History

Career potential

History encompasses all aspects of past human endeavor. From history, you will develop a better understanding of current events and a better appreciation of architecture, art, ideas, politics, and fellow human beings and their activities. It also will provide you a guide for the future.

No matter your career path, you can benefit from majoring or minoring in history or taking history courses as electives.

The history department offers a bachelor of arts degree with a major in history and courses for a major in social science with history as a leading subject.

If you plan to be a professional historian or to teach at a university, you will need to earn a master's or doctoral degree.

UNT's history alumni include a political analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, an environmental historian for the National Park Service, the dean of a university graduate school, the history department chair at a major university, several archivists and museum curators, numerous school teachers, lawyers and university faculty members.

Majoring in history

As a history major, you will study the United States, selecting from courses on American political and constitutional development, American leaders, the Civil War, the South, Texas and the West; and African American history, among others. You also will take classes in non-United States history, including classes on China, Japan, Latin America, the Middle Ages, modern Africa, 18th- 19th-, and 20th-century Europe, the Reformation, the Renaissance, and the Middle East.

You may receive assistance in preparing for exams and writing papers from staff members in the department's help center. Or you may wish to study in the department's library.

UNT's history faculty members have received many awards for teaching and scholarship. Two faculty members have been named Regents Professor for their excellence in research and teaching. Regents Professors devote half of their teaching load to introductory-level courses. Faculty members have received several Professing Women awards. In addition, several faculty members have published award-winning books.

History faculty members conduct research in African intellectual history, the British monarchy, 20th century China, the Civil War and Reconstruction, European witchcraft, the Holocaust, the Normandy invasion, Renaissance legal culture, slavery, Native Americans, Mexican American history, women in the American South, military history, Texas, Victorian literary culture, and modern German economic history, among other areas.

Scholarships are available for students studying history. Contact the department's Undergraduate Advisor for more information.

Preparing for UNT

If you are a high school student, we suggest you prepare for college by becoming computer proficient and taking:

• English … 4 years
• Math … 4 years
• Social science — economics, geography, government, history … 4 years
• Science … 3 years
• Foreign language … 3 years
• Fine arts … 1 year

You will need to take courses in most of these subjects under the university core curriculum required of all undergraduates, in addition to your major courses. Talk with your high school counselor about preparing for college, including the entrance exams (SAT Reasoning Test or ACT) that you should take during your junior year.

As a benefit for transfer students, UNT participates in the Texas Common Course Numbering System. This system makes it easier to transfer credits for general academic courses from one Texas institution to another.

If you're attending a Texas community college, you should consult the UNT Transfer Guide, the UNT Undergraduate Catalog and an academic counselor to discuss your degree plan. Proper planning will help you receive the maximum amount of transfer credits.

Charting your path with academic advising

Faculty advisors in the Department of History will help you select the courses you need to earn your degree and plan your class schedule each semester. The Department of History office is in Wooten Hall, Room 225.

Curious about courses and other features of this major?
See the current catalog.