History students may want to consider an interdisciplinary minor, which takes advantage of the wide variety of courses available in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Students should design these minor programs carefully and be sure to meet with an advisor. Many interdisciplinary minors include courses taught by the History faculty.
Students will examine the cultural, historical, economic, and political dimensions and experiences of people of African descent in America, the Caribbean, Africa, and throughout the Diaspora. Students will learn theories and methodologies that are used to examine the complex dynamics of race, class, gender, and ethnicity in America.
HIST courses offered: HIST 261, 262, 335, 336
Contact: Charles Chavis, cchavis2@gmu.edu
For students with diverse interests in the material culture of the ancient world. Combines the study of archaeology, literature, art, history, philosophy, myth, and religion. Not limited to Greece and Rome but touches on all the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean and the heirs of late antiquity such as Byzantium and early Islam.
HIST courses offered: HIST 281, 301, 302, 388
Contact Jacquelyn Williamson, jwilli98@gmu.edu
The minor has an emphasis on developing strong language skills: oral communication and the reading of texts. Students are also introduced to important works of Arabic literature and culture.
HIST courses offered: HIST 461, 462, 465
Contact: Nathaniel Greenberg, language@gmu.edu
For students whose interests focus on the humanities and social sciences and Asia's role in global systems and the cultural mosaic of human experience.
HIST courses offered: HIST 251, 252, 353, 354, 356, 357
Contact: Byunghwan Son, bson3@gmu.edu
Offers students the opportunity to study one of the rapidly developing ancient cultures of the world. The emphasis is on developing strong language skills: oral communication and the reading of texts.
HIST courses offered: HIST 353, 354, 358
Contact: Karl Kuan Zhang, kzhang@gmu.edu
Designed for students who wish to become familiar with Classical cultures and broaden their knowledge
of the foundations of Western civilization. The requirements of the minor provide flexibility so students can choose courses that are relevant to their primary interests.
HIST courses offered: HIST 301, 302, 388
Contact: Martin Winkler, language@gmu.edu
Designed to help students expand their ability to make humanities arguments using digital tools. Takes an interdisciplinary, expansive view of the humanities, including courses from across the college. Students will learn how to interpret, analyze, and use digital methods to communicate in new and innovative ways, including skills such as digital rhetoric, podcast creation, mapping, and data visualization.
HIST courses offered: HIST 390, HIST 395
Contact: Abigail Mullen, amullen2@gmu.edu
Provides students with a multidisciplinary understanding of the social construction of health and diseases in modern and historical societies. A combination of courses in health, humanities, and social sciences allows for a view of health and disease from both a contemporary and historical lens with a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
HIST courses offered: HIST 387
Contact: Steve Harris-Scott, sscott4@gmu.edu
Designed for students interested in the societies, cultures, history, and politics of the Islamic world. It offers students the opportunity to study the many societies that have significant Muslim populations. These societies are not just in the Middle East. They stretch from North Africa to Southeast Asia and beyond. They include Europe as well as North America.
HIST courses offered: HIST 281, 282, 460, 462, 465
Contact: Maria Dakake, mdakakem@gmu.edu
Enables students to advance their Italian language skills and to study Italian culture, history, and literature from an interdisciplinary perspective.
HIST courses offered: HIST 304, 305, 308
Contact: Kristina Marie Olson, kolson4@gmu.edu
Enables students to advance their Japanese language skills and develop a sound understanding of Japanese culture and history from a global perspective. Students may focus their course work on language or on history and culture.
HIST courses offered: HIST 251, 252, 356, 357
Contact: Manako Fujiwara, mfujiwar@gmu.edu
Designed for students interested in the culture, history, and politics of Jewish communities across the world.
HIST courses offered: HIST 465
Contact: John Turner, jturne17@gmu.edu
Focuses on the acquisition of Korean linguistic and cultural knowledge from various language and interdisciplinary courses.
HIST courses offered: HIST 251, 252
Contact: language@gmu.edu.
Focuses on the diverse and connected regions, societies, and cultures of Latin America.
HIST courses offered: HIST 271, 272, and as appropriate
Contact: chssadv@gmu.edu
Covers the period c. 400-1600, encompassing such cultural touchstones as the survival of the eastern Roman empire in Byzantium, the establishment of the Tang dynasty in China, the spread of Islam in the Middle East, the diffusion of Scandinavian peoples across Europe and western Asia, the growth of the papacy’s political power in Europe, the rise of the Mongol influence in Asia and Europe, and the development of the Mali empire in west Africa—just to name a few. Enables students to discover just how much of our modern world can be traced back to the Middle Ages.
HIST courses offered: HIST 281, 304, 387, 388, 462
Contact: Sam Collins, scolline@gmu.edu
Today, more than ever before, Middle East politics have become intertwined with American politics and the lives of many Americans. This minor is designed to equip undergraduates with a firm multidisciplinary grounding in the region, its history, and its international relations.
HIST courses offered: HIST 281, 282, 387, 460, 461, 462, 465
Contact: Bassam Haddad, bhaddad@gmu.edu
Committed to understanding both the unity and the diversity of present and past Native American tribes, cultures, and experiences. Students will learn how value systems operate in different cultures, examine the roots of conflict and resolution across a broad historical and cultural spectrum, better understand the importance of language as a means of cultural expression, and heighten their appreciation of the unique status of present-day Native American tribes as nations with certain sovereign powers within the boundaries of the United States.
HIST courses offered: HIST 391, 401, 403, 404
Contact: Erik Gary Anderson, eandersd@gmu.edu
Provides students with the opportunity to study the meaning of sport in American society and culture. Students trace the history of sport in America and examine the role of sport in today’s society.
HIST courses offered: HIST 337, 338, 339, 340, 341
Contact: Chris Elzey, celzey@gmu.edu
Develops strategic and critical thinking capabilities to better understand how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as medicine, impact the human experience - past, present, and future. It provides a broad perspective of the STEM fields, to include how advances are developed, how they fit into the wider context of society and culture, and how historical contexts have in turn shaped advances in these fields.
HIST courses offered: HIST 202, 315, 378, 387, 390
Contact: Cortney Hughes Rinker, chughe13@gmu.edu
For students who are interested in gender, sexuality, and feminist perspectives.
Those who wish to focus on LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer issues) issues, take an introductory course focused on these issues and two electives that incorporate more specifically such perspectives.
HIST courses offered include: HIST 350
Contact: David Powers Corwin, wmst@gmu.edu
Learn how to read visual evidence along with written documents while covering a broad spectrum of periods, cultures, and themes.
NOTE: History majors may use 3 credits of 300-level art history coursework toward the major.
Contact: Angela Ho, aho5@gmu.edu