Recognizing that a basic understanding of history is a crucial component of liberal undergraduate education, the History Department offers several minors. These minors are designed to allow students to complement their career interests and vocational goals by studying history as an ancillary field. To earn a minor in history students must complete a total of 18 credits in the History Department. As with the history major, the minors require that students complete introductory-level courses. (The required minimum score on CEEB Advanced Placement (AP) examinations may exempt a student from the credits required in 100-level courses.) After that, however, the minors provide great flexibility, allowing students the opportunity to concentrate on particular historical eras, interests, or areas. To declare a minor in history, use the online form available on the Registrar’s website: Declaration of Major/Minor Form
FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY MINORS (Medieval and Early Modern Studies and Religious Studies) click HERE.
The History Minor
The History Minor provides students with a strong training in basic historical skills and a solid grounding in historical content. No grade lower than a “C” will be counted toward the History Minor. To track your progress toward the History Minor, please consult the Requirements for Minor in History form.
Students who enroll in the history minor must fulfill the following requirements:
Required courses (6 credits)
Select two courses numbered below 300, with 3 credits in United States history and 3 credits in non-U.S. history.
(A note on AP credit: History minors who earned a 3 or above on the U.S. or World History AP exams may use up to 3 credits toward the minor).
Elective courses (12 credits)
All 12 credits must be from courses numbered 200 or higher, with at least 9 credits from 300- or 400-level history courses.
Public History Minor
The Minor in Public History provides students with a strong training in basic historical skills and a solid grounding in historical content, exposes students to the career opportunities in public history in the greater Baltimore-Washington region, and enables students to gain practical experience through internships and practicum courses.
Students who enroll in the Minor in Public History must fulfill the following requirements:
Required courses (9 credits)
- HIST 201: Introduction to the Study of History
- HIST 300: Introduction to Public History
- HIST 391: Internship in History
(HIST 201 is a required course for the History Major as well. HIST 300 is a prerequisite for students wishing to take HIST 411.)
Required Public History specialty course (3 credits)
- Choose one of the following:
- HIST 411: Public History Practices
- HIST 414: Preservation
- HIST 418: The American House
- HIST 426: Material Culture
- HIST 427: Digital Public History
- HIST 429: History of Baltimore
- Oral History
Elective courses (6 credits)
Students may take any history classes as electives, but at least three of these credits must be at the 300 or 400 level. Students may also use the following non-History courses to fulfill the six elective credits for the Public History Minor:
- AMST 205: Civic Agency and Social Entrepreneurship
- AMST 380: Community in America
- AMST 422: Preserving Places, Making Spaces in Baltimore
- AMST 424: Theories of Place and Space
- GES 326: American Conservation Thought
- GES 341: Urban Geography (3 credits)
- GES 342: Metropolitan Baltimore
(With departmental approval, students may take up to 3 credits in non-history courses not listed above that complement a focus on public history. Note: The AMST and GES classes listed above have departmentally-specific prerequisites.)
No grade lower than a “C” will be counted toward the Minor in Public History.
To track your progress toward the Minor in Public History, please consult the Requirements for Minor in Public History form.
Asian History Minor
The History Department also offers a Minor in Asian History which gives concrete recognition to students who have achieved a broad understanding of Asia. It provides students excellent preparation for careers in international affairs, education, journalism, business, and law.
Required courses (3 credits)
- HIST 103: East Asian Civilization
Elective courses (15 credits)
Elective courses must be distributed in such a way that each student has no less than 3 credits in Chinese history and no less than 3 credits in Japanese history. The 15 credits should be selected from the following history courses:
- HIST 355: Selected Topics in History (When Asia topics)
- HIST 380: Women and Gender in Asia
- HIST 381: Japanese History Through Film and Literature (Japanese history requirement)
- HIST 382: Pacific Crossings
- HIST 383: Japan in the Shogun Age (Japanese history requirement)
- HIST 384: Viewing History through Maps: East Asia in Native and European Cartography
- HIST 385: Contemporary Japan, 1945 to the Present (Japanese history requirement)
- HIST 386: Hindus, Muslims, and their Others (History of South Asia)
- HIST 388: Society and Culture in China (Chinese history requirement)
- HIST 390: Wars in 20th Century East Asia
- HIST 434: The Vietnam Wars in International Context
- HIST 436: The Rise of China and the United States’ Response
- HIST 458: Japan to 1800 (Japanese history requirement)
- HIST 459: The Rise of Modern Japan: From the “Black Ships” to Hatsune Miku (Japanese history requirement)
- HIST 477: History of China to 1644 (Chinese history requirement)
- HIST 478: From Marco Polo to the Opium Wars: China in the Early Modern World (Chinese history requirement)
- HIST 479: China’s Long Revolution (Chinese history requirement)
- HIST 480: Mao and After: History of Contemporary China (Chinese history requirement)
- HIST 494: Colloquium in World History and
- HIST 497: Historical Research (When Asia topics)
No grade lower than a “C” will be counted toward the Minor in Asian History.
To track your progress toward the Minor in Asian History, please consult the Requirements for Minor in Asian History form.