Course Substitutions

History majors must take a minimum of six regularly scheduled history courses, including the comprehensive exit and disciplinary communication (DC) requirements, from members of the UCSC History Department faculty. Intensive history majors must complete a minimum of eight. Subject to the limits and restrictions indicated, courses from the categories listed below may be petitioned to satisfy history major requirements:

• Transfer Courses (limit of 3)
• Education Abroad Program (limit of 3)
• Interdisciplinary Coursework (limit of 1)
• Independent and Field Studies (limit of 1)
• UCDC (limit of 2)

History minors may substitute a maximum of three courses from the categories listed below, in any combination of their choosing:

• Transfer Courses (limit of 3)
• Education Abroad Program (limit of 3)
• Interdisciplinary Coursework (limit of 2)
• Independent and Field Studies (limit of 2)
• UCDC (limit of 2)

At least five of the history minor requirements must be satisfied by regular UCSC History Department courses

Interdisciplinary Coursework

The History Department encourages its students to take upper-division courses in disciplines related to history, including sociology, literature, history of art and visual culture, politics, Latin American and Latino studies, and others. At least 50% of the readings and written work in these courses must be historical in nature.

History majors may petition to apply a maximum of one upper division interdisciplinary course to their elective requirement. Interdisciplinary courses may not satisfy chronological distribution requirements.

History minors may petition to apply a maximum of two upper-division courses.

Applying Interdisciplinary Courses

Submit a Petition for Interdisciplinary Coursework appropriate for your region of concentration or plan of study:

• Americas and Africa
• Asia and the Pacific
• Europe and the Mediterranean World
• History Minor

You are required to upload the course's syllabus when completing your petition. You will also be asked to provide a brief explaination about how the course contributes to your understanding of history.

You will be notified about the outcome of your petition via your UCSC email address within 2-3 weeks.

Pre-Approved Interdisciplinary Courses

The following interdisciplinary courses have been pre-approved by the History Department. You do not need to submit a Petition for Interdisciplinary Coursework; these course may automatically satisfy history major or minor upper-division elective requirements. Reminder: these courses may or may not be used to satisfy the requirements of a second major or a minor; consult with the history undergraduate program coordinator.

• ECON 125, Economic History of the U.S.
• ECON 126, Why Economies Succeed or Fail: Lessons from Western and Japanese History
• ECON 149, The Economies of East and Southeast Asia
• HAVC 127A, Buddhist Visual Worlds
• HAVC 137A, Northern Renaissance Art
• HAVC 151, Greek Myths Antiquity to the Present
• HAVC 155, Constructing Cleopatra: Power, Sexuality, and Femininity Across the Ages
• HAVC 157B, Italian Renaissance: Art and Architecture
  _{(Formerly offered as HAVC 137B)}
• HAVC 160A, Indigenous American Visual Culture Before 1550: Mexico
• HAVC 162A, Advanced Studies in Early Indigenous American Visual Culture: The Ancient Maya
• HAVC 170, Art of the Body in Oceania
• LIT 118A, Hebrew Bible
• LIT 130B, Travel Writing and Intercultural Relations in the Middle Ages
• LIT 133D, Topics in the Literatures and Cultures of Southern Asia: Sikhism and Indian Civilization (Spring 2022)
• LIT 141A, Early Mediterranean Cultures
• LIT 141D, Arab-Islamic Literatures I: 500-1200
• LIT 141E, Arab-Islamic Literatures II: 1200-1900
• LIT 141G, Granada: The Moor's Last Sigh and the Muslims Frontier: The City in the Mediterranean Imagination (Forthcoming course offered via UCSC Global Seminar: Muslim Granada and Its Legacy)
• LIT 149C, The 1960s
• LIT 168A, The Culture of Islamic Law
• LIT 168B, Islamic Law and Society
• PHIL 100A, Ancient Greek Philosophy
• POLI/LGST 105A, Ancient Political Thought
• POLI/LGST 105B, Early Modern Political Thought
• POLI/LGST 120A, Congress, President, and the Court in American Politics
• POLI 140D, Politics of East Asia
• POLI 141, Politics of China
• SOCY 105A, Classical Social Theory

Pre-approved interdisciplinary courses may have enrollments restrictions and/or prerequisites. Consult the UCSC General Catalog for detailed enrollment information about these courses.

Independent and Field Studies

History majors who entered the university prior to Fall 2015 may apply a maximum of two independent or field study courses to their upper-division elective requirements. History majors who entered the university starting Fall 2015 may petition to apply a maximum of one independent or field study course to their upper-division elective requirement. Independent or field study courses may not satisfy chronological distribution requirements.

History minors may petition to apply a maximum of two independent or field study courses.

Applying Independent and Field Studies

1. Download a UCSC Petition for Undergraduate Individual Studies Course (pdf). It is best to initiate this process during the quarter before the one in which you plan to do the study.

2. Outline your proposed course of study and obtain the approval of an instructor who is willing to supervise your study; students are expected to initiate discussions with and dindependently acquire faculty sponsors. The instructor also approves the number of credits (either 2 or 5) to be awarded upon completion of the individual study.

3. Submit the petition to the history undergraduate program coordinator during drop-in advising hours.

4. The history undergraduate program coordinator will review your petition and will issue you a class number. Use this class number when you enroll via the Student Portal. Make sure to enroll with the grade option approved on the petition.