Bachelor of Arts in History
Overview
Explore How Current Perspectives are Influenced by History
Deepen your understanding of societal development and structures with Grand Canyon University's Bachelor of Arts in History program. Evaluate political, social and economic issues from a diverse perspective, and research women in history, global civilizations and changes in the U.S while enhancing your communication and critical thinking skills.
The Bachelor of Arts in History in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences engages the discipline thematically, providing a contemporary alternative to chronological study. Historians study the past to deepen their understanding of the complex modern world. The history degree program introduces the study of history as a scholarly discipline; it explores the work of major historians and develops a foundational set of tools valued by employers and practitioners.
Degree Outcomes
Learn Foundational Skills Valued Today
The coursework prepares you to communicate clearly, live responsibly in a diverse world and thoughtfully integrate faith and ethical convictions into all dimensions of life. Foundational coursework also introduces you to the principles of corporate communication, providing the necessities for a successful career. Through a disciplined study of the past, you are given an orientation reviewing the complexity and diversity of the world, to meet the competitive demands of a global economy. In addition to foundational skills courses, you explore history as a scholarly discipline.
What You Will Learn
Complete a Study of Historical Issues
These are a few of the topics you study:
- A comparative study of social conflict
- Identifying patterns of human action, violence and social change
- The political, economic and social aspects of selected war and revolutions
- A comprehensive review of regions, including the Southwest Borderlands
- Intellectual and religious developments of Europe
Career Outcomes
Prepare to Serve in a Variety of Fields
The skills you can develop by earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in history can be applied in a variety of settings. Law schools typically admit candidates with strong reading skills for synthesis and an ability to research, write and think critically.
This curriculum serves as a more favorable alternative to a generic pre-law program and meets the competitive requirements of a law school application. The foundational structures for a graduate degree in history or business are provided. Jobs for history majors include business management, mass communication, policymaking, government, public service and teaching.
Course List
General Education Requirements
General Education coursework prepares Grand Canyon University graduates to think critically, communicate clearly, live responsibly in a diverse world, and thoughtfully integrate their faith and ethical convictions into all dimensions of life. These competencies, essential to an effective and satisfying life, are outlined in the General Education Learner Outcomes. General Education courses embody the breadth of human understanding and creativity contained in the liberal arts and sciences tradition. Students take an array of foundational knowledge courses that promote expanded knowledge, insight, and the outcomes identified in the University’s General Education Competencies. The knowledge and skills students acquire through these courses serve as a foundation for successful careers and lifelong journeys of growing understanding and wisdom.
Requirements
Upon completion of the Grand Canyon University's University Foundation experience, students will be able to demonstrate competency in the areas of academic skills and self-leadership. They will be able to articulate the range of resources available to assist them, explore career options related to their area of study, and have knowledge of Grand Canyon's community. Students will be able to demonstrate foundational academic success skills, explore GCU resources (CLA, Library, Career Center, ADA office, etc), articulate strategies of self-leadership and management and recognize opportunities to engage in the GCU community.
GCU Course Options
- UNV-103, University Success: 4 credits
- UNV-303, University Success: 4 credits
Requirements
Graduates of Grand Canyon University will be able to construct rhetorically effective communications appropriate to diverse audiences, purposes, and occasions (English composition, communication, critical reading, foreign language, sign language, etc.). Students are required to take 3 credits of English grammar or composition.
GCU Course Options
- ENG-105, English Composition I: 4 credits
- UNV-104, 21st Century Skills: Communication and Information Literacy: 4 credits
- ENG-106, English Composition II: 4 credits
- COM-263, Elements of Intercultural Communication: 4 credits
Requirements
Graduates of Grand Canyon University will be able to express aspects of Christian heritage and worldview. Students are required to take CWV-101/CWV-301.
GCU Course Options
- CWV-101, Christian Worldview: 4 credits
- CWV-301, Christian Worldview: 4 credits
Requirements
Graduates of Grand Canyon University will be able to use various analytic and problem-solving skills to examine, evaluate, and/or challenge ideas and arguments. Students are required to take 3 credits of college mathematics or higher.
GCU Course Options
- MAT-144, College Mathematics: 4 credits
Requirements
Graduates of Grand Canyon University will be able to demonstrate awareness and appreciation of and empathy for differences in arts and culture, values, experiences, historical perspectives, and other aspects of life (psychology, sociology, government, Christian studies, Bible, geography, anthropology, economics, political science, child and family studies, law, ethics, crosscultural studies, history, art, music, dance, theater, applied arts, literature, health, etc.). If the predefined course is a part of the major, students need to take an additional course.
GCU Course Options
- INT-244, World Religions: 4 credits
- PSY-100, Psychology in Everyday Life: 4 credits
- SOC-100, Everyday Sociology: 4 credits
Program Core Courses
Course Description
This course surveys global civilizations from Africa and the Americas to Eurasia as an overview of the principal cultural, political, and economic themes that shaped world civilization.
Course Description
This writing intensive course focuses on research methods used in historical research and writing, and application of theories and methodologies to the analysis of historical materials. Emphasis is placed on research, writing, and critical thinking in historical contexts.
Course Description
This course provides an overview of the principal political, economic, and cultural, themes that shaped the United States from the Colonial period into the 20th century.
Course Description
This course introduces the study of history as a scholarly discipline, emphasizing significant historians, subdisciplines of the field, and the foundational methodological and theoretical tools of historians.
Course Description
This course provides a historical survey of Asia, including India, China, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan. Emphasis is placed on political, economic, and social developments.
Course Description
This writing intensive course examines the political, economic, and social aspects of selected wars and revolutions. It provides a comparative study of social conflicts with an emphasis on the patterns of individual and collective action, violence, and social changes.
Course Description
This course examines the historical and cultural developments of ancient worlds including Egypt, Greece, and Rome with an emphasis on social, political, and economic developments.
Course Description
This course compares the political, social, economic, and cultural history of women in societies, focusing on contrasting experiences of women across time, geographic regions, and cultures.
Course Description
This course examines the intellectual and religious developments of Europe between the 13th and 16th centuries including Renaissance Italy and Reformation Germany with an emphasis on social, political, and economic developments.
Course Description
This course examines the principal social, political, economic, and global events that have shaped the American experience during the Cold War era.
Course Description
This course examines the political, social, economic, and cultural history of the Southwest Borderlands region, focusing on topics related to the American West, Native Americans, frontier/colonial theory, environment, and Chicana/o history.
Course Description
This course examines the political, economic, and social developments of European history in the 20th century from the foundations of late 19th century unification through the struggles of globalization and terrorism at the beginning of the 21st century. Emphasis is placed on the impact of two world wars, totalitarianism, the decline of empire and the Cold War.
Faculty Bios
Program Locations
Campus
Online
Evening
* The Department of Education defines how an institution must calculate a program's On-Time Completion rate for federal disclosure purposes. The On-Time Completion rate is based on a program’s published required number of months to complete all degree requirements as provided in the institution’s catalog. Completion statistics are updated every January and are based on the cohort of students who graduated between 7/1 – 6/30 of the preceding year. The On-Time Completion rate is determined by the number of students in the cohort who completed the program within the published program length divided by the number of students in the cohort who graduated.
On-campus program disclosures Online and Evening program disclosures* Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Program subject to change.