Courses
The courses below are offered by the history department. Courses in other departments may also count toward the major or minor. For a full list of eligible courses, please see the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Catalog or YES (for enrolled students only).
List of LHS and EHIST-eligible courses for Spring 2025
LHS core courses, Spring ‘25
HIST-1379W: The Inquisition in the New World: Law, Deviance, and Heresy in Colonial Mexico
HIST-1580: Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Europe 1400-1800
HIST 1271W: War, Refugees, and Reconciliatory Justice in Africa
HIST 1345: The World of Rome
HIST-2240: Sex Law
HIST 2290: Europe since 1945
HIST 2660: The Birth of Modern Capitalism and Human Trafficking
And while it is not evident from the course title, HIST 3000W-04:”The History Workshop – Ancient Rome” has a legal focus
(be advised, HIST 3000w’s do not count toward core, but are a required part of the major)
ECON-HIST core courses, Spring ‘25
HIST-2138: Blood Diamonds, Blood Oil, Commodities, and Conflicts in Africa
HIST-2255: Inventing the Modern Economy: Eighteenth-Century Europe
HIST 2660: The Birth of Modern Capitalism and Human Trafficking
HIST 4960 (04): Majors Seminar – Economic History in Global Perspective (can be used to satisfy core if needed)
Courses Required for the Major
HIST 3000W (The History Workshop): Introduction to the “historian’s craft.” Reconstructing the past using primary documents such as diaries, letters, memoirs, and declassified government papers. Methods of historical research and reasoning through individual projects. Offered on a graded basis only. [3] (SBS).
HIST 4960 (Majors Seminar): Advanced reading, research, and writing. Topics vary. Offered on a graded basis only. Limited to juniors and seniors and intended primarily for history majors. Prerequisite: 3000W. May be repeated for credit once if there is no duplication in the topic. Students may enroll in more than one section of this course each semester. [3; maximum of 6 credits total for all semesters of HIST 4960] (No AXLE credit).
Elective Courses
For a full list of history courses, please visit the Undergraduate Course Catalog.
Honors Courses
HIST 3980. (Junior Honors Seminar in History): The first semester of a three-semester sequence of honors study leading to the writing of an honors thesis in history. Introduction to historical thinking, research, and writing. Readings from the major fields of historical scholarship, representing the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Open to juniors beginning honors work in history, or to qualified history majors with the approval of the director of undergraduate studies. [3] (No AXLE credit)
HIST 4980. (Senior Honors Research Seminar): Presentation and discussion of drafts and chapters of honors theses in progress. Offered on a graded basis only. Open only to senior departmental honors students. [3] (No AXLE credit)
HIST 4981 (Senior Honors Research Seminar): Continuation of 4980.Offered on a graded basis only. Open only to seniors in the departmental honors program. Prerequisite: 4980. Corequisite: 4999. [3] (No AXLE credit).
HIST 4999 (Seniors Honors Thesis): Writing an honors thesis under the supervision of a thesis adviser and the Director of Honors. Open only to seniors in the departmental honors program. Offered on a graded basis only. Prerequisite: 4980. Corequisite: 4981. [3] (No AXLE credit).