Major and Minor Requirements

  1. Home
  2. Academics
  3. Departments & Programs
  4. Department of History
  5. Major and Minor Requirements

Students majoring in history pursue either The Global Pathway or The Field of Focus (FOF) Pathway.

Draw on long-standing regional, geographic, and national frameworks to study transregional (TN) history as well as the history of Africa (AF), Asia (AS), Europe (EU), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the Middle East (ME), and the United States (US).

The Global Pathway in history consists of nine courses.

  1. Students must complete three courses at the 100 or 200 level. Each must carry a different geographic designation.
  2. HIST 199, History Workshop (formerly HIST 200/299), normally before the conclusion of sophomore year. HIST 199 does not count toward requirement 1.
  3. Three courses at the 300 level. At least one of these courses must be designated other than (EU) or (US).
  4. At least one seminar at the 400 level other than HIST 490, normally taken in the junior or senior year.
  5. One additional history course at the 200-level or above, or any 300-level foreign language course. Courses taught in translation do not meet this requirement.

Note: Only one of the nine courses may be taught by a non-departmental historian. All such courses are subject to approval by the history department. This includes history courses offered in off-campus study groups, at other institutions, and at Colgate.

Global Pathway Form

Create your own specialization in fields such as black history, capitalism, cultural history, empires and colonialism, environmental history, gender and sexuality, war and violence, or indigenous history. See the pathway form for more suggestions.

Students in this program develop their field of focus in consultation with their academic adviser and submit a field of focus statement when declaring their major.

The Field of Focus Pathway consists of nine courses.

  1. Students select seven HIST courses, at least four of which should relate directly to their field of focus.
  2. HIST 199, History Workshop (formerly HIST 200/299), normally before the conclusion of sophomore year.
  3. At least one seminar at the 400 level other than HIST 490, normally taken in the junior or senior year.

Note: At least two of the nine courses must be designated other than (EU) or (US). Only one of the nine courses may be taught by a non-departmental historian. All such courses are subject to approval by the history department — this includes history courses offered in off-campus study groups, at other institutions, and at Colgate.

FOF Pathway Form

Pre-Registration

To ensure course access, history majors and minors may pre-register for classes through the department's coordinator during a limited window of time. An email will be sent with dates and instructions.

Rules

To pre-register, students must:

  • be a history major or minor
  • meet course prerequisites and special requirements
  • be aware of time conflicts with other classes
  • meet with their advisors before pre-registering

Transfer Credit Requests

The History Curriculum and Transfer Credit Committee reviews transfer credit requests on a case-by-case basis to ensure that external reading and writing requirements match those of Colgate’s history department.

Send completed transfer credit forms to the history academic department coordinator with supporting documents, such as syllabi. Please allow time for committee review.

Transfer Credit Form

 

Note: History majors and minors should also speak first with their academic advisor about any plans to take classes during the summer or abroad.