A total of 33 credit hours in history are required for the major, with at least 18 credit hours in courses at the 3000 level and above. Students must complete 18 hours of advanced coursework (3000 level and above) in the major in residence at SMU. Students must take at least six credit hours in American history, six credit hours in European history, and six credit hours in African, Asian, Latin American or Middle Eastern history.
All history majors must take HIST 4300 - Junior Seminar in Research and Writing , and HIST 4390 - Senior Seminar in Research and Writing . HIST 4300 counts as three hours of the 18 advanced hours required for the major, but it cannot be counted toward area distribution requirements for the major. HIST 4390 counts as three hours of the 18 advanced hours required for the major, and counts toward either the area distribution requirements or the electives for the major.
All advanced courses taken for the major must be passed with a grade of C- or better. History majors must earn 2.000 minimum GPAs in their history coursework and may not take history courses pass/fail.
Six credit hours of Advanced Placement (AP) credit can be applied toward the history major if the students received a four or higher on AP history exams in European history or American history.
For more information on the major, contact the director of undergraduate studies: HistoryDUS@smu.edu
SMU Degree Requirements
An SMU undergraduate degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours and must include completion of the University’s Common Curriculum , one major and a combination of electives and/or other majors or minors. Completion of certain majors requires more than 120 hours to finish the degree. The credit hours within this curriculum are distributed as follows: