Department of History & Political Science

Bachelor of Arts in Public History

The baccalaureate degree in public history prepares students for careers in historic preservation as well as museum and archive management.

The public history degree requires fifty three additional semester hours beyond the General Education requirements and the College of Arts and Humanities foreign language requirement.

General Education Required Courses

• HIST 1503 World History to 1500
• HIST 1513 World History since 1500
• HIST 2003 United States History to 1877
• HIST 2013 United States History since 1877

Public history majors are required to take six hours of beginning foreign language courses or obtain the appropriate waiver for high school language study.

The fifty three semester hours required for the public history degree include:

• GEOG 3803 Historical Geography  OR GEOG 4203 Place and Collective Memory
• POLS 2003 American Government
• ANTH 2003 Cultural Anthropology
• HIST 2203 Introduction to Public History
• HIST 2513 Sources and Methods in History
• HIST 3223 Local and Oral History
• HIST 3281 Grant Writing for Historians
• HIST 3243 Archive and Manuscript Management
• HIST 3283 Historical Editing
• HIST 4153 History of Arkansas
• HIST 4143 Native American History
• HIST 4293 Historic Preservation
• HIST/ANTH/MUSM 4403 Interpretation/Education through Museum Methods
• HIST 3291 Practicum in Public History
• HIST 4973 Internship
• Twelve semester hours of 3000-4000 level history courses with six hours in U.S. History and six hours in world/European history

Curriculum

The matrix below is a sample plan for all coursework required for this program.

•  Freshman

  Fall		Spring
  ENGL 1013 Composition I1	3	ENGL 1023 Composition II1	3
  Fine Arts & Humanities1	3	Science with Lab1	4
  Mathematics1	3	ANTH 2003 Cultural Anthropology	3
  TECH 1001 Orientation of the University	1	POLS 2003 American Government	3
  HIST 1503 World History to 1500	3	HIST 1513 World History since 1500	3
  Elective2	3
  Total Hours	16	Total Hours	16

•  Sophomore

  Fall		Spring
  Science with Lab1	4	Fine Arts & Humanities1	3
  Beginning Language I5	3	Beginning Language II5	3
  HIST 2003 United States History to 1877	3	HIST 2013 United States History since 1877	3
  Elective2	5	HIST 2203 Introduction to Public History	3
  		HIST 2513 Sources and Methods in History	3
  Total Hours	15	Total Hours	15

•  Junior

  Fall		Spring
  GEOG 3803 Historical Geography OR GEOG 4203 Place and Collective Memory	3	HIST 3283 Historical Editing	3
  HIST 3223 Local and Oral History	3	HIST 3291 Practicum in Public History	1
  HIST 4143 Native American History	3	HIST/ANTH/MUSM 4403 Interpretation/ Education through Museum Methods	3
  HIST 4153 History of Arkansas	3	HIST Elective 3	3
  HIST Electives4	3	HIST Electives4	3
  		Elective	3
  Total Hours	15	Total Hours	16

•  Senior

  Fall		Spring
  HIST 3243 Archive and Manuscript Management	3	HIST 4973 Internship	3
  HIST 3281 Grant Writing for Historians	1	Electives2	9
  HIST 4293 Historic Preservation	3
  HIST Elective3	3
  Electives	5
  Total Hours	15	Total Hours	12

¹See appropriate alternatives or substitutions in "General Education Requirements".
²At least 40 of the total hours required for graduation must be 3000-4000 level courses.
³HIST class must be in the sub-field of United States History.
⁴HIST class must be in the sub-field of European or World History.
⁵Must be in one language. Students may waive three hours of language requirement for every one year of language study in high school with grades of "C" or better.