Department of History
| Professors |
Katherine L. Jansen; Árpád von Klimó; Michael C. Kimmage, Chair; Nelson H. Minnich; Lawrence R. Poos |
| Professors Emeriti |
Uta-Renata Blumenthal; Ronald S. Calinger; John E. Lynch; Jerry Z. Muller; Leslie Woodcock Tentler |
| Associate Professors |
Thomas Cohen; Jennifer R. Davis; Laura E. Nym Mayhall; Caroline R. Sherman; Lev Weitz; Stephen A. West; Julia Young |
| Assistant Professors |
Samuel K. Fisher |
| Clinical Associate Professor |
Jennifer Paxton |
| Clinical Assistant Professor |
Seth Smith |
| Affiliate |
William Klingshirn |
| Visiting Professor |
Massimo Ceresa |
Catholic University’s History Department combines the rigor and award-winning faculty of a research university with the faculty-student collaboration and small class sizes of a liberal arts college. It offers particular strengths in the history of medieval, early modern, and modern Europe, the United States, and Latin America. The department’s teaching and research encompass a wide spectrum of approaches: social, political, cultural, and intellectual history, the history of migration, and particular emphasis on religious history in line with our mission as a Catholic university.
The undergraduate degree emphasizes developing skills in original research and analysis, and in written and spoken communication. Core courses include research-based seminars in the junior year and a senior thesis. A cumulative GPA of 2.0 is necessary for acceptance into the major. The degree is structured to ensure that students are broadly versed in pre-modern and modern history, while at the same time stressing interconnections across multiple parts of the world. The program’s flexibility encourages many study abroad opportunities, including Catholic University’s flagship Rome Center. Our location in Washington, D.C. offers an exceptional range of opportunities for internships and research experiences.
At the undergraduate level, the department offers several options for joint degree programs: a B.A. in history and secondary education; a five-year B.A./M.A. in history; a five-year B.A./M.S.L.I.S. in history and library/information science; and a six-year B.A./J.D. in history and law. Students seeking any of these joint degrees should consult the undergraduate advisers in both departments as soon as possible during the course of undergraduate studies. There are multiple opportunities for area-studies minors and certificates in Latin American and Latino Studies, Medieval and Byzantine Studies, Asian Studies, Islamic World Studies, European Studies, and Irish Studies.
The career paths of our graduates are as diverse as our students. The Catholic University History degree is designed to develop research abilities, careful thinking, and clear communication. Our alumni find careers in business, government, politics, journalism, non-profit organizations, the tech industry, teaching, public history, and law. See more about our faculty, programs, and alumni.
Bachelor of Arts in History
The requirements for the major can be found at History - Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
The history major requires a minimum of 11 courses in history. Of these 11, at least two and no more than four courses must be at the 100- or 200-level; two must be junior research seminars (HIST 400-429), ordinarily taken in consecutive semesters during the junior year; and one must be a senior thesis (HIST 496), taken in the first semester of the senior year. All remaining classes must be at the 300-level and above.
History undergraduates can also take advantage of several other options as they progress toward the degree. By enrolling in a Research Apprenticeship (HIST 494), students receive course credit in return for working as a research assistant with a professor, learning how research is conducted, and developing a one-on-one mentoring relationship. The History Department also encourages all of its majors to take advantage of our Washington, D.C. location by interning at one or more of the museums, think tanks, governmental offices, galleries, or non-profits located in the area. Finally, the Department encourages its majors to participate in study abroad programs, working with them in order to ensure that they can complete a semester or summer abroad while still finishing their coursework on schedule.
The Bachelor of Arts/Master of Arts Program in History
The B.A./M.A. program offers students the opportunity to earn both degrees on an accelerated basis. Students accepted into the program may count up to four courses (12 credit hours) toward both the B.A. and the M.A., thereby reducing the number of courses ordinarily required for the two degrees if pursued separately, and making it possible to earn both degrees in five academic years.
Successful completion of the program requires careful planning; any student interested in the program should meet with the department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) as early as possible during undergraduate study in order to discuss and plan.
There are two stages of application to the program:
Application to participate: This should be filed by the end of the sophomore year. Eligibility requires a Catholic University cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher.
A student intending to apply to the program should meet with the DUS to plan a series of graduate-level courses to be taken during the junior and senior years and to be designated as counting toward both the B.A. and M.A. degrees. Students should be aware that the eventual M.A. degree will be in one of the areas offered by the department (Medieval Europe, Modern Europe, Religion and Society in the Late Medieval and Early Modern World, United States), and so the courses planned must fall into the area that the applicant intends to study at the master’s level.
The application form (available here) requires approval by the chair of the department, the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs of the School of Arts and Sciences, and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs of the School of Arts and Sciences.
The ordinary expectation is that a student in the program will take one graduate-level course each semester during the junior and senior year. (No student in the program may take more than two graduate-level courses in one semester before completion of the B.A. degree.)
Ordinarily, a student in the program will write the undergraduate senior thesis in the fall of senior year, and will do so by participating in one of the regularly scheduled sections of senior thesis seminar (HIST 496); that seminar must fall within the area in which the student will pursue the M.A. (as above). However, a student doing so should register for graduate-level directed research (HIST 793), and will be graded by graduate standards. This will meet both the senior thesis requirement for the B.A. and one of the two research seminars required for the MA. Students who do this will be eligible for consideration for the Zeender Prize for best senior thesis.
Application for admission for the M.A.: this should be filed in the fall of the senior year. The department’s graduate admissions committee will evaluate the application, and performance in graduate-level courses taken up to that point will be an important criterion for acceptance. Students in the B.A./M.A. program do not need to take the GRE examination. The application is online at admissions.catholic.edu
In all other respects except those noted above (the double-counting of up to four courses toward both B.A. and M.A., and the arrangement for senior thesis to count as one of the two research seminars required for the M.A.), students in the program must meet all the requirements for the MA degree as specified in the department’s graduate studies handbook.
There are time limitations within which each part of the B.A./M.A. program must be completed; for this, students should consult the general policy of the School of Arts and Sciences for B.A./M.A. and B.S./M.S. programs at Academic Regulations for Undergraduates.
Minor in History
The requirements for the minor can be found at History - Minor