History, B.A. < West Virginia University (2024)

Department website: http://history.wvu.edu/

Degree Offered

• Bachelor of Arts

Nature of the Program

The Department of History offers courses focusing on a variety of world regions and time periods. Degree requirements insure that majors obtain an acquaintance with the history of several such regions and periods and develop skills in research and writing. Majors and non-majors may qualify for membership in Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honorary.

Students who earn a degree in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences must complete the University requirements, the College requirements for their specific degree program, and their major requirements.

Minors

All students have the possibility of earning one or more minors; follow the link foralist of all available minors and their requirements. Please note that students may not earn a minor in their major field.

Career Prospects

The bachelor of arts with a major in history is designed to prepare students for careers in teaching, business, and government, and for graduate work in history, law, and related social sciences and humanities.

3+3 Program

The Department of History participates in the 3+3 Program with WVU's College of Law, which is an opportunity for qualified undergraduate students to earn their bachelor's degree and law degree in six years instead of seven years. Students accepted into the 3+3 program begin taking classes at WVU Law in what would be their fourth year of college. Students participating in this program must meet certain eligibility criteria and progress benchmarks. For questions regarding your eligibility, please contact your department advisor.

Faculty

Chair

• Kate Staples - Ph.D. (University of Minnesota)

Associate Chair

• Matthew Vester - Ph.D. (University of California)

Professors

• Brian Luskey - Ph.D. (Emory University)
  19th-century U.S., social and cultural
• Jason Phillips - Ph.D. (Rice University)
  Eberly Professor of Civil War Studies, Civil war and reconstruction, southern history, 19th-century U.S.
• James Siekmeier - Ph.D. (Cornell University)
  U.S. diplomatic, modern Latin America
• Matthew A. Vester - Ph.D. (University of California)
  Early modern Europe, Italy, France

Associate Professors

• Melissa Bingmann - Ph.D. (Arizona State University)
  Public history, 20th-century U.S.
• William Gorby - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
  West Virginia, Appalachia, Immigration
• Joseph Hodge - Ph.D. (Queen’s University at Kingston)
  Modern Britian, British Empire, decolonization, international development, Africa
• Tamba E. M'bayo - Ph.D. (Michigan State University)
  West Africa, colonial and postcolonial, African diaspora and Pan-Africanism
• Kate Staples - Ph.D. (University of Minnesota)
  Medieval, gender, England, material culture
• Jessica Wilkerson - Ph.D. (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
  Joyce and Stuart Robbins Chair, Appalachia and the South, Women, Gender, and Sexuality, 20th-c U.S., Labor and Working Class History

Assistant Professors

• Brooke Durham - Ph.D. (Stanford University)
  Modern Europe, French Empire, North Africa, decolonization
• Max Flomen - Ph.D. (UCLA)
  Early American History, Native American History
• Sean Lawrence - Ph.D. (University of California, Santa Cruz)
  Germany, colonialism, Middle East, environment, political economy
• Austin McCoy - Ph.D. (University of Michigan)
  20th-Century U.S., African-American, labor, social movements
• Betsy DiSalvo Osborne - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
  Social Studies Education, Education
• Devin Smart - Ph.D. (University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign)
  Africa, World/Global, environmental

Emeritus Faculty

• William S. Arnett - Ph.D. (Ohio State University)
• Robert E. Blobaum - Ph.D. (University of Nebraska)
• William I. Brustein - Ph.D. (University of Washinton)
• Elizabeth Fones-Wolf - Ph.D. (University of Massachusetts)
• Kenneth Fones-Wolf - Ph.D. (Temple University)
• Jack Hammersmith - Ph.D. (University of Virginia)
• Barbara J. Howe - Ph.D. (Temple University)
• Elizabeth K. Hudson - Ph.D. (Indiana University)
• Ronald L. Lewis - Ph.D. (University of Akron)
• Mary Lou Lustig - Ph.D. (Syracuse University)
• Robert M. Maxon - Ph.D. (Syracuse University)
• Stephen C. McCluskey - Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin)
• A. Michal McMahon - Ph.D. (University of Texas)
• John C. Super - Ph.D. (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Mark B. Tauger - Ph.D. (University of California, Los Angeles)

Admissions for 2025-2026

• First-Time Freshmen are admitted directly into the major.
• Students transferring from another major at WVU must have a minimum GPA of a 2.0 to be directly admitted to the major.
• Students transferring from another institution must have a minimum GPA of a 2.0 to be directly admitted to the major.

Major Code: 1449

Click here to view the Suggested Plan of Study

General Education Foundations

Please use this link to view a list of courses that meet each GEF requirement.

NOTE: Some major requirements will fulfill specific GEF requirements. Please see the curriculum requirements listed below for details on which GEFs you will need to select.

Please note that not all of the GEF courses are offered at all campuses. Students should consult with their advisor or academic department regarding the GEF course offerings available at their campus.

Degree Requirements

Students must complete WVU General Education Foundations requirements, College B.A. requirements, major requirements, and electives to total a minimum of 120 hours.For complete details on these requirements, visit the B.A. Degrees tab on the Eberly College of Arts and Sciencespage.

Departmental Requirements for the B.A. in History

• Capstone Requirement: The university requires the successful completion of a Capstone course. Students majoring in History will complete HIST484 to satisfy this requirement.
• Writing and Communication Requirement:The History Bachelor of Arts is a SpeakWrite Certified Program^TM. SpeakWrite Certified programs incorporate and develop students’ written, verbal, visual, and mediated communication skills across the curriculum.
• Calculation of the GPA in the Major: A minimum grade of C- is required in all courses applied to major requirements. If a course is repeated, all attempts will be included in the calculation of the GPA, unless the course is eligible for a D/F repeat.
• Secondary Concentration: Students must complete a minor outside of History or a second major.
• Residence Requirement: Students must complete a minimum of 18 credits at WVU; a minimum of 6 of those 18 credits must be at the upper-division level (courses numbered 300 or above).

Curriculum Requirements

University Requirements

ECAS Bachelor of Arts Requirements

History Major Requirements

Suggested Plan of Study

The plan below illustrates a plan of study with a minor.

Suggested 3+3 Program Plan of Study

Degree Progress

• Students must maintain a 2.0 GPA overall and a minimum of a 2.00 GPA in History every semester (with a 2.2 in HIST required for graduation).
• All majors must meet with their History adviser every semester.

Students who do not meet these benchmarks may be removed from their major.

MajorLearning Outcomes

History

Upon successful completion of their undergraduate degree in History, students will demonstrate competence in the following ways and areas:

1. Students will be able to explain and analyze the histories of a variety of geographical and chronological contexts.
2. Students will be able to identify and analyze primary sources, based on familiarity with the historiography and methodologies covered in their courses.
3. Students will be able to evaluate and analyze secondary sources, based on familiarity with the historiography and methodologies covered in their courses.
4. Students will be able to produce analytically-driven written and oral work based on the critical evaluation of evidence.
5. Students will be able to research and write scholarly papers that develop an argument on a defined historical topic, based on primary and secondary sources and that relates their work to the historical literature.