History
Why pursue a history degree at North Central College?
Historians are the masters of the past, devoting their careers to studying notable events such as conflicts, political milestones and social movements. Historians also provide context to present and future events, often working in consulting roles at various government, public, private or nonprofit organizations. At North Central College you will study history from around the world. A successful graduate from this program might go on to be a history professor, museum archivist or curator, historical advisor or attend graduate school. In this program, you’ll gain solid writing and analytical skills that every successful career requires.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN
- Providing historical insight or advice around current events
- Collecting and evaluating information from primary sources to answer questions around history
- Analyzing written records, physical artifacts and other evidence to present findings and create value for modern society
then a degree in HISTORY might be right for you.
Why study history at North Central College?
In the Classroom
- American Cities and Suburbs
- American Environmental History
- Asia’s Rapid Industrialization
- Early Modern Europe
- European Intellectual History
- Historical Methods
- Immigration and U.S Ethnic Identity
- Japanese History
- Nineteenth Century Europe: Sex and Mass Hysteria
- Public History and Local History
- Science, Religion and Magic in Early Modern Europe
- Twentieth Century Europe: Hitler Versus Stalin
- U.S. and Illinois to 1865
- U.S. and Illinois from 1865–1945
- U.S. and Illinois since 1945
- U.S. Social Movements
- U.S. Women’s History
- World Wars of the 20th Century
Beyond the Classroom
As a history major, you can:
- Apply for internships and jobs through robust faculty and alumni networks or the Center for Career and Professional Development.
- Prepare for careers in public history and museums by working with the College’s own full-time archivist and with exhibit curators and history professionals at nearby organizations like Naper Settlement, the Chicago History Museum, Cantigny’s First Division Museum, the Newberry Library and the Field Museum.
- Collaborate and research with renowned faculty like Dr. C. Frederick Toenniges, Professor of History Ann Keating, a renowned expert on Chicago-area history and the editor of several authoritative historical references.
- Join the History Association, which establishes an atmosphere for students interested in history to gain exposure in their field.
Related Information
If you are interested in History, you may also want to learn more about our Social Science/History major and History department.
History, B.A.
The History major provides an excellent liberal arts education that prepares students for a wide variety of careers. Some History majors want to work as historians, and they go on to graduate study in History or pursue public history careers in museums, libraries, and archives. Others use their in-depth training in research, writing and critical thinking to pursue careers in business, law, government or media. History Majors gain a deeper understanding of U.S. history and World history, choosing from courses examining a wide variety of regions, historical periods and themes. They take a methods class providing training in historical research and then do original research projects in upper-level seminars and in the senior capstone seminar.
For additional programs and courses in this department, see History.
At least 36 credit hours in history to include:
Methodology
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HIST 200 - Historical Methods
HIST 200 - Historical Methods
4.00 credit hours
This methods course introduces students to how historians think about the past and do history. Students will learn the basics of historical research, the process of writing history, and the historical profession. Upon completion of the course, students are prepared to complete research in 300-level history seminars and the
U.S. History Courses (200-level or above)
Two of the following:
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HIST 222 - U.S. and Illinois to 1865
HIST 222 - U.S. and Illinois to 1865
4.00 credit hours
An examination of the development of American society from the colonial era to the end of the Civil War. Attention to the political, social, cultural and intellectual life during the colonial period, the revolutionary era, the Early Republic and the Civil War. Special attention is given to linking the broader current of American history to Illinois.
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HIST 224 - U.S. and Illinois from 1865–1945
HIST 224 - U.S. and Illinois from 1865–1945
4.00 credit hours
An examination of the major political, social and economic developments in the United States from the end of the Civil War to the end of World War II in order to understand the creation of modern America. During this critical period, the United States was transformed from a rural nation of farmers into a nation of urban-industrial workers. In the late nineteenth century, America had little involvement in foreign affairs, but by 1945, it was the world's most powerful nation. Special attention is given to linking the broader current of American history to Illinois.
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HIST 226 - U.S. and Illinois since 1945
HIST 226 - U.S. and Illinois since 1945
4.00 credit hours
An examination of major political, social and economic developments in the United States since the end of World War II to understand today's America. Early topics include the Cold War and American prosperity, Civil Rights movements by African Americans and others, and the Vietnam War. Later topics include the collapse of the New Deal coalition, conservative responses to social upheaval, the shift from an industrial economy to a service economy and America's role in the world since the Cold War's end. Special attention is given to linking the broader current of American history to Illinois.
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HIST 242 - U.S. Women's History
HIST 242 - U.S. Women's History
4.00 credit hours
An examination of American women's history from colonial times to the present. Exploration of women's legal and political status, educational and occupational opportunities, family relations and health with special attention on how and why lives and experiences of women have changed over time. Analysis of the history that women share as a group as well as differences among specific groups of women.
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HIST 248 - American Environmental History
HIST 248 - American Environmental History
4.00 credit hours
This broad exploration of American history from an environmental perspective examines the ways that different groups of Americans adapted to and altered the landscape, and analyzes their changing ideas about nature. The course begins in the colonial era and examines nineteenth-century economic growth and twentieth-century environmental awareness. Key themes include the new perspective of environmental history, the role of region in America, and reading the landscape.
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HIST 310 - Immigration and U.S. Ethnic Identity
HIST 310 - Immigration and U.S. Ethnic Identity
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar examines U.S. immigration history from colonial times to the present. Exploration of the world conditions that led to the major waves of American immigration. Comparison of immigrant experiences to those of African Americans and Native Americans opens to wider focus on the concept of ethnic identity in U.S. history. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
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HIST 315 - Public History and Local History
HIST 315 - Public History and Local History
4.00 credit hours
Seminar examines the field of public history with a focus on local history. Local field trips with behind-the-scenes tours of museums, archives, and area historical sites will offer insight into public history careers. Will study Illinois communities outside Chicago over the course of their history, examining how local communities are part of the wider sweep of regional and national patterns, and also analyzing how they present their histories to the public. Each student designs, researches, and writes a historical essay on a local history topic using primary sources.
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HIST 320 - U.S. Social Movements
HIST 320 - U.S. Social Movements
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar examines the major social movements in the modern United States. Emphasis on the African American civil rights movement, the women's movement, and the labor movement. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
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HIST 325 - American Cities and Suburbs
HIST 325 - American Cities and Suburbs
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar explores the development of American cities and suburbs, focusing on the forces that have stimulated their growth and transformation. Topics include the influence of immigrants and migrants, technological and industrial revolutions, population mobility and suburbanization, private and public responses to change, race and ethnic issues as well as class and gender matters. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
Non-U.S. History Courses (200-level or above)
Two of the following:
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HIST 230 - East Asian Thought
HIST 230 - East Asian Thought
4.00 credit hours
This course examines the evolution of the East Asian intellectual tradition with a particular focus on the development of sociopolitical ideals during two periods of fundamental transformation: the establishment of "Imperial China" in 221 BCE and East Asia's encounter with the West in the nineteenth century. Each focal point will be explored through a role-playing game in which students take on the roles of historical figures and debate the issues that shaped East Asian civilization.
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HIST 255 - Greek and Roman History and Historians
HIST 255 - Greek and Roman History and Historians
4.00 credit hours
Survey of major developments in Greek and Roman history from roughly 800 BCE-400 CE. In addition to understanding how societies in ancient Greece and Rome built, defended and lost their empires, the course also studies the social, cultural and environmental experiences of these complex civilizations. Students will read modern historical interpretations as well as translated ancient historical sources of the period.
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HIST 256 - Renaissance and Reformation Europe
HIST 256 - Renaissance and Reformation Europe
4.00 credit hours
This course begins with the revival of Western civilization in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in the aftermath of the Black Death, focusing particularly on Italy and Germany. Topics include but are not limited to the invention of the secular state and the cultural accomplishments of the Renaissance, the ramifications of humanism, the rise of religious dissent and the ensuing Protestant Reformation.
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HIST 258 - Early Modern Europe
HIST 258 - Early Modern Europe
4.00 credit hours
An examination of the cultural and social changes in the aftermath of the Reformation up to and including the advent of modernity with the French Revolution (ca. 1550-1792). Particular attention is paid to the tensions of a religiously divided West (which laid the ground for the witch craze) in the regions that experienced the greatest growth, expansion and influence during the period: the Netherlands, England and France.
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HIST 260 - Chinese History
HIST 260 - Chinese History
4.00 credit hours
An examination of China's transformation from the "traditional" society of the dynastic period (c. 2000 BCE to 1911) into the "modern" nation that has emerged in the twenty-first century.
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HIST 265 - Japanese History
HIST 265 - Japanese History
4.00 credit hours
An examination of the political and cultural evolution of Japanese civilization from prehistory to the present. Topics explored include the emergence of Japanese traditions within an East Asian context, the rise of samurai power, and Japan's development as a modern industrial power.
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HIST 267 - Twentieth-Century East Asia: Industry, Empire and War
HIST 267 - Twentieth-Century East Asia: Industry, Empire and War
4.00 credit hours
This course explores how the forces of industry, empire and war have shaped modern East Asia, and how Cold War politics realigned diplomatic, economic and cultural relations in late 20th century Japan, Korea and China.
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HIST 270 - India, Empire and Violence
HIST 270 - India, Empire and Violence
4.00 credit hours
An examination of the history of India from 1750 to the present. Topics include British rule in India, the nationalist movement, issues of race and gender and India-Pakistan since independence.
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HIST 280 - Nineteenth-Century Europe: Sex and Mass Hysteria
HIST 280 - Nineteenth-Century Europe: Sex and Mass Hysteria
4.00 credit hours
An examination of Europe from the French Revolution to the First World War, with special attention to issues of gender and sexuality. Major topics include the relationship between French terror and patriarchy, psycho-social consequences of the industrial revolution, Victorian socio-cultural norms, British imperial ideologies and the impact of the First World War on gender roles.
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HIST 285 - Twentieth-Century Europe: Hitler Versus Stalin
HIST 285 - Twentieth-Century Europe: Hitler Versus Stalin
4.00 credit hours
An examination of Europe since 1918 with special emphasis on the rise and fall of Hitler's and Stalin's regimes. This course suggests that Europe's interaction with the world in the twentieth history was defined by the experience and consequences of the Second World War. Major topics include the Holocaust, Decolonization, and the Cold War.
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HIST 345 - European Intellectual History: History of the Book
HIST 345 - European Intellectual History: History of the Book
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar focuses on the influence of reading and the book beginning with the invention of the printing press (ca. 1450) to the eighteenth century. The course focuses particularly on the significance of literacy, the printing industry, and the political stakes, responsibilities and risks inherent in the transmission and dissemination of knowledge. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
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HIST 350 - Science, Religion and Magic in Early Modern Europe
HIST 350 - Science, Religion and Magic in Early Modern Europe
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar focuses on the confluence of three seemingly distinct traditions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when their confluence transformed Western civilization. The rise of science occurred at the same moment when Christendom splintered into permanent, bitter divisions. At the same time, occult beliefs (e.g. magic, alchemy and astrology) flourished. The witch craze and the threat of heresy were the price of dissent and defying authorities of church and state. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
-
HIST 370 - Asia's Rapid Industrialization
HIST 370 - Asia's Rapid Industrialization
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar examines the phenomenon of rapid industrialization as it has been experienced by East Asian societies, with a special focus on Japan, Korea and China. The course considers the roots and consequences of Japan's modern economic growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the ways in which both Korea and China have more recently emerged as important global economic powers in their own right. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
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HIST 380 - Holocaust Seminar
HIST 380 - Holocaust Seminar
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar analyzes historiographical debates surrounding genocide during and after the Second World War. Major topics include the experience of Jews and other marginalized groups in Nazi-occupied Europe, as well as genocide in Europe's empires and post-colonial societies throughout the "long" 20th century. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
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HIST 385 - World Wars of the 20th Century
HIST 385 - World Wars of the 20th Century
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar analyzes historiographical debates over the causes of both World War I and World War II, and the consequences of mass destruction since 1945. Major topics include how each war was experienced globally through European imperialism, genocide, Nazi-occupied Europe and the Cold War. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
Advanced History Seminars
Two of the following:
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HIST 310 - Immigration and U.S. Ethnic Identity
HIST 310 - Immigration and U.S. Ethnic Identity
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar examines U.S. immigration history from colonial times to the present. Exploration of the world conditions that led to the major waves of American immigration. Comparison of immigrant experiences to those of African Americans and Native Americans opens to wider focus on the concept of ethnic identity in U.S. history. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
-
HIST 315 - Public History and Local History
HIST 315 - Public History and Local History
4.00 credit hours
Seminar examines the field of public history with a focus on local history. Local field trips with behind-the-scenes tours of museums, archives, and area historical sites will offer insight into public history careers. Will study Illinois communities outside Chicago over the course of their history, examining how local communities are part of the wider sweep of regional and national patterns, and also analyzing how they present their histories to the public. Each student designs, researches, and writes a historical essay on a local history topic using primary sources.
-
HIST 320 - U.S. Social Movements
HIST 320 - U.S. Social Movements
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar examines the major social movements in the modern United States. Emphasis on the African American civil rights movement, the women's movement, and the labor movement. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
-
HIST 325 - American Cities and Suburbs
HIST 325 - American Cities and Suburbs
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar explores the development of American cities and suburbs, focusing on the forces that have stimulated their growth and transformation. Topics include the influence of immigrants and migrants, technological and industrial revolutions, population mobility and suburbanization, private and public responses to change, race and ethnic issues as well as class and gender matters. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
-
HIST 345 - European Intellectual History: History of the Book
HIST 345 - European Intellectual History: History of the Book
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar focuses on the influence of reading and the book beginning with the invention of the printing press (ca. 1450) to the eighteenth century. The course focuses particularly on the significance of literacy, the printing industry, and the political stakes, responsibilities and risks inherent in the transmission and dissemination of knowledge. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
-
HIST 350 - Science, Religion and Magic in Early Modern Europe
HIST 350 - Science, Religion and Magic in Early Modern Europe
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar focuses on the confluence of three seemingly distinct traditions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when their confluence transformed Western civilization. The rise of science occurred at the same moment when Christendom splintered into permanent, bitter divisions. At the same time, occult beliefs (e.g. magic, alchemy and astrology) flourished. The witch craze and the threat of heresy were the price of dissent and defying authorities of church and state. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
-
HIST 370 - Asia's Rapid Industrialization
HIST 370 - Asia's Rapid Industrialization
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar examines the phenomenon of rapid industrialization as it has been experienced by East Asian societies, with a special focus on Japan, Korea and China. The course considers the roots and consequences of Japan's modern economic growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the ways in which both Korea and China have more recently emerged as important global economic powers in their own right. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
-
HIST 380 - Holocaust Seminar
HIST 380 - Holocaust Seminar
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar analyzes historiographical debates surrounding genocide during and after the Second World War. Major topics include the experience of Jews and other marginalized groups in Nazi-occupied Europe, as well as genocide in Europe's empires and post-colonial societies throughout the "long" 20th century. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
-
HIST 385 - World Wars of the 20th Century
HIST 385 - World Wars of the 20th Century
4.00 credit hours
This research seminar analyzes historiographical debates over the causes of both World War I and World War II, and the consequences of mass destruction since 1945. Major topics include how each war was experienced globally through European imperialism, genocide, Nazi-occupied Europe and the Cold War. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay related to major course themes.
Note:
Courses taken for the U.S. & Non-U.S. requirements may apply to the Advanced Seminar requirement.
Capstone
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HIST 470 - Capstone Seminar
HIST 470 - Capstone Seminar
4.00 credit hours
This capstone research seminar provides advanced investigation of the ways in which historians have approached their materials and craft. Each student designs, researches and writes a historical essay to answer a research question developed in consultation with a member of the History faculty.
Students must demonstrate elementary competence in a foreign language. For more information, see the
History Minor
The History Minor is an excellent choice for students seeking a program of study that provides additional training in research, writing and critical thinking. History Minors gain a deeper understanding of U.S. history and World history, choosing from courses examining a wide variety of regions, historical periods and themes. They also take a methods class providing training in historical research and they do original research in an upper-level seminar. A Minor in History will build enhanced skills that pair well with a wide variety of pre-professional majors and liberal arts majors.
For additional programs and courses in this department, see History.
A minimum of 20 credit hours in History, including:
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HIST 200 - Historical Methods
HIST 200 - Historical Methods
4.00 credit hours
This methods course introduces students to how historians think about the past and do history. Students will learn the basics of historical research, the process of writing history, and the historical profession. Upon completion of the course, students are prepared to complete research in 300-level history seminars and the
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One U.S. History course at the 200-level or above
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One Non-U.S. History courses at the 200-level or above
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One 300-level History seminar
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One additional History elective
History Internships and Jobs
A North Central education integrates career preparation with rich academic study. Our faculty encourages you to refine and apply your knowledge in an interconnected world. Here you'll learn to think independently and work globally to solve problems and lead.
Internships
- Accession intern, The Field Museum, Chicago
- Curatorial intern, Chicago History Museum
- Curatorial intern, Naper Settlement, Naperville
- Education intern, Museum at Cantigny, Wheaton, IL
Graduate Schools
- American University, Washington, DC
- Arizona State University
- Iowa State University
- Loyola University
- Marquette University
- Miami University, Ohio
- Trinity College, Ireland
- University of Leicester, England
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Careers
- Museum curators and educators
- History teachers and professors
- Lawyers
- Writers, journalists, and bloggers
- Archivists and librarians
- Government and nonprofit
- Business and private sector
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