History Concentration

History Concentration

All History concentrators are required to take 10 courses. Students who wish to write a senior thesis must also enroll in History 99A & 99B, the Senior Thesis Tutorial, which brings their total concentration courseload to 12. Double concentrators fulfill these same requirements. Prospective & current concentrators are encouraged to browse our courses site as they plan for Registration and to bring any questions to their advisors and the History Undergraduate Office.  
 

Coursework (10 courses)

History 97. Students ordinarily take the sophomore tutorial during the spring of sophomore year, though this timeline can shift for junior transfers into the program. History 97 is the only course required of all concentrators and is designed as an introduction to the discipline and the Department. History 97 consists of 5 parallel seminars, each of which is formulated thematically and has separate reading assignments, but students across all seminars have similarly structured writing assignments, with similar due dates. History 97 is designed to be a shared experience that will equip students with a basic familiarity with the skills required for successful writing and research in history. The course seeks to develop several skills at the core of work in history: searching for and evaluating relevant secondary sources; engaging with historiography, close-reading primary sources, constructing an evidence-based historical argument, writing with footnotes, articulating constructive criticism, and revising writing based on feedback from instructors and peers.

Two seminars (100- and 1900-level courses). Research seminars provide students with the opportunity to learn more about a constrained topic in a small-format class. Seminars are typically capped at 12–15 students and culminate in a significant research project. Seminars build on the skills that concentrators learn in History 97, though students do enroll in seminars as sophomores, particularly if there’s uncertainty about when the course will be next offered. The seminar requirement is ordinarily completed by the end of junior year, and any students interested in entering the thesis program must complete a 20-page research paper by the end of junior spring. Please note: the seminar requirement can only be fulfilled with courses in the History Department.

The distribution requirement guarantees breadth in coursework for all concentrators. Please consult the courses distribution page for more information about which courses fulfill the following requirements:  

One course that focuses on the history of North America. 
One course that focuses on histories beyond North America. 
One course on historical societies before 1750.

Four additional electives within History, any format (lectures, freshman seminars, GenEds, or cross-listed courses). Normally, one of these four electives may come from another program. History is inherently an interdisciplinary form of inquiry, and historians routinely use the kinds of methodologies and insights taught in other departments’ courses. Therefore, history concentrators may petition to receive History credit for non-departmental coursework in a “Related Field,” which takes the place of one of the four elective courses in History. Courses in Related Fields are typically of three kinds: 1) non-Departmental courses of a historical nature for which the History Department offers no equivalent; 2) non-Departmental courses in the social sciences (literature, anthropology, sociology, economics, statistics, government, etc.) providing content or context that complements the student’s plan of study; or 3) non-Departmental courses that provide auxiliary skills (such as foreign languages or facility with statistical methods) that are crucial to the pursuit of their historical interests. Students should complete the petition, attach a copy of the course syllabus, and obtain the signature of their History House Advisor before bringing the petition to the History Undergraduate Office. The ADUS and DUS review petitions on a rolling basis during Registration and Add/Drop.  

The Senior Thesis Track: History 99A & Hist 99B in addition to the standard 10 courses.
Students who wish to pursue concentration honors in History must write a senior thesis, which also requires enrollment in the year-long History 99A & 99B: the Senior Thesis Tutorial. In order to enter the thesis program, students must first write a qualifying 20-page research paper before senior fall (this essay is customarily written as the final assignment for one of the two required seminars). In the history concentration, the senior thesis is not required.

Please note the following policies:
All history courses will be counted towards the concentration GPA, even if they exceed the 10 required courses. In other words, if a student takes an additional two courses past the required 10, all 12 will be counted towards their concentration GPA.

One course may not be used to fulfill two concentration requirements, e.g. a seminar cannot also be counted towards a distribution requirement. Students must fulfill all requirements with different courses. 

Two types of courses count automatically toward History concentration requirements:

1. all courses listed under “History” in the course catalog (including cross-listed courses); and
2. all courses taught in the General Education, Humanities, and/or First-Year Seminar Programs by full members of the History Department Faculty.

Students who wish to count any other course toward their concentration requirements must file a petition, which must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Normally, students may petition no more than one non-departmental course. In determining whether or not to approve a Related Field Petition, the ADUS and DUS consider the following guidelines:

• Related Fields courses may not replace History 97, the seminar requirements, or the distribution requirements.  
• Courses not providing background knowledge or auxiliary skills directly relevant to a focused plan of study must meet a high standard of historical perspective—not only in their subject matter, but in the nature of the assignments. Students should be able to demonstrate that it would not be possible to take an equivalent course within the History Department.
• All petitions are approved at the discretion of the DUS, in light of the Department’s objectives in providing an undergraduate education in History.

With the exception of First-Year Seminars taught by History faculty (see above), courses taken on a Pass/Fail basis may not be counted for concentration credit.

Students may also apply to do an independent study, or History 91r, with a member of the Department; a History 91r can be used to fulfill one of the four elective course requirements.

Study Abroad:
The department also regularly accepts credit from study abroad toward concentration requirements. In advance of going abroad, students should contact the ADUS and consult the Office of International Education (OIE). The OIE provides information on programs abroad and on Harvard’s policies and processes and can help students decide which program will best meet their goals as well as how to secure degree credit for time spent abroad. Students should start this process as early as possible.  

Courses taken abroad need not be identical to courses taught at Harvard but should require comparable effort and seriousness. Note that only full semester courses, taken for letter or number grade (not Pass/Fail) can count toward concentration requirements, and all such arrangements must be approved beforehand by the ADUS. All documentation should be uploaded to OIE’s study abroad portal. The Department does not grant concentration credit for summer study abroad, with the sole exception of the Harvard Summer School.

The History Department is flexible in granting credit for courses taken abroad. For details, please refer to the following charts.

One Term Abroad:

Two Terms Abroad: