Program Codes:
BAHISTHDF
Bachelor of Arts
Introduction
The Thomas B. Hagen Department of History helps its students develop as creative problem solvers as well as critical thinkers and evaluators of contemporary life through the study of history. A premium is placed on effective written and oral communication. Research skills, the basic tools of many rewarding careers, are the focus of our program’s senior thesis and senior seminar in history. Majors are prepared upon graduation to assume future challenges in law, public service, business, and many other professional fields. Students who meet the criteria will be invited to join Phi Alpha Theta, a nationally recognized history honor society. History students are encouraged to join the Model United Nations club on campus, which offers the opportunity to participate in intercollegiate historical simulations. The History Club provides opportunities for extracurricular trips, film/discussion events and other history-related activities.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Mercyhurst University History Department begins with the engagement of all students in the infinitely rewarding study of past human societies and cultures—the foundational premise of History’s central place in the Liberal Arts curriculum. We aim continuously to strengthen students’ abilities to conduct primary and secondary source research, to analyze and weigh evidence, and to articulate sound conclusions and arguments both orally and in writing. Through courses that extend chronologically and thematically from the ancient world to contemporary societies and cultures, Mercyhurst History majors acquire knowledge and critical thinking skills that cultivate their development as informed, engaged, and thoughtful citizens. Our graduates are prepared to pursue successful careers as teachers, researchers, writers and journalists, attorneys, non-profit or public service professionals, historians in both the public and private sectors, among many other career tracks. To advance this mission, the curriculum of the Mercyhurst History Department emphasizes thorough and ongoing study of primary sources and the secondarysource interpretations of a wide range of scholars. Through extensive writing and discussion opportunities in virtually every course, students are challenged to develop the historical habits of mind that will provide them with personal enrichment, equip them to better understand the complex world in which they live, and to sustain throughout their lives the spirit of inquiry, curiosity and civic engagement that lies at the heart of the discipline of history.
Critical Thinking
Students will demonstrate an ability to consider, and determine a position on, an historical problem critically: stating the issue clearly, recognizing, questioning and evaluating their own assumptions, and identifying and assessing the relevant interpretations and arguments of scholars on the problem. They will master the ability to examine critically the rhetoric, bias, and motivation of primary source accounts, understanding the critical importance of historical context and audience. Finally, students will be able to present, evaluate, and analyze appropriate supporting evidence and use it effectively in arguing a reasoned conclusion.
Historical Knowledge and Understanding
Students will demonstrate a broad understanding of the general characteristics and key developments of major periods of United States, European, and non-western history (embracing their intellectual, economic, social, cultural, and political dimensions), and a more fully developed and detailed comprehension of one major area of historical study. They will also exhibit an understanding of historiography, and the shifting schools of thought on one particular area of history.
Information Literacy
Students will demonstrate proficiency working with historical sources of information, including: design and refine a research strategy appropriate to a research problem; identify and locate a range of primary and secondary sources; organize, synthesize and incorporate a range of materials to advance an historical argument they have developed; employ the professional standards and practices of the historian—proper use of citation and references, paraphrasing, quoting and summarizing, and thorough contextualizing of primary source material.
Communication
Students will demonstrate proficiency and maximum fluency in communicating historical knowledge and arguments orally and in writing. They will employ a range of high quality, relevant primary and secondary sources to advance their ideas; organize their ideas clearly and methodically; use appropriate stylistic presentation and format for historical writing; and keep grammatical and syntax errors to an absolute minimum.
Intercultural Historical Knowledge and Understanding and Civic Engagement
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the cultural construction of race, gender, ethnicity and nature in history, a historically well informed cultural self-awareness, and a related well-informed understanding of the elements that shape other peoples’ history, cultural beliefs and practices, economic and political systems, as well as their relationships with other peoples and nation states. An empathy-based historical sensibility and knowledge base should move them to ask complex questions about other cultures that transcend time and place. Further, students will exhibit a well-developed understanding of how dominant perspectives in a society shape social authority and patterns of power, as well as of the historical evolution of American democracy in a comparative perspective relative to the expressions of ideals and practices in other countries. Students will demonstrate a capacity to exchange ideas about civic engagement in ways that draws on others’ viewpoints.
Students must maintain an overall GPA of 2.5 and a 2.75 GPA in major courses to be certified for graduation as a History major or minor. No major course may be taken on a pass-fail basis. Additionally, students who fail to earn a grade of C or better in a major course may not count it toward the major. Student progress will be monitored in an annual review. Students whose performance is unsatisfactory are placed on probation or are dropped from the major, depending on the outcome of the review.
The Historical Documentary Filmmaking Concentration is designed for students who want to study history while concurrently developing technical skills in digital media, project management, and applied historical methods. In addition to core coursework in History, students take courses in Art, Communications, Film Studies, and more. The core coursework will allow students to develop a portfolio of original work to facilitate entry-level positions in creative, media, television, and film production fields, graduate school, and a range of other careers.
Studio experience in digital photography including camera operation, lighting, design, Photoshop and Idea generation. Students must have a DSLR digital camera approved by the instructor.
Students are given basic instruction in producing video utilizing computer software. Instruction combines theoretical concepts with practical field experience.
This course instructs students in the methods of historical documentary filmmaking. We will examine a range of historical documentaries, and discuss the major debates and skills that are important to historical documentary filmmaking. Producing a documentary requires discerning research, analysis of primary sources, appropriate use of equipment, and creating and editing digital images, video, audio and narration, and animation.
Choose three (3) Additional Courses from the Following; they must be from at least two (2) different disciplines.
ART-220 ART-221
A second level studio course which includes contemporary theory, photographic design issues, image manipulation, and image output.
ART-106
This course focuses on gathering information and relaying it to a mass audience through various technologies, including blogs, websites and podcasts. Content includes online journalistic writing (using video, copywriting and photography), identifying and creating elements of a good story, merging research into writing, and synthesis of information.
COMM-184
Introduction to the art, technology, and language of film. Students will learn basic cinematic techniques and structures, the fundamentals of film production, and an overview of cinematic history.
An intermediate course in film studies, grounding students in major approaches to film theory and criticism (e.g., psychoanalysis, gender studies, cultural studies) and emphasizing the structure of film as narrative art. The class will reinforce the language of cinematography, editing, sound, performance, and genre.
The role of African-Americans in cinematic films has varied widely, ranging from "brutal savages" in D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation to dynamic and powerful leaders as seen in Spike Lee's Malcolm X. This course explores the African-American experience through the cultural medium of cinema. Particular emphasis will be placed on examining how Hollywood represented African-Americans and thereby reinforced, shaped and altered public perceptions of race and the role of blacks in society. The course will also investigate how historical developments in turn influenced the depiction of African-Americans in film, examining the modern Civil Rights struggle within the context of the film industry. 3 credits.
This course explores different digital formats for historical storytelling. It examines and discusses different formats, with a mind to understanding what sorts of narratives can be created in mediums such as "blogging" and podcasting. The course focuses on producing individual and collaborative hands-on projects. Students conduct historical research and storytelling at three different levels-family, local, and global. The goal is to think critically about how we tell stories at all of these levels.
This course will provide an overview of the development of the digital history field, engage students in assessing existing digital history projects and scholarship, and ultimately require that they pursue a project of historical significance using digital resources and tools.
Completed through a cooperating museum, historical agency, business, or non-profit institution, the history internship offers students an opportunity to acquire real-world experience in public history. Conducting archival research, assisting with the exhibit development, and conducting tours for the public are among the many hands-on learning opportunities provided to student interns. Internships must be approved by the History Department internship supervisor.
Students will take a minimum of six (6) additional History courses, at least three (3) in American History, and three (3) in Western/World Perspectives. No more than two (2) should be 100-level courses.