Program Description

The goal of the history major at Purchase College is to provide students with the intellectual foundation of a liberal arts education that is suitable for a wide variety of professions, including law, teaching, government, business, and publishing. The history curriculum seeks to foster the development of a historical perspective on the forces and processes that have shaped and continue to shape our communities, our country, and the world at large.

In keeping with the cultural resources of our area and the special profile of Purchase, the history program has generally, though not exclusively, emphasized the social, intellectual, and cultural dimensions of the historical discipline. Students may define their area of interest within the major in terms of nine broadly conceived areas: American history, ancient and medieval history, Asian studies, early modern history, European history, Jewish history, Latin American history, modern history, and women’s history. When appropriate, students may also pursue topics of special interest through tutorials and directed independent studies, which may be arranged with individual instructors. Coursework in the history program includes intensive writing and an emphasis on primary source material, which can range from government documents to diaries, novels, and films.

Program Faculty

Requirements for the Major

A total of seven history courses, plus the junior seminar and the 8-credit senior project:

• Seven history courses as follows:
  – Four or five history courses in an area of interest, including three at the upper level
  – Two or three history courses outside the area of interest, including one at the upper level
• Junior History Seminar
• Senior Project in History

Representative Courses

Colonial Latin America
Colonial and Revolutionary America
Contemporary Europe
Cross-Cultural Interactions: U.S. and East Asia
Emergence of the Modern U.S.: 1877–1945
Global Modernity: Empire and Its Aftermaths
History of Popular Culture in the U.S.
Ideas and Society in the Age of Enlightenment
Introduction to Asian Studies
Introduction to Latin American Studies
Jewish Culture and Civilization
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Living in Early America
Modern East Asia
Modern Latin America
Nation and Revolution in Latin America
Politics and Literature in Modern China
Princes, Priests, and Peasants
Renaissance and Reformation Europe
Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in the U.S.
Religion and Politics in Europe
Slavery and Social Status in the Atlantic World
The Ancient Middle East
The Arab-Israeli Conflict
The 18th-Century Revolutions
Traditional China
20th-Century Europe
Vietnam and Modern America
Women in America

Representative Alumni

• Joshua Abeles ’91, director of e-discovery, ZyLAB
• Kathy Chapman ’85, chief operating officer, The MGP Group, Stamford, Conn.
• Lori Clune ’85, PhD, University of California, Davis; assistant professor of history, California State University, Fresno
• Siobhan Cole ’05, JD, University of Pennsylvania; associate in the commercial litigation department at Cole, White, and Williams LLP, Philadelphia, Penn.
• Christa DeFaber ’09, digital services librarian, College of Westchester, White Plains, N.Y.
• Felicia Halpert ’80, media director, Pearson Education
• Theresa Hanson ’00, MLIS, Long Island University; paralegal/office manager, The Baker Companies
• Michael Nagy ’98, bond trader, Deutsche Bank
• Michael Powell ’78, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist; currently the Gotham columnist for The New York Times; former New York bureau chief, The Washington Post
• Ray Sapirstein ’86, PhD, University of Texas, Austin; author and historian
• Constantin Sokoloff ’81, independent counsel for the United Nations and European Union institutions

For more information, please visit the history program site.

Updated April 9, 2013

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