History
Application Deadline
- Spring: December 8
- Summer: April 12 (early sessions)
- Fall: July 19
Class Begins
- Spring: January 6, 2025
- Summer: May 5, 2025 (early sessions)
- Fall: August 19, 2024
Degree Awarded
Bachelor of Arts
in History
WSU College
College of Arts and Sciences
Understand the Past, Build Your Future
Who were the people that came before us? What can we learn from them? These are the questions that drive those who study the fascinating and highly rewarding field of human history.
What You’ll Learn
WSU history faculty specialize in many areas of historical research and teaching, including world, American west, environmental, religious, gender, military, European, and diplomatic history. WSU’s undergraduate history major, offered entirely online, will help you develop critical thinking, quantitative and symbolic reasoning, research methods, information literacy, and communication skills and equip you for the changing demands of the workplace. An undergraduate degree in history can lead to work as a historian, archivist, librarian, information specialist, writer, teacher, researcher or in government service. History students can further train for careers in business, law, and politics.
WSU Online History Degree Strengths
- History faculty from WSU’s College of Arts and Sciences have been widely recognized by their peers and in the profession for their innovative and cutting-edge scholarship.
- Learn from history professors who enhance their professional development through extensive research and teaching abroad.
- History faculty members are distinguished for considering teaching as their primary mission. Several of WSU’s history professors have won major teaching awards.
Note: All career statistics come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook
Program of Study
All courses are available online
All WSU undergraduates must complete a minimum of 120 semester credits of which 40 credits must be at the 300 – 400 level. Students must also complete the University Common Requirements (UCORE). These can generally be satisfied with a direct transfer degree. For a list of direct-transfer agreements, visit WSU’s Transferring an Associate Degree web page.
Students must also fulfill the College of Arts and Sciences graduation requirements and the program requirements of the degree.
A student may certify a major in history upon completing 24 credits with a GPA of 2.0 or higher.
36 semester hours of history is required including 6 hours of US history, 6 hours of European history, and 9 hours of Non-Western/Global history; 21 hours at the 300-400-level, which must include HISTORY 300 and 469; and a 12-hour concentration (at least 6 hours 300-400-level). History courses used to complete the degree must be passed with a grade of C or better.
Two courses – 6 semester credits
- HISTORY 300 [M] – Writing about History
- HISTORY 469 [M] – Seminar in History
Global/Non-Western
- 120 World History I [DIVR]
- 121 World History II [HUM]
- 331 Cultural History of Latin America [HUM]
- 334 Revolutions in Latin America
- 335 Women in Latin American History [DIVR]
- 337 Women in the Ancient World
- 383 Drugs in World History
- 388 US and Vietnam
- 436 Empire and Decolonization, 1800 to the present [CAPS]
- 495 Historical Geography Space, Place, and Power [CAPS]
European
- 101 Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Europe [HUM]
- 102 Modern Europe [HUM]
- 341 The rise and Fall of Ancient Rome [HUM]
- 359 Modern Britain
- 368 Hitler & Nazi Germany
- 444 The Renaissance: Art, Violence, and Early Globalization [CAPS]
US History
- 110 American History to 1877 [HUM]
- 111 American History since 1877 [HUM]
- 308 North American Indian History [DIVR]
- 313 Early American History to 1750
- 318 United States, 1914-1945 [HUM]
- 319 United States, 1945 to Present [HUM]
- 320 Modern US History thru Film [ARTS]
- 390 US Military History
- 398 Women, Gender, and the History of the Un-West [DIVR]
- 410 History of American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Indian Law
United States History
Choose two courses – 6 semester credits
- HISTORY 110 [HUM] – American History to 1877
- HISTORY 111 [HUM] – American History Since 1877
- HISTORY 298 – History of Women in American Society
- HISTORY 308 [DIVR] – North American Indian History, Precontact to Present
- HISTORY 313 [M] – Early American History to 1750
- HISTORY 318 [HUM] – United States, 1914–1945
- HISTORY 319 [HUM] – United States, 1945–1980
- HISTORY 320 [ARTS] – Modern US History Through Film
- HISTORY 324 – History of the Pacific Northwest
- HISTORY 390 – U.S. Military History
- HISTORY 398 [DIVR] – History of Women in the American West
- HISTORY 399 [DIVR] – Lesbian and Gay History: Culture, Politics and Social Change in the US
- HISTORY 410 – History of American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Indian Law
European History
Choose two courses – 6 semester credits
- HISTORY 101 [HUM] – Classical and Christian Europe
- HISTORY 102 [HUM] – Modern Europe
- HISTORY 341 [HUM] – Ancient Rome
- HISTORY 349 – Europe and the Two World Wars
- HISTORY 350 [HUM] – Witches, Nuns, Merchants, and Queens in Europe 1200-1800
- HISTORY 359 – Modern Britain
- HISTORY 368 – Hitler and Nazi Germany
- HISTORY 444 [CAPS] – The Renaissance
Non-Western/Global History
Choose three courses – 9 semester credits
- HISTORY 331 [HUM] – Latin American Cultural History
- HISTORY 334 – Revolution in Latin America
- HISTORY 335 [DIVR] – Women in Latin American History
- HISTORY 337 – Women in the Ancient World
- HISTORY 366 – History of the Cold War
- HISTORY 371 – The Middle East and the West
- HISTORY 372 [M] – The Middle East Since World War I
- HISTORY 373 [HUM] – Chinese Civilization
- HISTORY 388 – US and Vietnam
- HISTORY 436 [CAPS] – Imperialism in the Modern World
- HISTORY 495 [CAPS] – Space, Place, and Power in History: Historical Geography in Global Perspective
Choose one area: Students may not use the 12-credit concentration areas to fulfill the 6 hours of US history, 6 hours of European history, and 9 hours of Non-Western/Global history required in the major.
American West
12 semester credits:
- HISTORY 308 [DIVR] – North American Indian History, Precontact to Present
- HISTORY 320 [ARTS] – Modern US History Through Film
- HISTORY 324 – History of the Pacific Northwest
- HISTORY 398 [DIVR] – History of Women in the American West
Atlantic
12 semester credits:
- HISTORY 308 [DIVR] – North American Indian History, Precontact to Present
- HISTORY 313 [M] – Early American History to 1750
- HISTORY 331 [HUM] – Latin American Cultural History
- HISTORY 334 – Revolution in Latin America
- HISTORY 335 [DIVR] – Women in Latin American History
Europe
12 semester credits:
- HISTORY 101 [HUM] – Classical and Christian Europe
- HISTORY 102 [HUM] – Modern Europe
- HISTORY 341 [HUM] – Ancient Rome
- HISTORY 349 – Europe and the Two World Wars
- HISTORY 350 [HUM] – Witches, Nuns, Merchants, and Queens in Europe 1200-1800
- HISTORY 359 – Modern Britain
- HISTORY 368 – Hitler and Nazi Germany
- HISTORY 436 [CAPS] – Imperialism in the Modern World
- HISTORY 444 [CAPS] – The Renaissance
Gender and Sexuality
12 semester credits:
- HISTORY 298 – History of Women in American Society
- HISTORY 335 [DIVR] – Women in Latin American History
- HISTORY 337 – Women in the Ancient World
- HISTORY 350 [HUM] – Witches, Nuns, Merchants, and Queens in Europe 1200-1800
- HISTORY 398 [DIVR] – History of Women in the American West
- HISTORY 399 [DIVR] – Lesbian and Gay History: Culture, Politics and Social Change in the US
United States
12 semester credits:
- HISTORY 110 [HUM] – American History to 1877
- HISTORY 111 [HUM] – American History Since 1877
- HISTORY 310 – History of American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Indian Law
- HISTORY 313 [M] – Early American History to 1750
- HISTORY 318 [HUM] – United States, 1914–1945
- HISTORY 319 [HUM] – United States, 1945–1980
- HISTORY 320 [ARTS] – Modern US History Through Film
- HISTORY 324 – History of the Pacific Northwest
War and Peace
12 semester credits:
- HISTORY 388 – US and Vietnam
- HISTORY 390 – U.S. Military History
- HISTORY 319 [HUM] – United States, 1945-1980
- HISTORY 349 – Europe and the Two World Wars
- HISTORY 366 – History of the Cold War
- HISTORY 368 – Hitler and Nazi Germany
All students, including community college transfer students with an approved transferable AA degree from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Arizona or Hawaii, or students pursuing a second major in the College of Arts and Sciences, will be held to the following additional requirements:
- Foreign Language: Complete 2 years of high school or 1 year of college in a single foreign language
- Complete an Equity and Justice [EQJS] designated course
- Additional 1 lab credit of [BSCI], [PSCI] for a total of 8 semester credits and 2 labs.
Please review the online WSU Catalog for additional information about specific degree requirements.
Related Certificate
Global Campus offers this related undergraduate certificate program that you can consider pairing with your History degree.