2023-24 Academic Catalog

Department of History

This is an archived copy of the 2023-24 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.msstate.edu.

Major Advisor: Dr. Matthew Lavine
Office: 213 Allen Hall

Among the humanities disciplines, history is unique in the emphasis it places on interpreting human experience over place and time. Historians study the evolution of human beings and societies, emphasizing the importance of people’s choices, values, and actions. History provides indispensable background and the social and political context for other academic disciplines and branches of knowledge.

Specialization in history on the undergraduate level has direct professional application in the field of secondary education and provides excellent preparation for careers in law, the ministry, communication, journalism, government service, the military, and business. The department maintains a close working relationship with other departments on campus, making it possible for students who desire to do so to pursue double majors, joining history with geography, English, political science, business, computer science, or other fields.

To earn a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in history, a student must pass a minimum of 39 semester hours in history with a 2.50 average in those courses. All undergraduates majoring in history must complete two of the following basic sequences: HI 1063/HI 1073; HI 1163/HI 1173; HI 1213/HI 1223; HI 1313/HI 1323; HI 1003/HI 1013. Along with these basic sequences, students are required to take a minimum of two upper division courses from Category I, two upper division courses from Category II, two upper division courses from Category III, plus two upper division courses from any Category.

For information on which courses fit into particular categories, please contact an advisor. During their junior or senior years, majors must enroll in and pass with a grade of “C” or better, a course in Historiography and Historical Method (HI 3903). Fifteen hours of the upper division work (3000 and 4000 level courses) must be taken at Mississippi State. For a minor in history, a student must take a minimum of 18 semester hours of history including one of the basic sequences listed above plus twelve additional credit hours in history courses numbered 3000 and above including at least one at the 4000 level. Students interested in a major or minor in history should consult the undergraduate coordinator.

The Department of History offers work leading to both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. The prerequisite for admission to a graduate program in history is a minimum of 18 hours of undergraduate history courses. Students desiring to pursue graduate studies should consult the Graduate Coordinator.

Mississippi State has a chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the international history honorary society.