History
Why study history at TSU?
Our curriculum encourages students to explore history from multiple perspectives including race, class, gender, and sexual orientation on local, national, and global levels. As faculty, we develop the intellectual potential of our majors and minors through course offerings, invited guest speakers, internships, research opportunities, and close mentorship. Studying and researching past events and their impact on the human experience creates informed citizen-scholars who understand and appreciate our diverse and ever-changing world.
How can a degree in history impact my future?
Employers in a wide variety of fields are looking for committed lifelong learners who are skilled writers, researchers, and critical thinkers, all of which the study of history cultivates. History majors and minors most commonly move into the following fields:
- Teaching and education
- Law
- Public history (jobs such as park rangers, museum curators, or archivists)
- Government, public administration, or politics
- Business
- Journalism
- Nonprofits (social welfare or educational organizations)
Courtesy of the American Historical Association [Fig. 1. Data source: ACS 2010–14 5-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS). Includes individuals who stated they were in full-time employment, between the ages of 25 and 64, had achieved a bachelor’s degree or higher, and had either history or US history as the field of study for their bachelor’s degree.]
A degree in history indicates to employers in these and other fields that a person has developed the following highly sought-after skills:
- Ability to find, read, understand, evaluate, and synthesize information from a variety of sources
- Ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing
- Ability to place events in a larger chronological and cultural context
- Ability to adapt to changes in the workplace and learn new skills quickly
- Ability to recognize ethical dimensions of workplace decisions and practices
- Enhanced cultural and historical awareness
- Enhanced capacity for critical thinking
After developing your abilities with TSU’s history program, your career opportunities are wide open.
Program Overview
We offer two main degrees:
- Bachelor of Arts (BA) in History
- Bachelor of Science (BS) in History
Teacher certification is offered for both programs. Both require that you complete TSU’s General Education Requirements plus at least 39 hours of history courses. The BA requires that you that you take four semesters of a non-English language, or are already fluent in a non-English language. The BS does not require a foreign language but asks you to specialize in public history or become versed in other social sciences. Additionally, students may obtain either of these degrees while also getting a teacher’s license. Please follow the below links for the relevant course maps:
- BA in History
- BS in History
- BA in History-concentration in teacher licensure
- BS in History-concentration in teacher licensure
History Program Learning Outcomes
- Historical Content Knowledge: Students will be able to identify and describe major topics, themes, time periods, and developments in U.S. and world history.
- Historical Methods: Students will be able to demonstrate historical thinking in the application of the theoretical concepts of periodization, cause and effect, historical context, and historiography.
- Original Research and Historical Analysis: Students will be able to generate and defend an original artifact as a result of having analyzed historical sources.
Advising
To discuss majoring or minoring in history, please contact:
Dr. Andrew Patrick
Crouch 413D, 615-963-5742, apatric2@tnstate.edu
If you are a non-major or minor wanting to be enrolled in a history class, email HPGA Department Head Dr. Adebayo Oyebade at aoyebade@tnstate.edu. Include the CRN of the class and your t-number in the email.