History Degrees Online

The study of history plays a central and formative role in the liberal arts. Offering new perspectives both on the past and the ongoing influences the past has on the present, the discipline of history introduces new ways of thinking, develops analytical capacities, and encourages excellence in writing. Our department at Trinity offers opportunities to explore aspects of the histories of Africa, the Ancient World, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States; and students are invited to cast a wide net even if, in the end, they focus on one particular region. Classes encourage close work with individual professors, who are, in addition to their devoted work in the classroom, active scholars contributing to the growth of knowledge in their fields. We are enormously proud of both our students and our alumni who have gone on to careers in law, teaching, medicine, and business as well as social work, writing, the ministry, and public service.

The Major
The requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts
with a major in history are as follows:
I. The common curriculum
II. Departmental requirements:
- 31 semester hours in history including a 4000 level seminar that serves as the Senior Experience for the major, and one course from each of these three areas:
(a) United States history;
(b) European history;
(c) Asian, Middle East, Latin American history, and African history.
A maimum of 12 hours from 1000 level courses may count toward the major.
III. Electives sufficient to total 124 semester hours.
The Minor
The requirements for a minor in history are as follows:
I. 18 semester hours in history.
II. At least 9 hours must be from upper division.

HIST 3-90 Independent Study
HIST 3-92 Special Topics in History
HIST 4498 Honors Thesis: First Semester
Hist 4499 Honors Thesis: Second Semester
Seminars
Seminars require advanced work both in the classroom and in the library. Classes are devoted to common readings and are designed to help the student master the major secondary works and the research methods appropriate to the topic; work in the library is to be devoted to the development of individual topics research and writing. The outcome of a seminar is a major research paper that represents the student’s contribution to the broader historical debates within the particular field. Students may take a second seminar with the same course number if the topic offered under that number is different. Prerequisite: Senior standing or consent of instructor. SEMINARS
HIST 4400 Seminar in African History
HIST 4420 Seminar in Asian History
HIST 4430 Seminar in European History
HIST 4440 Seminar in Latin American History
HIST 4450 Seminar in Middle East History
HIST 4460 Seminar in United States History A
HIST 4470 Seminar in United States History B

The Honors Program in History is designed as a senior thesis project intended for history majors who show gifted academic skills as well as a comprehensive background in a particular field of historical study. The senior thesis will be a major research essay of original research, usually mastering a set of primary sources in the original language. The length of such an essay would be typically fifty pages of text along with a full bibliography.
The program involves six hours taken during the senior year, three in the first semester and three in the second semester (History 4498 and 4499). The student will secure the guidance of a department faculty member who will serve as Thesis Advisor and work in close consultation with the student.
The thesis will be read and judged for Honors distinction by the Department Honors Committee. The Thesis Advisor will be an ex-officio member of that committee. The student must submit copies of a final draft of the thesis to each member of the committee by the end of the eleventh week of the second semester of the senior year.
The Thesis Advisor is responsible for grading the student’s performance in History 4498 and 4499; the Honors Committee’s sole duty is to determine whether the Thesis is worthy of Honors distinction.
A student who seeks admission into the Honors Program must take a History 4000-level Seminar by the end of the junior year. The student must have an overall Trinity University g.p.a. of 3.33, a departmental g.p.a. of 3.66, and an average 3.66 g.p.a. in the following four “gateway” courses: 3381 (The Historian’s Craft), 4400-4480 (Seminar), and two Intermediate or Advanced courses in the student’s field of specialty.
A student with these qualifications must apply to the Department Honors Committee by May 5 of the student’s junior year. The Honors Committee will notify the student of his/her application by May 30.
For more information, email Eunice Herrington.
I. University requirements
II. Departmental requirements:
A. Admission to the program
1. 3.66 average department G.P.A.
2. 3.66 average in the following courses:
a) HIST 3381: The Historian’s Craft
b) Seminar (HIST 4400, 4420, 4430, 4440, 4450, 4460 A, or 4470 B.
c) Two upper-division courses in the student’s field of specialty
3. Applications will be made by May 5.
B. Requirements: Successful completion of a senior thesis written in a fall and spring HIST 4498, 4499.
A full description of the program is available in the department office.

In recent years graduates have been employed in universities, galleries, museums, publishing houses, art salesrooms, architectural heritage and journalism in Ireland and abroad, as well as in a broad range of administrative, commercial and media-based employment outside the field of art and architectural history.

Is this the right course for you?
History of art and architecture appeals to a wide range of students, as well as those with special interests in art, archaeology and history. It will provide you with an effective way of developing intellectual rigour and of acquiring the critical and communication skills traditionally associated with an arts degree. You do not need any previous knowledge of art history or any practical skill in art to take this course.
Course content
This course teaches you how to analyse works of art and how to understand their historical significance. It will enable you to develop an awareness of the environment while also providing you with a deeper sensitivity to the culture and ideals of other nations.
You will take a broad range of courses covering the history of painting, sculpture and architecture from ancient Greece to modern times. Topics available include early Irish art, the art of the Italian Renaissance, the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe, the architectural splendours of the Georgian era and the artistic achievements of the twentieth century. There are also courses on non-Western art such as Japanese painting.
Trinity offers excellent facilities for the study of history of art and architecture and its own distinguished buildings and collections are integral to the course. The National Gallery and National Museum are located nearby and provide the venue for group and teaching activities. Other institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Chester Beatty Library are also used. As a student, you will be expected to become familiar with various collections and buildings in Dublin.
The Junior Freshman year
In the Junior Freshman (first) year you will take two courses:
An introduction to European painting: As well as providing a historical survey, covering major periods such as the Italian Renaissance and French Impressionism, this course will introduce you to the methods and techniques of art history. These include the critical analysis of paintings, the importance of iconography, and the different technical methods used by artists from the Book of Kells to the present day.
An introduction to European architecture: This course provides you with the knowledge and skills needed to understand and appreciate architecture. It includes an examination of different building materials and architectural drawings as well as training in the visual analysis of buildings. These topics are part of a historical survey of Western architecture, which ranges from Greek temples to the present day. Special attention is given to important building types such as the medieval monastery or the country house.
An introduction to the practice of Art history This course provides an introduction to art-historical methodologies and issues, and is based around written and web-based assignments
These courses amount to a weekly total of four lectures, two seminars and a two-hour Small Group session.
Years two, three and four
Over the course of the Senior Freshman, Junior and Senior Sophister years, you will have the opportunity to take courses in the following areas:
Romanesque art and architecture
The Gothic cathedral in France
Painting and sculpture in 17th-century Europe
Painting and sculpture in Renaissance Italy
Renaissance and baroque architecture in Italy
Architecture in the 19th and 20th centuries
Eighteenth century painting in Britain and Ireland
Art in France 1850-1900
Dutch and Flemish painting
Modernism and post-modernism
The arts of Japan
Approaches to art history and criticism
These courses comprise a weekly lecture and a seminar in alternate weeks.
The special subject
If you elect to study history of art and architecture in the Senior Sophister (fourth) year, you will select a subject dealing with art-historical issues at a more specialised level. Where possible, you will be given the opportunity of studying primary sources and particular emphasis is placed on personal observation and interpretation of original works of art, whether painting, sculpture or architecture. Examples of special subject topics include Irish art in the golden age c. 650-950, topics in post-medieval architectural classicism, Spanish painting from the Escorial to Goya, painting in Ireland and Britain 1800-1900, and Irish modern and contemporary art.

Recent graduates are pursuing careers in government and the public sector, media, accountancy and business to name a few. Some graduates each year progress to further study in areas as diverse as medicine, film production, graphic design and business as well as areas more closely related to history and political science.

Courses are designed to allow your individual preferences to shape the overall character of your studies, and permit you to specialise in a number of different ways.
Junior Freshmen (first year students) select from:
History of Europe 1000-1250
History of Britain 1000-1485
History of Ireland 1014-1534
History of Europe 1500-1700
Senior Freshmen (second year students) select from:
Ireland, Britain and Western Europe, 400-1000
History of Europe, 1250-1500
History of Ireland, 1500-1800
History of Britain since 1603
History of the USA since 1607
Culture and politics in Europe, 1700-1870
History of continental Europe since 1870
History of Ireland, 1800 to the present
In the final two years you will take a short lecture course on historiography and choose special subjects, which are studied in great detail and with particular attention to original sources. Students taking History alone in fourth year choose two special subjects, write a dissertation and take a module on Dissertation Preparation.
Subjects available in the Sophister years (three and four) include:
The archaeology of medieval castles
The age of Dante and Petrarch
Empire and Papacy in the eleventh century
The Reformation in Europe, 1500-1535
History and heritage
Revolution and civil war in Ireland, 1919-1923
The Weimar Germany
World War II, France and its historians
The United States from Truman to Kennedy
The politics of national salvation in Ireland, 1957-1969
Sub-Saharan Africa since 1875
Political Science Courses
The work of the first two years is designed to provide you with a systematic foundation in the subject.
Junior Freshmen (first year students) select from:
Introduction to political science
Introduction to sociology
Introduction to economic policy
Senior Freshmen (second year students) select from:
History of political thought
Russian and East European politics
West European politics
In the Sophister (third and fourth) years, you may choose to concentrate on particular aspects of the subject, including:
Research Methods for Political Scientists, including research and writing a dissertation
Irish politics
Transition Politics
International Political Theory
Comparative Political Institutions
European Public Policy
Contemporary political theories
Political Parties
Contemporary Political Issues
The Nation and Post-Colonialism
The Transformation of War in the Post-Cold War Era
Democracy and Dictatorship: Comparative politics of developing countries

History and political science have a close affinity and the combination of the two in a joint honor programme provides a coherent framework for the development of interdisciplinary interests. In the first three years of the programme, you will take both subjects. In the fourth year, you may choose to concentrate exclusively on either subject or to continue with both. There are approximately 10-12 hours of classes per week in the Freshman (first two) years.

Is this the right course for you?
If you are interested in discovering our past, in developing a critical perspective on previous and current interpretations of history and working toward the development of new perspectives on our past, this course is right for you. History at Trinity aims to encourage the greatest possible critical independence among those learning the techniques and the methods of historical research and writing.
Course content
The history programme at Trinity has been constructed on clear pedagogical and intellectual principles. In the first years the courses are designed to provide you with a systematic knowledge of European and Irish history, with options in American and other non-European courses, as well as to introduce you to particular aspects of history along socio-political, cultural and economic lines. In the second part of the programme (in the Sophister years) a very wide degree of choice is made available to students from a broad range of specialist courses offered by those actively engaged in research on these topics. An independently conceived, researched and presented dissertation is a key element of the final year.
The Freshman years
The Junior Freshman (first) year:
Single honor (TR003) students take full-year and half-year options from the five areas outlined below, amounting to the whole study requirement for their academic year:
Students in the TSM (joint honor) programme take full-year and half-year options from the five areas outlined below, amounting to half their study requirement for the academic year:
History of Europe 1000-1250: Covers European history in the central middle ages and deals particularly with the internal history of France, Germany, Italy and Byzantium. The emphasis is on political and institutional developments, ecclesiastical history, history of political thought, intellectual history and the development of schools, the religious orders and religious dissent. The history of the papacy is also considered in great detail.
History of Britain 1000-1485: Covers most of the major historical developments in Britain from the end of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom until the accession of the Tudors in 1485. While the emphasis is on a chronological analysis of political events within the period, many important socio-economic questions are also covered.
History of Ireland 1014-1534: Topics and trends rather than a narrative of events are emphasised on this course. Particular attention is given to the development of Gaelic Ireland, patterns of settlement, the economy, the church and religion, politics and the constitution, Anglo-Irish relations, war and civil disturbance, and government and society.
History of Europe 1500-1700: Highlights political, social and cultural developments across the whole of Europe by selecting specific common features and studying variants of these in certain countries. Reform of state and society, the first and second reformations (Protestant and Catholic), the changing patterns of early modern risings, and revolts and civil wars play a leading role in the subjects covered.
Learning for Historians: Learning for Historians is designed to familiarise students with the essential skills required for historical research and academic writing. Throughout your first term, a combination of weekly tutorials and themed exercises will introduce you to a variety of topics ranging from using the library’s collections and making the most of the internet for historical research to preparing a bibliography and presenting your findings in essays and assignments.
The Senior Freshman (second) year:
You will be introduced to courses in modern Irish, British, European and American history.
All students take either a full year course in History of Continental Europe since 1870 or in History of Ireland 1800 to the present and select full or half year options from the list below amounting in all to a whole study requirement for the academic year in the case of Single Honor students or a half requirement in the case of Two Subject Moderatorship students. In the case of TSM students, their options are chosen from the first six topics in the list below:
Ireland, Britain and Western Europe, 400-1000
History of Europe, 1250-1500
History of Britain since 1603
History of the USA since 1607
Culture and politics in Europe, 1700-1870
History of Ireland, 1500-1800
History of political thought
The economy of Ireland
Introduction to sociology
We offer a range of subjects within three different categories:
List I courses – these are primary source based specialist courses which involve intensive research and writing.
List II courses – these are primarily historiographically based special subjects which are accompanied by a general course (Thinking history) on the concepts, methods and debates of modern day historians.
List III courses – these are broader thematic and analytical courses based upon a combination of primary materials and secondary commentaries.
Those studying single honor History choose one from each list in their Junior Sophister (third) year and a further choice from List I and List III in their Senior Sophister (fourth) year. The research dissertation is undertaken in the Senior Sophister year.
Those studying TSM History choose one course from List I and take the course Thinking history in their Junior Sophister year. TSM students normally follow the same pattern as single honors students in the Senior Sophister year
Taught courses arise from the specialisations of the teaching staff and vary from year to year. Current options in the Sophister (third and fourth) years include :
The archaeology of medieval castles
Empire and Papacy in the eleventh century
The Reformation in Europe, 1500-1535
History and heritage
Revolution and civil war in Ireland, 1919-1923
The Weimar Republic
World War II, France and its historians
The United States from Truman to Kennedy
The politics of national salvation in Ireland, 1957-1969
Contemporary political theories
Sub-Saharan Africa since 1875