The Ohio State University Department of History

History As A Second Major

History As A Second Major

Why history as a second major?

  1.  Increased job market competitiveness and improved earnings

    Studies indicate that double majors earn more than single majors and that the benefits are compounded when students in STEM and vocational majors add a major in the liberal arts.
     
  2. Increased graduate and professional school competitiveness

    Double majors are empirically more likely to pursue and to be successful in post-baccalaureate programs.
     
  3. Improved creative, integrative thinking

    The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that double-majoring “entails learning the deeper, underlying meaning of a discipline, making connections across courses and subjects, and applying different intellectual perspectives. Even better, some researchers say, is creative thinking, in which students master multiple disciplinary approaches to generate fresh and original ideas. Students who major in two fields are more apt than their single-majoring peers to think both integratively and creatively.”
     
  4. All the benefits of the history major

    The study of history expands one’s career options, develops in-demand skills, and prepares graduates for leadership, regardless of their professional fields. For the details, visit “Why study history at Ohio State?”
     
  5. Complementary knowledge

    Studying history is a great way to deepen one’s knowledge about one’s first major. The Department of History offers concentrations in area studies (e.g., Europe, Africa, Asia), politics, conflict and diplomacy, social justice, medicine, science, technology, gender studies, the environment, and many others.
     
  6. Value for the tuition dollar

    Double-majoring increases opportunities for course overlaps. Up to six hours in each major may overlap with the GE and overlaps between history and other majors can be significant. See the list below for approved course overlaps between history and other disciplines.
     

Courses in other departments applicable to the history major

By University rules, each major must contain at least eighteen non-overlapping hours. The Department of History permits the use of History 2800 and up to three other 2000-level courses (twelve credit hours total) toward the history major. At least eighteen credit hours toward the history major must be taken from the history department, including History 2800, two required 4000-level seminars, and all the credit hours required for a geographic or thematic concentration. Check with other departments to see what, if any, courses from the Department of History might overlap with the first major. In some cases (e.g., political science and international studies), the numbers can be significant. Be aware, though, that some departments limit the number of credit hours that may overlap with another major.
 

More Information

For more information about a second major in history, please contact Dr. Ray Irwin at Irwin.8@osu.edu.