Department of History

Sean P. Cunningham, Ph.D., Chairperson

Professors: Bell, D’Amico, Howe, Iber, McBee, Stoll
Associate Professors: Adams, Barenberg, Bjerk, Brittsan, Calkins, Cunningham, Forsythe, Hahn, Hart, Johnson, Levario, Milam, Mosher, Pelley, Skidmore, Swingen, Willet, Wong
Assistant Professors: Baum, Franklin, Kretz, Legacey, Lutjens

CONTACT INFORMATION: 131 Holden Hall | Box 41013 | Lubbock, TX 79409-1013 | T 806.742.3744 | F 806.742.1060 | www.history.ttu.edu

About the Department

This department supervises the following degree programs:

• Bachelor of Arts in History  
• Master of Arts in History  
• Doctor of Philosophy in History  

The department also participates in a minor in women’s and gender studies  and a minor in secondary education; Honors College programs; and Arts & Sciences minors in Asian studies , community and urban studies , environmental studies , ethnic studies , European studies , family life studies , and religion studies .

The broad liberal arts foundation available through a major in history can deepen students’ understanding of the complex world in which they live, stimulate intellectual attitudes conducive to effective participation in contemporary society, and cultivate those mental skills required for meaningful employment in many areas of the modern economic system. A history student may consider a career in teaching within colleges, universities, or public schools; in park administration; in regional and local historical society work; in archives and records management; in museum work; in various branches of government work; and in business and industry generally. Many students use their undergraduate history major as a preparation for advanced studies in such areas as law, medicine, and theology. The Department of History boasts an outstanding and diverse faculty with expertise in a wide range of specializations. The department is particularly strong in the areas of international politics and political culture and United States history with an emphasis on the U.S. in a global context. It is also strong in Texas history, the history of the American west and southwest, and borderlands history; modern and early modern European history; and world history. The department maintains thematic strengths in the history of race, imperialism, and national identity; foreign relations, war and society/military history; gender and sexuality; memory, commemoration, and political culture; environmental history; business history; the history of technology; and religious history.

Undergraduate Program

Communication Literacy Requirement. Students attending Texas Tech University for the first time in the Fall 2017 term or later will complete a Communication Literacy requirement in their program(s) of study. Texas Tech University’s transition from the Writing Intensive requirement to the Communication Literacy requirement signals the university’s awareness that in addition to the fundamental role that writing plays in enabling students to explore, develop, focus, and organize a message, other types of communication must also be taught as appropriate for a student’s discipline. Throughout each program of study students must be given ample opportunity to develop their skills in forms of communication central to that program. All students following the 2017-2018 catalog should consult the catalog information specific to their program(s) of study for more information about their Communication Literacy requirement.

Note: All courses numbered at the 3000 and 4000 level are upper-division (or “advanced”) courses. Effective Fall 2017, all HIST courses at the 4000 level will qualify toward the university’s “Communication Literacy” requirement.  Additionally, all 4000 level HIST courses require junior standing and the consent of the instructor. A student must receive at least a C in any HIST course if it is to count toward the major or minor

Teacher Certification in History or Social Studies

The Department of History cooperates with the College of Education in preparing students for teacher certification in history or social studies for grades 7-12. This certification concentration is designed to prepare students for a teaching career in public education and to successfully pass the TExES teacher certification examination in history or social studies as administered by the Texas Education Agency. Students wishing to teach social studies for grades 7-12 should major in history while minoring in secondary education and should complete their certification through the Texas Tech University College of Education’s TechTeach program.

In order to fully understand the teacher certification process, students are strongly encouraged to consult with the undergraduate advisor in the College of Education to learn more about teacher certification programs in the State of Texas and the requirements related to those programs.

Graduate Program

For information on graduate programs offered by the Department of History, visit the Graduate Programs  section.

Undergraduate Program Offerings, Course Descriptions & Curricular Tables

(Click on program for curricular table.)

Programs

• History, B.A.

• History, Undergraduate Minor
• Military History, Undergraduate Minor

Courses

Courses are identified as follows: United States history = US; European history = E; African, Asian or Latin American history = AAL.

• HIST 1300 - Western Civilization I
• HIST 1301 - Western Civilization II
• HIST 2300 - History of the United States to 1877
• HIST 2301 - History of the United States since 1877
• HIST 2302 - Wealth and the Nation: The History of American Business
• HIST 2310 - History of Texas
• HIST 2322 - World History to 1500
• HIST 2323 - World History Since 1500
• HIST 3300 - The Historian’s Craft
• HIST 3301 - Ancient Civilization I
• HIST 3302 - Ancient Civilization II
• HIST 3303 - Introduction to Roman Law
• HIST 3305 - Creating the American Nation, 1785-1840
• HIST 3306 - African American History to 1877
• HIST 3307 - African American History from 1877 to Present
• HIST 3308 - United States Foreign Relations to 1913
• HIST 3309 - United States Foreign Relations Since 1913
• HIST 3310 - The Indian Wars, 1848-1898
• HIST 3311 - Social and Cultural History of the Southwest
• HIST 3312 - Presidential Politics from Kennedy to Reagan
• HIST 3313 - The Old South
• HIST 3314 - The South Since the Civil War
• HIST 3316 - Mexican American History of Texas
• HIST 3317 - The Frontier and American West
• HIST 3318 - The Plains Indians
• HIST 3320 - History of Film and American Society
• HIST 3321 - Twentieth Century American West
• HIST 3322 - Women in Early America
• HIST 3323 - Women in Modern America
• HIST 3325 - History of Mexican Americans in the United States
• HIST 3326 - History of Native Americans in the United States
• HIST 3327 - Earth, Wind, and Fire: Nature and History in America
• HIST 3328 - History of Religion in America
• HIST 3329 - Development of Modern Science
• HIST 3330 - The Vietnam War
• HIST 3331 - History of United States Military Affairs to 1900
• HIST 3332 - History of United States Military Affairs Since 1900
• HIST 3333 - United States in the Second World War
• HIST 3334 - Technology in Modern America
• HIST 3335 - Sport and the Black Experience
• HIST 3336 - History of Mass Incarceration
• HIST 3337 - Science in American Society
• HIST 3338 - History of Sports and Recreation in the U.S.
• HIST 3339 - The History of Baseball: A Mirror on America
• HIST 3340 - War and Memory
• HIST 3344 - History of Christianity
• HIST 3345 - The Birth of Europe
• HIST 3346 - The Age of Chivalry
• HIST 3347 - Colonial North America
• HIST 3348 - The Crusades
• HIST 3349 - LGBTQ History in the United States
• HIST 3350 - War, Religion, and Revolution: Early Modern Europe
• HIST 3351 - History of Spain
• HIST 3352 - History of Modern Italy
• HIST 3353 - History of Modern France
• HIST 3354 - Twentieth Century Europe
• HIST 3355 - Europe in Transformation, 1815-1914
• HIST 3357 - International Radical Movements
• HIST 3358 - Origins of Modern Germany, 1517-1871
• HIST 3359 - The Nazi Era, 1919-1945
• HIST 3360 - The British Isles to 1688
• HIST 3361 - British Politics, Society, and Culture Since 1688
• HIST 3362 - Forging a Nation: Germany, 1871-Present
• HIST 3366 - The First World War
• HIST 3367 - The Second World War
• HIST 3372 - Tsarist Russia
• HIST 3374 - History of Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia
• HIST 3377 - In Search of the Historical Jesus
• HIST 3381 - Colonial Latin America
• HIST 3382 - Modern Latin America
• HIST 3383 - Modern Mexico and Central America
• HIST 3384 - History of Brazil
• HIST 3389 - The British Empire, 1783 to Present
• HIST 3394 - Religion, Family, and the State in Asia
• HIST 3395 - Africa: Empires and Civilizations
• HIST 3396 - Africa: Revolution and Nationalism Since 1800
• HIST 3397 - Study Abroad in Africa and the Atlantic World
• HIST 3398 - The Modern Middle East, 1800 to the Present
• HIST 3399 - Readings in History
• HIST 4301 - The Atlantic World
• HIST 4302 - The Era of the American Revolution
• HIST 4303 - Slavery in America
• HIST 4304 - Civil War and Reconstruction, 1850-1877
• HIST 4305 - Rise of Modern America, 1877-1919
• HIST 4306 - Roaring Twenties, Depression, and War, 1920-1945
• HIST 4307 - The United States, 1945 to the Present
• HIST 4308 - United States Urban and Immigration History
• HIST 4309 - United States and the Cold War
• HIST 4310 - United States Foreign Relations Through Film
• HIST 4311 - The Nuclear Age
• HIST 4312 - The Rise of Modern American Conservatism
• HIST 4314 - The Golden Age of Piracy
• HIST 4315 - Slavery in the Atlantic World
• HIST 4317 - The American Culture of Curiosity, 1800-1860
• HIST 4320 - Monuments, Memory, and Commemoration
• HIST 4323 - Nature and Americans
• HIST 4324 - History of Capitalism
• HIST 4325 - Major Issues in U.S. Women’s History
• HIST 4326 - A History of Sexuality in the United States
• HIST 4328 - Bad Girls in Early America
• HIST 4329 - Race, Identity, and Citizenship in the United States