History Department

Programs

Honors Program

History and joint history majors with a 3.50 cumulative average and a 3.50 major average at the beginning of their junior year are eligible to apply to participate in the History honors program. Exceptions to the 3.50 cumulative-average requirement can be made by the College Honors Committee in individual cases upon recommendation by the Department.  Students granted this exception should be aware that grades earned in any semester after beginning the honors program cannot fall below 3.50.  Eligible students will be expected to complete an application for admission to the History honors program in the first semester of their junior year. The Honors Program is a senior-year program within the College, therefore students will not be officially admitted to the Honors Program until the fall of their senior year (with the exception of second-semester juniors who expect to graduate the following fall).  However, the Department will expect its honors students to begin their honors studies in the spring of their junior year, barring extraordinary circumstances. Requests for late admission (in the second semester of junior year) require a petition to the Departmental Honors Coordinator explaining the special circumstances for the late admission (study abroad, late declaration of major, etc.). A meeting of eligible history students will be held in the fall semester to explain and discuss the nature and content of the honors program. Normally this meeting will be hosted by the professor who is scheduled to teach the honors course, History 495A, in the following spring semester.

Program

40 hours of history are required, including at least 28 hours at or above the 300 level and at least 8 hours outside the student's major field (European, World or U. S. history). No history courses may be taken S/U to be credited to the honors requirements.  The honors program itself consists of 12 hours of required courses (Hist 495A, a 500-level graduate seminar, and Hist 495B-CWR).

• History 495A

  • History 495A, “Introduction to Historical Interpretation,” is a required course to participate in the History Honors program.  Although offered in both fall and spring semesters, History 495A is normally taken in the spring semester of the junior year and must be taken by the end of the fall semester of the senior year; students are strongly encouraged to take this course before formal admission in the College Honors Program during their senior year.

  • The course will address historiographical and methodological issues, and offer practical guidance in thesis design and research, with course details and emphases left to the discretion of the instructor. This course does not satisfy any of the five history major area-distribution requirements.

  • Since this course will address important issues of research design pertinent to the study of history in general, non-honors students may be admitted by petitioning the Departmental Honors Coordinator.

• 500-level Graduate Seminar

  • Honors students will take a 500-level graduate seminar course in the spring semester of junior year or the fall semester of the senior year.

  • Students who wish to take their graduate seminar in another semester due to its greater suitability to their thesis topic may petition the Departmental Honors Coordinator for an exception to this regulation.

  • If no appropriate graduate seminar is being offered at any time in the year, candidates may petition to substitute an undergraduate colloquium to be taken as a History 596R “Special Studies.”

• History 495B-CWR

  • Honors students are required to take the paper-writing section of History 495B-CWR  following completion of their graduate seminar.  Normally, this course is taken in the spring semester of senior year (i.e., in the student’s last undergraduate semester) and is organized around the writing of the honors thesis.

• Thesis Proposal

  • Submission on or before April 1 of the junior year (or November 1 of the senior year for late admissions to the Departmental honors program) of an honors project proposal to the student’s thesis director (to be identified to the Departmental Honors Coordinator).

  • Preparation of this thesis proposal will normally be done in conjunction with the History 495A Honors Seminar.

• Honors Thesis

  • An honors thesis, usually between 40 and 60 pages, based on original research, typed and presented on approved thesis paper (as per the College Honors’ requirements) during History 495B-CWR.

  • Honors theses are eligible for presentation in the Department’s annual undergraduate research symposium.

• Note on Joint Majors

  • Please note that joint majors (History/Art History, Classics/History, Economics/History, English/History, Religion/History) must choose to follow the honors guidelines of one or the other of their joint majors and adhere to the joint-major honors examination procedures (below). 

  • For instance, a history/art history joint major may complete honors in history or in art history but not both.  Nonetheless, an art historian and historian are required on the honors examination committee.

• Note on the College Honors Program

  • In addition to adhering to the requirements, timetable and guidelines of the History Department’s honors program, all honors students are also expected to adhere to the College’s honors requirements and guidelines (such as submitting the proper documentation, attending required meetings and maintaining a 3.50 cumulative grade point average).

Thesis Examination Committees

·         For History Majors

o   The thesis examining committee will be composed of three faculty members, one of whom must be from a department other than history.

o   The examination will be oral and cover the thesis.

• For Joint history Major

  • The thesis examining committee will be composed of three faculty members: one from the history department, one from the joint-major department, and one from outside both of the joint major departments.

o   The examination will be oral and cover the thesis.

Study Abroad

Study abroad course approval and evaluation of credit:  The history department does not pre-approve study abroad courses.  To receive Emory history credit for study abroad courses, the student must: 1)take a history course in a history department in an approved study abroad university; and, 2)submit written work following dept. guidelines for approval of credit.  Written work guidelines: To be considered for upper-level (Hist.385) credit, students must complete a 3,000 word research paper with proper use and citation of sources.  To be considered for lower-level (Hist.285) credit, students must complete 2,000 words of written, graded work in the form of one or more short essays, or some other appropriate form (not in-class exams or journals).  Upon returning to Emory, students should submit all written work and course syllabus to Becky Herring, Undergraduate Program Coordinator, who will forward these materials to the Director of Undergraduate Studies for approval and evaluation of credit.

The George P. Cuttino Scholarship, established in 1984, is awarded to a junior for travel and research in Europe during the summer before the senior year. The George P. Cuttino Summer Study Fellowships are awarded to juniors for study outside the United States in a summer study program.  Scholarship and fellowship applications are requested in early spring semester.

Advising

To ensure that history majors make steady progress toward timely graduation, the history department has a mandatory advising policy.  Students must meet with a history advisor and obtain her/his signature during the pre-registration advising periods.

Internship

History 494

The history department’s internship program provides students with the opportunity to apply their academic knowledge to practical experience.  The internship must engage historical issues and materials.  The student is responsible for identifying and securing acceptance to an internship position.  All student internship projects must be approved by the history department’s director of undergraduate dtudies, who can supply suggestions and information on possible internships.

Eligibility

To be eligible a student must:

1) be a history major

2) be a junior or a senior

3) have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA

4) offer an internship project relevant to the study of history

Application

Students interested in enrolling in the history department’s internship program must:

1) contact the sponsoring institution and make all arrangements of the internship

2) complete an application (available from the history department)

3) provide a brief proposal specifying the nature and scope of the internship and research paper with particular attention to the historical relevance of this work

4) obtain the approval of the history department’s director of undergraduate studies

Course Requirements

1) a prescribed number of hours working at the sponsoring institution, validated by a time sheet signed by the supervisor

2) a research paper of a prescribed length on an historical topic

3) a one-page evaluation by the student of the internship experience

4) a letter of evaluation from the student’s supervisor at the sponsoring institution

Course Credits

All internships are expected to last fourteen weeks, earning four credit hours for ten to twelve hours of work per week, and conclude with a fifteen-page research paper.  The paper must be submitted to the director of undergraduate studies by the last day of classes.

Grades

The course grade is based on the supervisor’s written evaluation of the intern’s performance (50%), and on the quality of the research paper (50%) as evaluated by the history department’s director of undergraduate studies.

Awards and Honors

Established in 2006, the Clio Prizes are awarded annually to the best research paper written in a junior/senior history colloquium and to the best paper written in a freshman history seminar.

Phi Alpha Theta is the international history honorary society. Local membership is determined by grade average and course hour requirements as set forth by the international council. Invitations to join are sent to eligible majors in early spring semester. 

The James Z. Rabun Prize, established in 1981, is awarded annually to the Emory College senior who in the department’s judgment has been the most outstanding student in the field of American history. The George P. Cuttino Prize, established in 1984, is awarded annually to that senior who has been the most outstanding student in European history. The Theodore H. Jack Award is given to the graduating senior who pursues graduate study in American history. The Matthew A. Carter Citizen-Scholar Award, established in September 2000 in memory of a former student, is given annually to the graduating senior who distinguishes himself or herself in the manner of Matt Carter.