Does anybody know of a good major that Overlaps with history. The more overlapping classes the better!
Thank you!
Hi – history professor here. Almost anything in the humanities or social sciences complements history, depending on what you’re interested in – but often the overlap will be in terms of themes, not courses. But if you’re looking specifically for an overlap of courses, I would go for historical majors that are housed in other departments or interdisciplinary majors. Majors in the first category might include Art History, History of Science (or Medicine), language majors, or Classics. Interdisciplinary majors include American Studies (if you like American history), Women’s/Gender Studies, African American Studies, Environmental Studies, Religious Studies, Native American Studies, and other area studies along these lines. Also – if you’re interested in K-12 teaching, an education major with social studies teaching licensure would require a lot of history courses. Majors like Public Policy might include some history course work, as well. Your college might not have all of these majors, but should have at least some of them (Actually, are you at UCLA? You should find pretty much any of these majors there.)
2 Likes
Courses from other humanities fields such as classics and religious studies tend to overlap with history courses, at least for students for who express interests across these topics.
What’s the purpose of a second major?
The way your question is phrased, it sounds as if you want a double-major, just for the sake of double-majoring, but want as much overlap as possible to minimize the number of classes needed.
First of all, most universities limit the number of classes that you can “double-count” toward two majors, or toward a major and a minor. Beyond that limit, additional overlap will not benefit you.
Secondly, it’s not essential to double-major at all. Looking for the most convenient or efficient double-major is not really the point; the point is, what knowledge and skills do you want to acquire? You could be a history major with a minor, or even two minors, rather than a double-major. You can have just one major, and choose other classes that interest you without regard to major/minor requirements. The decision process should begin with what interests you and what preparation you may need to pursue those interests in the future.
Here’s a minor that could be both interesting and useful for a history major: Undergraduate Minor - Digital Humanities - UCLA
And here’s another:
http://statistics.ucla.edu/undergraduate/social-data-science-minor/
and another:
GIS&T Minor | Geospatial @ UCLA
Is there a particular part of the world that you’re interested in? A minor or double-major in a world language or a “studies” field focusing on a particular region could blend well with a history major.
Or perhaps you’re interested in how the arts reflected and influenced the arc of history.
https://arthistory.ucla.edu/undergraduates-major-minor/#/minor-in-art-history
or
https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/academics/musicology/minor/
Or, if you’re interested in a particular driver of historical events, consider studying political science, public affairs, economics, religion, or even public health. This minor looks interesting as well: Program.::. UCLA Academics
There are many options. Better to focus on what interests you most - if that adds up to a second major, fine, but if it doesn’t, that’s fine too.
1 Like
I heard it before with Interdisciplinary. International Studies has some history - but you have to do a language, etc. Plus, in addition to what @Shelby_Balik noted.
1 Like
At UCLA, no more than 20 upper division (quarter) units may overlap between the two majors, according to https://caac.ucla.edu/petitions-forms/double-major/#tab-id-2 .
1 Like
Has anyone taken history 100? What does it entail?
It really depends on the school, as each has its own numbering system for courses. History 100 would be an intro survey course just about anywhere, though.
Here at ucla lol
Sorry, forgot you were the OP. Did you look in the course catalogue?
History 100:
Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Designed for juniors/seniors. Study of historiography, including intellectual processes by which history is written, results of these processes, and sources and development of history. Attention also to representative historians. P/NP or letter grading.
@Atownbrattt
Ah – okay, so that is not an introductory course, then. This is a course on theory and methods, and it sounds like it could be a prerequisite to a capstone research project. This course will present the history of the discipline (which is what “historiography” means in its most basic sense) – how the discipline came about, how the big questions, methodology, and sources have changed over time, what theories and paradigms historians have engaged over time, the big conversations historians have engaged in and new directions, etc. This course is all about what it means to “do history.”
Did anyone do IDS? How was it? Whatvkind of classes did you take and any good professors?