Bachelor of Arts History (BA)

Robert Del Corso, Chief Departmental Advisor rdelcors@odu.edu

The Department of History offers a Bachelor of Arts degree that prepares students broadly for modern careers in business, government, and teaching, or for graduate study in history, law, library science, business, or education. The major requires 36 hours of course work. At least 12 hours of History at the 300 and 400 levels must be taken in courses offered by Old Dominion University.

Specialization options include Race, Gender, and Religion; War, Revolution, and Society; Mobilities and Migrations; History of Science and Technology; and Maritime History.

Requirements

Lower-Division General Education

Written Communication: Grade of C or better required in both courses and in ENGL 110C before declaring major.

Language and Culture: Proficiency through 202 level:  proficiency is not met by completion of an associate degree.

Lower-division information literacy and research general education requirement is satisfied in the major by HIST 201.

Only a HIST course fulfills the lower-division interpreting the past general education requirement.

Impact of Technology: HIST 304T, HIST 386T, HIST 388T, or HIST 389T

Upper-Division General Education 

• Option A. Approved Minor, 12-24 hours; also second degree or second major
• Option B. Interdisciplinary Minor, 12 hours specified by the department, 3 of which may be in the major area of study
• Option C. An approved certification program such as teaching licensure
• Option D. Two Upper-Division Courses from outside the College of Arts and Letters or from the Arts and Humanities Component within the College of Arts and Letters that are not required by the major (6 hours).

Requirements for Graduation

Requirements for graduation include the following:

• Minimum of 120 credit hours.
• Minimum of 30 credit hours overall and 12 credit hours of upper-level courses in the major program from Old Dominion University.
• Minimum overall cumulative grade point average of C (2.00) in all courses taken.
• Minimum overall cumulative grade point average of C (2.00) in all courses taken toward the major.
• Minimum overall cumulative grade point average of C (2.00) in all courses taken toward a minor.
• Completion of ENGL 110C, ENGL 211C or ENGL 231C, and the writing intensive (W) course in the major with a grade of C or better. The W course must be taken at Old Dominion University.
• Completion of Senior Assessment.

History Major

¹

Only a HIST course fulfills the lower-division interpreting the past general education requirement.

²

Fulfills the lower-division information literacy and research general education requirement.

³

Grade of C or better required.

⁴

At least one elective must be at the 400-level. If an optional specialization is selected, four of the eight electives must be chosen from a single specialization. Specialization options include Race, Gender, and Religion; War, Revolution, and Society; Mobilities and Migrations; History of Science and Technology; and Maritime History.

Elective Credit

Elective credit will be needed to meet the minimum requirement of 120 credit hours.

Additional Requirements and Information

Advanced Placement

Advanced placement credit is awarded to students who earn qualifying scores on AP and IB subject examinations.  See the equivalency charts on the Office of Undergraduate Admissions website at https://www.odu.edu/admission/undergraduate/credit.  Students may also earn advanced placement credit with a qualifying score on the CLEP exam. Consult the Testing Center for further information on advanced placement.

Degree Program Guide

The Degree Program Guide is a suggested curriculum to complete this degree program in four years.  It is just one of several plans that will work and is presented only as broad guidance to students. Each student is strongly encouraged to develop a customized plan in consultation with their academic advisor.  Additional information can also be found in Degree Works. 

Linked Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts–History

Students with exceptional academic skills can enter this program and count up to 12 credit hours of graduate history courses toward both an undergraduate and graduate degree.  Students in the linked program must earn a minimum of 150 credit hours (120 discrete credit hours for the undergraduate degree and 30 discrete credit hours for the graduate degree).

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to the program, students must be a declared major in history, have completed a minimum of 60 undergraduate credit hours, including at least nine hours in history courses at the 300-level or above, and have a GPA of 3.30 or better overall and in history.

Admission Procedures

Students who meet the admission requirements should consult with the graduate program director to discuss their eligibility and to plan graduate courses to be taken as an undergraduate. During their senior year, students must file an application to the program in history with the Office of Admissions. This application includes an Old Dominion University graduate application, a 500-word personal statement, at least two letters of recommendation, and a writing sample of 10+ pages using primary and secondary sources.  Graduate admission deadlines apply.

Once students have been awarded their BA degree and fulfilled all regular admission requirements for the MA in history, they will be officially admitted into the MA program.

Requirements for the Linked BA/MA Program

Students in the program will fulfill all regular admission and curricular requirements for both the BA and MA in history, with the following exceptions:

1. Upon completing 90 hours of undergraduate work and attaining senior status, admitted students may take up to 12 hours of graduate courses as an undergraduate, provided that those courses fulfill curricular requirements for both the BA and MA degrees in history.
2. Students will need to complete the following major requirements for the BA:

*

Only HIST courses fulfill history course requirements for the major and the Interpreting the Past requirement for the General Education requirement.  

**

Meets information literacy and research requirement.

***

A minimum of one class from three of the four fields listed, one of which must be 400-level

Up to 12 credits of graduate-level course work taken as an undergraduate during the senior year can substitute for 300- and 400-level requirements above and will be counted toward the BA degree in history. The following guidelines apply:

A. Any 500-level course that is cross listed with a 400-level course may be substituted for the 400-level course; however, the student cannot take a 500-level course which has already been taken at the 400 level. Only nine credits of 500-level course work will count toward the MA degree.

B. The following courses can be taken to fulfill the 300-400 level American elective requirement:

C. The following courses can be taken to fulfill the 300-400 level European elective requirement:

D. The following courses can be taken to fulfill the 300-400 level elective requirement in African, Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, or Russian history:

3. All graduate courses taken as an undergraduate that are completed with a grade of B (3.0) or better will also count toward the 30-credit MA degree in history.

Students should consult the Graduate Catalog for information and requirements for the MA in history.

BA or BS to MBA (Master of Business Administration) Linked Program

The linked BA/MBA or BS/MBA program is an early entry to the MBA program of study.  The early-entry program is designed for well qualified non-business undergraduate ODU students to start their MBA program prior to completing their undergraduate degree.  Well qualified non-business undergraduate students may take MBA-level courses as early as three semesters prior to graduation and count up to 12 graduate credits toward their undergraduate degree.  Students participating in the early-entry program must earn a minimum of 150 credit hours (120 discrete credit hours for the undergraduate degree and 30 discrete credit hours for the graduate degree).  Early-entry program students should carefully consider their undergraduate degree program requirements when planning their course of study.  Students in the early-entry program work in close consultation with the MBA Program Office and should refer to information in the Strome College of Business section in the graduate catalog to develop an individualized plan of study based on the required coursework.

BA or BS to MPA (Master of Public Administration) Linked Program

The linked BA/MPA or BS/MPA program provides qualified Old Dominion University undergraduate students with the opportunity to earn a master's degree in public administration while taking credits in the MPA program as an undergraduate student.  The program is designed for highly motivated students with the desire to immediately continue their education after the bachelor's degree.  The program is especially relevant to individuals seeking to work (or currently working) in the public or non-profit sectors, but is suitable for students from any undergraduate major.  Graduate courses may be taken during the fall and spring semester of the student's senior undergraduate year.  Up to 12 graduate credits can count toward both the undergraduate and graduate degree and can meet upper-level General Education requirements. After receiving the undergraduate degree, a student will continue with the MPA program, taking MPA courses until completing the required 39 credit hours. Students in the linked program must earn a minimum of 150 credit hours (120 discrete credit hours for the undergraduate degree and 30 discrete credit hours for the graduate degree).

Requirements for admission to the graduate program can be found in the School of Public Service section of the Graduate Catalog.  For additional information, please contact the School of Public Service in the Strome College of Business.