In addition to intensive examination of a wide range of historical periods and subjects, the history major allows room for students to pursue other studies. Some take a second major, and many complete minors in areas such as English, Spanish, Digital Public Humanities, Religion, Communication, Business, Politics, and Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Students are also required to seek experiential learning, either through study abroad or through an internship experience.
Graduates from Messiah’s History program can:
HIST 099 / 1 Credits
This course is an introduction to the study of history. The course will explore the ways historians think about the past and practice their craft, the relationship between Christian faith and the study of history, careers in history, and how to begin thinking about putting a history degree to use in the marketplace. This course is required of all first-year history majors.
HIST 141 / 3 Credits
A survey stressing political, economic, diplomatic, and social themes. Begins with discussion of pre-Columbian America and ends with the Civil War.
HIST 142 / 3 Credits
A survey stressing political, economic, diplomatic, and social themes. Begins with Reconstruction and continues through the present day.
HIST 258 / 3 Credits
An introduction to the 'doing' of history including techniques, procedures, and skills of the working historian. The course will concentrate on research methodology, analytical and synthetic thinking skills, and the ability to organize and report research findings in both written and oral form. This course is designed specifically for sophomore History majors and minors and humanities-history concentration majors
/ Credits
An introduction to the 'doing' of history including techniques, procedures, and skills of the working historian. The course will concentrate on research methodology, analytical and synthetic thinking skills, and the ability to organize and report research findings in both written and oral form. This course is designed specifically for sophomore History majors and minors and humanities-history concentration majors
/ Credits
An introduction to the 'doing' of history including techniques, procedures, and skills of the working historian. The course will concentrate on research methodology, analytical and synthetic thinking skills, and the ability to organize and report research findings in both written and oral form. This course is designed specifically for sophomore History majors and minors and humanities-history concentration majors
/ Credits
An introduction to the 'doing' of history including techniques, procedures, and skills of the working historian. The course will concentrate on research methodology, analytical and synthetic thinking skills, and the ability to organize and report research findings in both written and oral form. This course is designed specifically for sophomore History majors and minors and humanities-history concentration majors
/ Credits
An introduction to the 'doing' of history including techniques, procedures, and skills of the working historian. The course will concentrate on research methodology, analytical and synthetic thinking skills, and the ability to organize and report research findings in both written and oral form. This course is designed specifically for sophomore History majors and minors and humanities-history concentration majors
HIST 401 / 3 Credits
A study of the meaning and interpretation of history, with special attention to movements of historical thought and the historians who influenced those movements. This capstone seminar course is designed specifically for senior History Majors. Fulfills the writing-intensive requirement for the History major.
Classical and Medieval European History course, Modern European History course, World History course, American History course: HIST 391 Historical Study of Peace, HIST 392 Women and Gender in History, and HIST 393 Public History count as concentration courses but do not count as the “One 300-level American, Modern European, World, or Classical and Medieval European History course.”
HIST 401: Fulfills Writing Enriched course requirement for major.
HIST 101 / 3 Credits
A survey of Western Civilization from pre-history to 1500. Major themes include the fundamental nature of human civilization, the Judeo-Christian tradition and its place among the civilizations of human history, and the nature of various cultural worldviews that emerged in classical and medieval Western civilization.
HIST 102 / 3 Credits
A survey of the social, economic, political, religious, and cultural developments in Western Civilization from 1500 to the present. Major themes include the emergence of a modern Western worldview, how with this worldview European nations came to dominate the other world civilizations, and how the traumas of the 20th Century caused a profound questioning of this modern world model.
HIST 134 / 3 Credits
(3) An exploration of the ways ordinary (and some not-so-ordinary) people coped with both daily life as well as major historical events that occurred in England from the Norman Conquest to the Tudor dynasty. Special emphasis is placed on life within the communities of family, village, court, church, and city.
HIST 171 / 3 Credits
A comparative survey of the social, cultural, political, religious, and economic developments in civilizations outside the western tradition from pre-history to 1500. Major themes include the fundamental nature of human civilization, the classical traditions of civilizations which emerged in Asia, Africa, the Near East, and the pre-Columbian Americas, and the growing interactions between these civilizations in classical and medieval world history.
HIST 172 / 3 Credits
A comparative survey of the social, cultural, political, religious, and economic developments in civilizations outside the western tradition from 1500 to the present. Major themes include the effects of Western imperialism on these civilizations, their responses to modernization, globalization, and westernization, and the post-colonial transformations of civilizations during the 20th Century.
INTE 391 / 1-3 Credits
This practical work experience will provide juniors and seniors with a means to explore career options and to enhance their skill set under the professional supervision of the Internship Center staff.
INTE 394 / 4-12 Credits
Discipline-related work experience which provides for application of classroom theory and development of professional skills. Students observe and participate in the activities of an organization or assist with a special project(s) that promotes professional development. Credit is awarded based upon length and intensity of involvement, as well as the number of learning objectives to be accomplished through individualized and prescribed learning activities. Readings, topic papers, learning contract, portfolio, employer evaluations, and participation in a monthly seminar are some of the components.
/ Credits
Discipline-related work experience which provides for application of classroom theory and development of professional skills. Students observe and participate in the activities of an organization or assist with a special project(s) that promotes professional development. Credit is awarded based upon length and intensity of involvement, as well as the number of learning objectives to be accomplished through individualized and prescribed learning activities. Readings, topic papers, learning contract, portfolio, employer evaluations, and participation in a monthly seminar are some of the components.
Option 1 - An approved historical Internship (INTE 391/INTE 394/) of up to nine credits during the academic year or during the summer in one of the following areas: Archives, Museums, Historical Libraries and Societies, Historical Preservation, Historical Research, Public History, or Richmond University Internships in London.
Option 2 - Participation in an approved study abroad program, with at least one history course in the semester’s curriculum. That history course(s) will count towards either the core requirements or the elective requirements, and therefore will not increase the amount of credits required for the major.
INTE 391/INTE 394 must be taken as a letter grade to fulfill major requirement.
HIST 301 / 3 Credits
A survey of the ancient Greek world from prehistory to the period of the Roman Empire. The course focuses on Greek political ideals, socio-economic conditions, religious traditions, daily life, and the cultural contributions of ancient Greece, including historical writing, democratic systems, philosophy, drama, art, and architecture.
HIST 302 / 3 Credits
A study of the Roman world examining the growth of Rome from a small city-state to the dominant power of the Mediterranean. The course focuses on political ideals, culture, socio-economic conditions, daily life, religion, and the rise of Christianity within the Roman Empire.
HIST 303 / 3 Credits
A study of the transformation of the Roman world from the third to seventh -centuries AD, examining the end of the ancient world and the birth of new medieval societies in Europe and the Mediterranean. The course gives attention to such topics as the Christianization of the Roman Empire, shifting boundaries of empire and political structures, changes in society and economy, transformation of town and countryside, Germanic migrations, the rise of the papacy, and the emergence of Islam.
HIST 304 / 3 Credits
An introduction to the history of England from the Later Middle Ages through the Tudor/Stuart era. Major themes include social, economic, and religious change and the ways in which those changes influenced politics and culture from the Wars of the Roses through the Elizabethan Age and the English Civil War.
HIST 305 / 3 Credits
An introduction to the methods of archaeology as they relate to and produce historical analysis, interpretation, and conclusions.
HIST 310 / 3 Credits
A survey of the cultural, social, economic, religious, and political developments in Europe from the eighth to fifteenth centuries AD. Major themes include the emergence of medieval social institutions and modes of thought, Christian monasticism and spirituality, and the cultural interactions of the Latin West, the Byzantine East, and the Islamic world.
HIST 319 / 3 Credits
Selected topics related to a specific area of Classical and Medieval European history such as Greek and Roman history, Late Antiquity, the Medieval world, and Mediterranean archaeology.
| Experiential Learning requirement | met/major |
| QuEST requirements | Credits |
| First Year Seminar | 3 |
| Oral Communication | 3 |
| Created and Called for Community (W) | 3 |
| Mathematical Sciences | 3 or 4 |
| Laboratory Science | 3 or 4 |
| Science, Technology & the World | 3 |
| European History (HIST 101, HIST 102 or HIST 134) | met/major |
| United States History (HIST 141 or HIST 142) | met/major |
| Literature | 3 |
| Philosophy and Religion | 3 |
| Arts | 3 |
| First Semester of Language | 3 |
| Second Semester of Language | 3 |
| Third Semester of Language or Cross Cultural | 3 |
| Non-Western Studies (HIST 171 or HIST 172) | met/major |
| Bible | 3 |
| Christian Beliefs | 3 |
| Wellness course | 1 |
| Ethics, World Views or Pluralism | 3 |
| QuEST requirements | 46-48 |
| Major Requirements (inclusive of concentration) | 40-49 |
| Free electives | 37-26 |
| Total credits | 123 |