s world evolved out of the contingent actions of and interactions between individuals and groups of people. The study of history enables the student to examine cultures, religions, and the interconnections among peoples and societies as complex historical phenomena, human structures open to historical interpretation and analysis. Historical perspective thus provides insight into the sequence of events, into the relationship of events at diverse times and places, and into the dynamism of structures and beliefs that can otherwise appear fixed or predetermined. The study of history therefore also leads to greater sensitivity to and awareness of cultural differences and similarities, as well as conflicting interpretations of events. As a discipline, History is open to and inclusive of multiple different methodological approaches to the study of the past. The History curriculum thus emphasizes the potential for human action, showing how an individual’s actions can change the world even as it examines the structures necessary for that action. The Department of History at LMU seeks to educate students to become global citizens engaged with the world around them and sensitive to our ties to the past. The Department sees History as supporting the creation of “contemplatives in action,” as the contemplation of the past and the present is an essential part of students moving into the world as agents in their own right.

History Student Learning Outcomes


  • History students develop an understanding of events, processes, and patterns in the human experience. History students should gain an understanding of how their lives relate to a larger historical process.
  • Students should be able to analyze historical texts and to gain an understanding of the methods used in interpreting the past, such as criticism of sources, the definition of historical questions, comparative analysis, and the diverse perspectives of participants in history. They will employ evidence to craft arguments about historical change and analyze the factors that cause change on local, national, and global scales.
  • Students should value the vast range of ways in which individuals and societies have responded to the problems confronting them. The insights they have gained through historical analysis will enrich their lives as citizens of an interconnected world.

Major Requirements


Lower Division Requirements:


15 semester hours, distributed among five required survey courses, one from each category:


Category One: Ancient Civilization

Category Two: Western Civilization

Category Three: Early America

Category Four: Modern America

Category Five: World Region (Middle East, Latin America, Asia, Africa)

Note:


The History Department has introduced new lower division courses, all number HIST 198  that may substitute for the above requirements. These courses fulfill the University Core Curriculum requirement for Historical Analysis and Perspectives (Explorations). Each section of HIST 198  will have a specific subtitle for the course as listed below:

  • Founders of the West (fulfills Category One)
  • Heirs of Rome: Europe, Byzantium, and Islam in the Middle Ages (fulfills Category One)
  • Crisis and Expansion: Europe and the World, 1200-1648 (fulfills Category One)
  • European Empires, Exploration, and Exchange since 1500 (fulfills Category Two)
  • Power, Privilege, and Agency in Modern Europe (fulfills Category Two)
  • The Individual, the State, and Civil Society in Modern Europe (fulfills Category Two)
  • Religion, Society, and the Search for Meaning in Modern Europe (fulfills Category Two)
  • Revolutions in the Making of the West (fulfills Category Two)
  • America and the Atlantic World (fulfills Category Three)
  • Becoming America (fulfills Category Three)
  • The United States and the World (fulfills Category Four)
  • The United States and the Pacific World (fulfills Category Four)
  • African Americans in the World since Slavery (fulfills Category Four)
  • The Middle East since 1453: State, Society, and Citizen (fulfills Category Five)
  • The Middle East since 1453: Minorities and Women
  • The Middle East since 1453: Through the Social Lives of Commodities
  • Latin America: Encounter, Conquest, and the Viceregal Experience
  • Latin America: State, Nation, and Conflict since Independence (fulfills Category Five)
  • Modern Asia: China, Japan, and Korea since 1600 (fulfills Category Five)
  • Modern Africa: African States and Societies since 1600 (fulfills Category Five)

Upper Division Requirements:


  • 24 semester hours, distributed as follows:

  • 3 semester hours
  • 6 upper division courses, not more than 3 from any one of the following areas: 1) Europe, 2) United States, or 3) World Regions. Courses are to be chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor.
  • 500-level seminar

Note:


An average grade of C (2.0) must be obtained in the courses included in the major.

Secondary Teacher Preparation Program in Social Science (History)


For information on this program, see the Secondary Teacher Preparation  Program section in this Bulletin.

History Model Four-Year Plan


The normal course load is 15 semester hours (5 classes). By following the model below, a student will complete all lower division core requirements by the end of the sophomore year as well as HIST major prerequisites. Note that core areas are suggested to provide a distribution of various disciplines every semester. Please be flexible implementing these suggestions, given your own interests and course availability. In four years, this plan meets all common graduation requirements.

Freshman Year


Fall Semester


  • 3 semester hours
  • HIST Western Civilization Requirement 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
Total: 15 semester hours

Spring Semester


  • HIST Western Civilization Requirement 3 semester hours
  • HIST World Regions Requirement 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
Total: 15 semester hours

Sophomore Year


Fall Semester


  • 3 semester hours
  • HIST U.S. Requirement 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
Total: 15 semester hours

Spring Semester


  • HIST World Regions Requirement 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
Total: 15 semester hours

Junior Year


Fall Semester


  • HIST Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • HIST Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
Total: 15 semester hours

Spring Semester


  • HIST Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • HIST Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
Total: 15 semester hours

Senior Year


Fall Semester


  • HIST Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • HIST Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • University Core 3 semester hours
  • Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
Total: 15 semester hours

Spring Semester


  • HIST 500-level Seminar 3 semester hours
  • Upper Division Elective 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
  • Elective 3 semester hours
Total: 15 semester hours

Note:


Students may take no more than ten upper division courses in any one department, except for Philosophy, in which the maximum is thirteen. No more than 12 of the 24 upper division HIST semester hours (including seminars, but excluding HIST 310 ) may be taken from one of the following areas: 1) Europe, 2) United States, or 3) Africa, Asia, Latin America, and modern Middle East.

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