The Department of History offers major programs leading to the B.A. degree. It is also possible to earn an undergraduate minor in history. History may be used as a major and/or one of the minors in the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) degree program, or as a minor in other graduate programs. The Department also offers graduate degrees (MA, MS, and PhD) in History of Science.
Added to this strong set of programs and course offerings is a tradition of outstanding teaching and personal contact between student and instructor. History faculty members have won college and university awards for teaching excellence. The regular faculty teach all classes, from freshman to graduate level. Small group seminars, topic courses, honors sections and individual study are available to history majors and non-history majors alike. Regular course work also may be augmented by internships.
The History Department routinely sponsors lectures by leading scholars from around the nation. Many of them are sponsored by the Thomas Hart and Mary Jones Horning Endowment in the Humanities that is administrated by the History Department. Outstanding students may be inducted into Phi Alpha Theta, an international history honors society, and undergraduate and graduate students alike participate in the OSU History Club. In addition, the Valley Library Special Collections, the Ava H. & Linus Pauling Papers, and the Atomic Energy Collection are useful OSU resources for history majors.
