LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

2024-2025 CATALOG

The Academic Catalog is the official listing of courses, programs of study, academic policies and degree requirements for Loyola University Chicago. It is published every year in advance of the next academic year.

Honors in History

Honors Program

The Department of History's honors program recognizes the work of outstanding History Majors and gives them an opportunity to dig deeper in the discipline. It is not the same as collegiate honors, and students do not need to belong to collegiate honors in order to participate in this program. Students are invited to apply to the history honors program during their junior year. The qualifications for the program are as follows:

  • History major
  • 3.67 GPA in history courses
  • 3.50 overall GPA
  • Completion of HIST 397 History Honors Tutorial

The required GPAs include courses taken elsewhere if the credits have been transferred. The major with History Honors consists of a total of twelve (12) courses (36 hours). HIST 397 History Honors Tutorial is typically offered in the Fall Semester. Students are invited to take the Tutorial at the end of their sophomore and/or junior years. The Tutorial involves writing a research paper, based on primary sources, of about 20–30 pages. The results of this research are presented in a short oral presentation at a final class to which friends, family, and other faculty are invited.

Here is the honors history major program in schematic form:

Introductory (Core) Courses
Select two courses, one from each of the following categories:6
Tier 1 Foundational Historical Knowledge
Evolution of Western Ideas Institutions to 17th Century
Evolution Western Ideas Institutions Since 17th Century
American Pluralism
Global History Since 1500
Western Traditions - Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Western Traditions-Renaissance to Modernity
Tier 2 Historical Knowledge
East Asia Since 1500
Survey of Islamic History
Introduction to Latin American History
United States to 1865
United States Since 1865
Introduction to African History
Methods Course
HIST 299Historical Methods3
or INDS 380 Newberry Seminar
Required Areas 1
Select four Upper-Level Courses, one from each of the following:12
Upper-Level Pre-Modern History (see descriptions below)
Upper-Level Modern European History (see descriptions below)
Upper-Level World History (see descriptions below)
Upper-Level U.S. History (see descriptions below)
Elective Courses 1
Any Four History Courses12
Courses Required for Honors Program
HIST 397History Honors Tutorial (writing intensive)3
Total Hours36
1

A total of four 300-level courses required. In addition to HIST 397, students must take at least three 300-level courses among their Required Areas and Electives. 

Required Areas: Upper-Level Pre-Modern History Courses

Students must take at least one of the courses below as part of the Required Areas
HIST 253ABarbarians and the Fall of the Roman Empire3
HIST 254AThe Vikings3
HIST 257AWitchcraft and Science in Pre-Modern Europe3
HIST 258ABlood, Heresy, and Treason: The Tudors and Stuarts3
HIST 300BTopics in Premodern History3
HIST 301Plagues: The Black Death and Other Pandemics3
HIST 303Pre-Industrial City in Europe3
HIST 307Greece to Alexander the Great3
HIST 308AHistory of Rome to Constantine3
HIST 308BPompeii and Herculaneum3
HIST 308CHistory of Early Christianity3
HIST 308DTransformations of Rome in Late Antiquity3
HIST 309Shipwreck Archaeology3
HIST 310The Middle Ages3
HIST 310AMedieval World 1100-15003
HIST 310BMedieval Culture3
HIST 310CMedieval Women3
HIST 310DMedieval Popular Religion3
HIST 310FMedieval Inquisitions and Heresy3
HIST 310GSupernatural in the Middle Ages3
HIST 310LLove and Violence in Medieval Culture and Society3
HIST 311BThe Crusades: Christianity and Islam3
HIST 312England to 14853
HIST 314Renaissance3
HIST 314AThe Jesuits: Life and History3
HIST 315The Reformation3
HIST 316History of Poland3
HIST 317Age of Absolutism & the Enlightenment3
HIST 318AEarly Modern England 1485-17603
HIST 318BEnglish Social History 1450-17503
HIST 318CLondon 1550 - 17153
HIST 342AAfrican History to 16003
HIST 345ATraditional China from Antiquity to 15503
CLST 362Roman Law3
THEO 317Christian Thought: Ancient-Medieval3

Required Areas: Upper-Level Modern Europe Courses

Students must take at least one of the courses below as part of the Required Areas
HIST 265AThe First World War3
HIST 267AModern German Culture and Ideas I3
HIST 267BModern German Culture and Ideas II3
HIST 300CTopics in European History (Post-1700)3
HIST 320Era French Revolution & Napoleon3
HIST 32119th Century European Culture and Ideas3
HIST 322Modern France: From Empire to Postcolonial Nation3
HIST 324Italy 19th & 20th Centuries3
HIST 325Modern Britain: Empire, Industry, Democracy3
HIST 325AThe British Empire: From Barbados to Brexit3
HIST 326Ireland: Colony to Nation State3
HIST 327AThe Balkans: History, Fiction, Film3
HIST 328Russia Pre-1917: Empire Building3
HIST 328ARussian Empire and Literature3
HIST 329Women's Sphere in Past Society3
HIST 329CEmpire, Sex, Violence: European Colonial History3
HIST 329NModern European Nationalism: Myth and Reality3
HIST 330Europe in the Age of Catastrophe, 1900-19453
HIST 330FFascinating Fascism:  1919 to the Present3
HIST 331AFood, Hunger and Power in the Modern World3
HIST 334AThe Nazi Revolution3
HIST 334BThe Holocaust: History and Memory3
HIST 335The Second World War3
HIST 336Contemporary Europe 1945 to Present3
HIST 337Rise & Fall of Soviet Union3
HIST 337AWomen in Russia and Eurasia, 1860-Present3
HIST 338AHistory of European Communism3
HIST 338BEastern Europe in the 20th Century3
HIST 339CModern Europe and the Arts3
HIST 339FHistory of Feminist Thought and Social Action3
THEO 318Christian Thought: Reformation to Modern3

Required Areas: Upper-Level World History Courses

Students must take at least one of the courses below as part of the Required Areas
HIST 275AThe Silk Roads: Global Trade, Culture, & Politics3
HIST 278AViolence Drug Trafficking & Crime in Latin America3
HIST 279CHistory of Computing3
HIST 279EClimate and History3
HIST 300ETopics in World History3
HIST 340BIntroduction to Islamic History3
HIST 341Modern Middle East3
HIST 341BArab-Israeli Conflict3
HIST 341CTunisia On-Site: Arab Spring, Democratic Change, Islam3
HIST 342BAfrican History Post-16003
HIST 342CThe History of Islam in Africa3
HIST 342DAfrican Diaspora in the Middle East and South Asia3
HIST 342MAfrican Music's Influence on American Music3
HIST 343Modern South Asia3
HIST 346AEarly Modern China: 1550-18003
HIST 346BReform & Revolution in China, 1800-19493
HIST 346CHistory of Christianity in China3
HIST 347AChina Since 1949: The People's Republic3
HIST 347CCultural Revolution-China3
HIST 347DModern Chinese History through Film3
HIST 349Contemporary Global Issues: Historical Perspectives3
HIST 349AWomen in East Asia3
HIST 350Colonial Latin America3
HIST 351Latin American Independence, 1750-18303
HIST 352Latin America in the 19th Century3
HIST 353Latin America in Recent Times3
HIST 355The Caribbean & Central America in Colonial/Modern Times3
HIST 356Mexican History-Ancient to Modern Times3
HIST 357The Mexican Revolution in Popular Imagination3
HIST 358Women in Latin American History3
HIST 359Teaching World History3
HIST 359CNationalist Politics: A Global Perspective3
HIST 359DThe Ottoman Empire: A Global Perspective3
HIST 359EConcentration Camps: A Global History3
HIST 359FGenocides in the Modern World3
HIST 359HAnti-Colonial Resistance in the Twentieth Century3

Required Areas: Upper-Level U.S. History Courses

Students must take at least one of the courses below as part of the Required Areas
HIST 280APirates and Sailors in the Revolutionary Atlantic3
HIST 290AHistory of Sexuality in the United States3
HIST 291AAmerican Icons: Heroes, Images, Ideas3
HIST 297ENorth American Environmental History3
HIST 298AHistory and the Public: Intro to Public History3
HIST 300DTopics in U.S. History3
HIST 360Community and Culture in Colonial America3
HIST 360ASlavery and Abolition: Then & Now3
HIST 361The American Revolution, 1763-18153
HIST 362America in the Age of Slavery and Capitalism3
HIST 363Civil War & Reconstruction 1850-18773
HIST 366AWorld War I and American Culture3
HIST 367United States from Great Depression to Recession3
HIST 36920th Century Popular Culture3
HIST 370American Business, Wealth, and Inequality3
HIST 372American Constitutional & Legal History to 18653
HIST 373US Law & Public Policy3
HIST 373ACrime and Punishment3
HIST 374Black Politics3
HIST 375Digital History3
HIST 376History of the American Frontier Movement3
HIST 376AHistory of the American Indian3
HIST 377African American Women's History3
HIST 378Latina/o History3
HIST 379AItalian Americans in World War II3
HIST 379BHistory of Italians in Chicago3
HIST 380Introduction to African-American History3
HIST 380AIslam in the African-American Experience3
HIST 381Rebels & Reformers in U.S. History3
HIST 382Teaching Race, Class, and Gender3
HIST 384Irish Diaspora in America3
HIST 385Chicago in America3
HIST 386Creation the American Metropolis3
HIST 388U.S. Wars3
HIST 388AVietnam War3
HIST 389BTopic: Gender, Race, & Class in US History3
HIST 389CGender Benders3
HIST 389FThe Sixties3
HIST 389KAutobiography and Memoir in Recent US History3
HIST 389NAnti-Immigrant Politics in U.S. History3
HIST 389WRaces to the White House: Presidential History3
ECON 327American Economic & Business History3

Residency Requirements

  • At least 6 courses for this major must be successfully completed in residence at Loyola University Chicago.
  • At least 4 300-level courses for this major must be successfully completed in residence at Loyola University Chicago.

Optional Concentrations

History Majors have the option to declare a concentration, an area of interest. A concentration consists of at least three courses focused on a particular theme. Concentrations include: War & Peace; Law & Government; Gender, Sexuality, & Race; Teaching History; Globalization, Social Justice, & Human Rights; and Cultural & Intellectual History  Students may also build their own geographic or period-based concentration in consultation with their departmental adviser.

Portfolio

Every history major must build a portfolio over the course of his/her undergraduate studies. The student must upload the two required documents listed below to a History Department website by Friday of the last week of classes prior to graduation.  For more information, please contact the History Department Undergraduate Program Director.  The required documents are:

  1. A historiographical essay (typically a paper from HIST 299 Historical Methods). This paper must both summarize and evaluate historians’ principal arguments about a particular topic.
  2. A 300-level Research Paper with a bibliography. This paper --- a minimum of 12-15 pages, usually from a 300-level course --- makes use of both primary and secondary sources to prove a historical thesis. All good historical writing has a thesis that the author seeks to establish through interpretation of the primary source evidence. In lieu of uploading a 300-level research paper, students have the option of submitting a platform appropriate project such as a public history or digital history project that makes an analytical argument based on both primary and secondary sources to prove a historical thesis. 

Students should submit papers or projects that showcase their best work.