World History Concentration

Students completing the World History Concentration within the B.A. in History acquire a valuable credential that certifies their expertise in the past of multiple regions of the globe, while pursuing a course of study tailored to their interest. Undergraduates in History study in a department with the broadest global expertise at UIS, with course work available in Modern Europe, the Middle East, the Medieval World, the Near East, the Ancient World, East Asia, and any array of transnational and comparative thematic areas. The concentration provides career readiness in the area of problem solving as well as in global and intercultural fluency. 

The World History Concentration requires 15 hours of course work at the lower and upper division; students can also combine that expertise with additional experiences such as study away, internships, or foreign language training for credit. 

To further inspire students to pursue experiential learning and linguistic expertise, three hours of upper division course work in this concentration can be earned by demonstrating one of the following: 

  • Completion of a credit-bearing study away experience,

  • Or a departmentally approved internship or prior-learning experience with global components,

  • Or competency (4 semesters) in a language beyond one’s native language(s). Demonstrating language competency requires university-level course work or results of a placement exam.

The Department will consider petitions for courses from other universities or other departments as appropriate. Students may be asked to provide a syllabus or other supporting materials.

Requirements

Required Courses3
3 hours of lower division course work in historical regions or themes outside the United States: (Choose One of the following)
Peoples of the Past
Making of the West
Topics in Comparative Religion
Judaism, Christianity, Islam
Bible and Qur'an
Topics in Middle Eastern History
Introduction to the Modern Middle East
History of Premodern East Asia
History of Modern East Asia
European History
Women in the Middle East
History of Russia: Peter I to Putin
Twelve hours of History of at least 3 different world regions and themes at the upper division:12
Ancient World (Choose One)
Alexander the Great
Modern China
Premodern Japan
Women in Chinese and Japanese History
Samurai in History and Romance
ECCE: Exhibiting Asia: Trans-Pacific Material Culture
Europe (Choose One)
ECCE: Conflict in 19th Century Europe
Europe In The 20th Century
Imperial Russia
Russia from the Revolution to the New Cold War
Middle East (Choose One)
Islamic Civilization
ECCE: Reading Arab Pasts
ECCE: Conflict in the Middle East
ECCE: Christian-Muslim Encounters
Cold War and the Middle East
Eastern Christianity
Transnational Themes (Choose One)
ECCE: Culture Wars/Europe
ECCE: Democracy and Democratic Theory
ECCE: Nationalism and Imperialism
ECCE: From Vikings to Hackers: A Pirate's World History
History of Christmas
Total Hours15