The study of history is integral to Loyola Marymount University’s mission as a university in the Jesuit/Marymount, Catholic, and liberal arts traditions. Through intellectually demanding courses, it cultivates an understanding of both familiar and unfamiliar pasts and cultures and emphasizes how today’s world evolved out of the contingent actions of and interactions between individuals and groups of people in the past. The study of history enables you 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 between events at diverse times and places, and into the dynamism of structures and beliefs that can otherwise appear fixed or predetermined. The history curriculum will train you to be alert, critical, and inquisitive, able to identify your sources’ biases and to contextualize their positions. Studying a broad range of places and times, you will become an informed global citizen, able to participate in public life with articulate, effective, and persuasive arguments. As you master a wide body of knowledge, you will gain cultural literacy and sensitivity, aware of your particular perspective while respecting others’ backgrounds and points of view. Your own research will demonstrate that historical interpretation is always changing, while your ability to make sense of complex problems will make you an effective decision-maker. When you graduate, you will be prepared to follow any career you choose, armed with knowledge, skepticism, empathy, and eloquence. The history curriculum at LMU 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.
At entry to the University, students declare the major/minor through the Office of Admission. LMU students wishing to declare the major/minor must first meet with the department chair, who will ordinarily sign the student’s Change of Program form. The History Department requires a minimum LMU GPA of 2.0 (C) and the students should not be on academic probation. It also requires an average grade of C (2.0) in all history courses taken before declaring a major or minor, including courses at other institutions. The history department accepts Advanced Placement courses in European and American history to fulfill lower division history requirements, provided the scores of the AP examinations are 5 or 4.
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