History & Soc. Studies Ed. Programs
Bachelor of Arts
Purpose
Characteristics
Career
Pathways
At its most basic History is the study of human behavior, which is why some
actually describe history as a behavioral science. But, crucially, History’s
insistence on studying human behaviors as diverse as everyday efforts to earn a
living and seemingly unknowable phenomena such as miracles gives those who
study it a deep understanding of the full range of human action. In line with the
American Historical Association we have the firm conviction that from the study of
History “we emerge with relevant skills and an enhanced capacity for informed
citizenship, critical thinking, and simple awareness... as well as some basic data about
the forces that affect our own lives.” To achieve this mindfulness History trains
practitioners to be skeptical and probing. No assumption, bit of data, or narrative goes
unquestioned, which produces a sense of the past that is dynamic and open to
revision. Yet History also trains us to understand the forces of change that lead to
each understanding of the past, anchoring practitioners in a dialogue with one another
and society demanding rigorous interpretation, use, and citation of evidence.
Distinctive Features of the Cameron University bachelor’s programs in History &
Social Studies Education:
-a faculty recognized for their dedication to teaching excellence and student
learning who teach at all levels of the curriculum.
-faculty teaching in their area of specialization or comparatively across a range of
fields including U.S., European, Mediterranean, Atlantic World, Native American,
African American, Latin American and Asian history as well as a diversity of
methods approaches including Oral History, Ethnography, Military History,
Network Studies, Political History, and Local History.
-a thorough foundational preparatory curriculum stage stressing year-long
survey courses in U.S., European, and World History.
-an available option for advanced majors to do internship projects in Public
History
-the possibility to pursue a teaching credential through the Social Studies
Education B.A. Program
-availability of a wide range of online courses
-a commitment to student participation through professional activities such as
the statewide History Conference put on annually by the Oklahoma Association of
Professional Historians/Phi Alpha Theta
-undergraduate internships
-tuition waiver scholarships
-seminars offering archivally-based research experiences
The History and Social Studies Education programs provide rigorous academic
training and prepare students to work in a wide variety of fields, developing the
ability to:
 frame, structure, and situate problems in a context
 identify and evaluate the relevance and reliability of information sources
 analyze a range of information across analog and digital media
 pursue the full complexity of the questions that arise as a project
develops
 arrive at and convey conclusions in a clear and thoughtful manner
Employers in many sectors of the economy find these proficiencies desirable. As a
consequence, you can find our graduates active in many endeavors. Some pursue
further education in graduate school in History and related fields with an eye
toward entering the university world. Others have chosen to take professional
degrees in the law or education. Graduates in Social Studies Education find their
way to classrooms in Southwest Oklahoma and beyond. Many of our graduates
have chosen to serve the public as members of the military, as employees of state
and federal agencies, by entering the world of archives, museums, and libraries, or
by playing a role in public policy or politics.
Beyond these typical tracks that our students follow, History majors also find
their place in the worlds of publishing working as editors and in filmmaking
where their knowledge of historical context is crucial in producing documentaries
and period representations. Still others work in the area of genealogy or as
corporate historians and archivists. History also provides excellent training for
students interested in fields where the ability to analyze, synthesize, and present
contextualized explanatory narratives is essential, such as in public and foreign
policy analysis, NGO advocacy, journalism, or business. And because of its
emphasis on gathering and organizing disparate sets of information, not
infrequently with the aid of database technologies, History provides excellent
grounding in fields such as database architecture and design.
Education Style
Both the History and Social Studies Education Programs at CU have curriculums
that provide a step-by-step path to a final degree while still affording majors the
chance to shape their program at the advanced levels of study, although the more
structured nature of the Social Studies Education track reduces these options:
 Level 1 (in a student’s freshman and sophomore years) is effectively a pre-major
program coordinated with the university’s General Education curriculum. History
& Social Studies Education majors complete an introductory-level core of courses
in U.S., European, and World history while fulfilling a defined set of General
Education requirements tied to information literacy, problem-solving, critical
thinking, communication, and understanding ethics, diversity, and aesthetics
that provide the necessary background for further work in History.
 Level 2 (in a student’s sophomore year and the first half of the junior year)
introduces students to historical research methods through the second-year
methods course and then provides them with their first opportunities to take a
structured selection of more advanced and rigorous historical study focused on
particular periods & societies (3000-level) or on defined themes (4000-level). In
addition to this, Social Studies Education majors begin to take courses in Political
Science, Geography, Economics, and Education.
 Level 3 (to commence as the student starts the final year-and-a-half) sees
students complete most of their advanced-level work in History electives. If
taking the Social Studies Education option, students also complete most
remaining electives and required courses in Education, Political Science,
Geography, and Economics, gaining the required breadth in those disciplines.
 Level 4 (in the final semester) provides seniors with the chance to pursue their
own original research project rooted in primary source materials. This capstone
course mirrors the second-year methods course, but in the senior seminar majors
should be demonstrating mastery of key skills. Social Studies Education majors
also complete their teaching internship in this or the previous term. Any
remaining electives in History or other disciplines are completed as this time as
well.
Faculty in the CU History Program employ a variety pedagogical strategies to
engage students in the learning process with a particular emphasis on active
learning strategies such as simulations, role-playing techniques, whole-class
discussions, etc. Faculty have also developed innovative techniques to teaching
analytical writing for survey and advanced-level courses that make writing a
fundamental part of the CU History Program curriculum. At the same time, faculty
have developed multiple teaching formats including core methods seminars at the
sophomore and capstone levels, research seminars that feature research
experiences for undergraduates, seminars focused on synthetic writing, and
public history opportunities. Many of these courses also promote comparative
and world history approaches that allows the CU History Program to offer an
interlocking curriculum.
The CU History Program develops students’ knowledge, abilities, and skills in
three core ways:
 Comprehending and Applying an Understanding of Historical Context:
Mastery Will Mean that Students Can:
 Identify the key events which express/define change over time in a broad range of
places and regions
-Identify how change occurs over time
-Explain historical continuity and change
-Describe the influence of political ideologies, economic structures, social
organization, cultural perceptions, and natural environments on events
-Discuss the ways in which factors such as race, gender, class, ethnicity,
region, and religion influence historical narratives
Program
Competencies &
Outcomes
 The Ability to Analyze Sources: Mastery Will Mean that Students Can:
 identify the author, type of source, and date & location of a source and use that
information to assess a document’s
-point of view
-reliability
-tone
 make accurate observations about the document’s content and identify its main
idea.
 connect the document to its historical context.
 make inferences as to a document’s audience and purpose and show how they
shape the document.
 Historical Research and Communication Skills: Mastery Will Mean that
Students Can:
 construct and defend a sustained and coherent argument based on both primary
and secondary sources, which involves the ability to:
-determine, locate, and uses the appropriate number of primary sources
-connect sources to the broader historical context of which they are a part
-demonstrates an understanding of the sources’ meaning(s) as they apply to the
subject of his or her project
-develop an argument that supports his or her thesis that 1. builds on his or her
understanding of the sources and their relationship to the historical context and 2.
takes a critical stance with respect to that evidence.
 identify, organize, and assess conflicting interpretations and views of past events
and issues within the historical profession, which involves the ability to
-determine, locate, and use the appropriate number of secondary sources
-identify the historical problem or question with which a group of historians are
engaging.
-compare and contrast the views of those historians with respect to that question
or historical problem.
- develop an argument that supports his or her position on the main trends in the
views of those historians as they relate to that question or problem
-situate their own argument within the consensus of the field
Frame and articulate a research question and thesis and organize the results of
research to support that thesis, which involves the ability to
-articulate a topic and a research question clearly in written form.
-generate a thesis that addresses the research question for their project.
-organize the findings of their research in a coherent structure within their essay.
-cite all of the sources that they use in keeping with the standards of the historical
profession.