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:
Grade Requirement
Only courses passed with the equivalent of a letter grade of C or better may be applied to history major or minor 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 who entered the university prior to Fall 2015 may petition to apply a maximum of two interdisciplinary courses to their upper-division elective requirements. History majors who entered the university starting Fall 2015 may petition to apply a maximum of one interdisciplinary course to their upper-division elective requirement. Interdisciplinary courses may not satisfy chronological distribution requirements. History minors may petition to apply a maximum of two upper-division courses.
Applying Courses to Multiple Majors/Minors
Upper-division courses applied to a second major/minor may or may not also be applied to the history major requirements. Read the UC Santa Cruz Academic Senate "Double Counting" policy and consult with the history undergraduate program coordinator if you'd like to share upper-division courses between multiple majors or minors.
Applying Interdisciplinary Courses
1. Submit a Petition for Interdisciplinary Coursework and a copy of the course syllabus to a faculty member from your region of concentration if you are a history major, or to History Undergraduate Director, Professor Catherine Jones, if you are a history minor. You may meet with the faculty member/director during their posted office hours or make an appointment. Be prepared to justify why the course should satisfy a major or minor requirement. The faculty member/director may ask for samples of your written work from the course.
2. After your meeting, file your approved Petition for Interdisciplinary Coursework with the history undergraduate program coordinator in the History Department office.
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.
CRES 112, Chicana/o History and Memory
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 137B, Italian Renaissance: Art and Architecture
HAVC 160A, Pre-Hispanic Visual Culture: Mexico
HAVC 162A, The Maya
LTPR 144B, Hebrew Bible
LTWL 123, The 1960s
LTWL 132, Global Cities: Shanghai Studies (Spring 2013 Only)
PHIL 100A, Ancient Greek Philosophy
POLI/LGST 105A, Ancient Political Thought
POLI/LGST 105B, Early Modern Political Thought
POLI 109, Orientalism
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.
