Frequently Asked Questions

No.

The History 94, 96W, and 97 are the lower-division courses that will introduce students to historical thinking and practice. The History 187 is a historiography seminar involving close reading and critical discussion of secondary scholarship and primary sources on selected topics. The History 191 is a senior capstone seminar (restricted to History majors with junior and senior standing) organized on topics basis with reading, discussion, and development of culminating project. Enrollment is limited to encourage discussion and participation, which is usually a significant part of the class requirements. Note that History 191’s only open up for enrollment at second pass.

After you have taken at least two lower division courses and the History 94, 96W OR 97, and the courses have been completed and the grades posted, you may email the History Counselors at undergrad@history.ucla.edu to declare the major.

To declare a double-major, you must ensure that you have completed ALL the pre-major requirements in BOTH majors and 2 upper-division courses in BOTH majors. You will need to obtain several petition forms from your general academic counseling unit and have them signed by a counselor in both of your majors.

The steps for petitioning a double major are fully explained at https://cac.ucla.edu/academic-planning/declaring-a-double-major-minor-or-specialization/.

Send completed double-major petition forms to undergrad@history.ucla.edu to have them signed electronically.

If you have been approved to enter the major/minor, it will be contingent upon graduating on time or having obtained approval from the College to exceed Time to Degree. Please note that if you are unable to graduate within the approved time, you may make yourself ineligible for a UCLA degree. You should consult with an academic advisor in the College if your academic program changes or you encounter challenges that prevent you from finishing on time. If adding a minor, you should be sure to prioritize your major to ensure that you are able to graduate.

The History major lower division requirements changed in Winter 2019. Students can now take two lower division courses in any area. Choose two courses from: History 1A, 1B, 1C, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, M4, 5, 8A, 8B, 8C, 9A, 9C, 9D, 9E, M10A, 10B, 11A, 11B, 12A, 12B, 12C, 13A, 13B, 13C, 14, 20, 21, or 22.

There may be several reasons why you are unable to enroll. 191’s are restricted to history majors with junior or senior standing, so if you are not a declared history major, or if you are a freshman or sophomore, you can only enroll with a PTE number from the instructor. Also, the 191’s do not open for enrollment until second pass, and students cannot enroll during priority or first pass. Make sure to check the Schedule of Classes for enrollment details.

You can take up to two 191 seminars for the history major. The second 191 course may be used towards the distribution requirement (e.g., US, European, or non-western) if the content of the course is appropriate. Ask a departmental counselor about the possibility of petitioning for a second 191 to count for a geographical distribution requirement.

No. The 191 counts as one of the ten upper division courses.

199s are independent studies courses in which you work directly with a professor on a course of study agreed upon by both of you. Once these elements are confirmed, you begin the process through MyUCLA -> Classes Tab -> Contract Courses. Once the contract course is completed online, it must be saved as a PDF and be emailed to your faculty advisor to review and sign electronically. An email from the faculty advisor is sufficient for an electronic signature. It then must be emailed to undergrad@history.ucla.edu for review and Chair’s signature no later than Friday of Week 1 by 5pm.

History 199’s are always 4 units. You can only take two and have them count for the major. Also, UCLA allows you to take a total of eight graded 199’s; after that all 199’s must be taken on a P/NP basis.

The 195 internship course is managed by the Public History Initiative. HistoryCorps offers a unique internship opportunity for upper division UCLA History majors, connecting them with museums, archives, and community organizations hoping to launch, support and/or enhance their own historical research or preservation projects. For more information, please visit their website: https://phi.history.ucla.edu/whatwedo/historycorps/

No. You do not get credit towards the History major, but you could get credit towards degree requirements. Only students that entered as freshmen prior to Fall 2002 or as transfer students prior to Fall 2004 may receive credit depending on which exams were taken and what scores were received. A score of 3, 4 or 5 on the European History AP exam will receive 4 units for History 1C and 4 units of unassigned history (not applicable towards the major). A score of 3 on the US History AP exam will receive 8 units of unassigned history credit (not applicable towards the major); a score of 4 or 5 on the US History AP exam will receive a total 9 units of credit for History 13A, 13B, and 13C. A score of 3, 4 or 5 on the World History AP exam will receive 8 units of unassigned history (not applicable towards the major). A student with full credit for both the European and US history AP exams would thus have much of the prep for the major done and be required to take only 1 more Western Civilizations class (1A or 1B) and the History 97.

Students entering as freshmen from Fall 2002 or as transfer students from Fall 2004 may receive credit depending on which exams were taken and scores were received, but none of this credit will be applicable towards the major. A score of 3, 4 or 5 on the US, Europe, and/or World History exam(s) will receive 8 units of unassigned history for each exam.

Note that a score of 3, 4 or 5 on the US History AP exam will also satisfy the University’s American History and Institutions requirement for all students.

No, the two courses must come from the same field (i.e., two from Africa, or two from Asia, or two from Latin America, or two from Near/Middle East, or two from Science/Technology). For a list of applicable courses, check your DARS.

Only those courses officially cross-listed (with an “M” prefix) with the History department automatically apply towards the History Major.  For example, History M186B is the same as Gender Studies M186B and will automatically count for both, History and Gender Studies. A maximum of 20 upper division units (typically 5 courses) can overlap and be in common between two majors. This is especially helpful for students who would like to double major and pick up a minor.

Students can petition ONE upper-division course from another department to count towards the History major. The department internal practice requires every student to submit a Google Form course petition during the first two weeks of the current term. Students can only submit a petition of a course they have already taken and have received a passing grade.

If the course has been approved in the past, the student still needs to submit a new petition to ensure the course is still relevant and fulfills the same requirement it initially got approved for. If it does, the Counselors will send it to Vice Chair of Undergraduate Affairs recommending being approved again.

Email the History counselors at undergrad@history.ucla.edu to request the Google Form for the current quarter and make sure to provide the necessary materials such as the syllabus and assignments/final papers the student completed in the class. Petitions missing any of the required information will not be considered.

The History counselors will provide an update on the status of the petition no later than Friday of Week 2 of the following quarter in which they initially submitted the petition. For example, if a student submits a petition during the first two weeks of the Winter 2021 quarter, they should expect to hear from the History counselors during the first two weeks of the Spring 2021 quarter.

The History department highly recommends planning accordingly, especially for seniors, as the petitioning process will take at least a full quarter. No exceptions as we receive a high volume of requests.

If you haven’t completed the prep (for example, you need more lower division electives) you might consider taking a lower division course. You should enroll in a History 94, 96W OR 97 (historical methods) course as soon as possible, since this is designed to introduce you to the process of doing history. Another option would be taking upper division course since you probably haven’t taken any at your junior college.

All courses for the prep for the major and the major must be taken for a grade, or it cannot be used for the major.

Please note, during the pandemic-related campus closures (Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall 2020, and Winter 2021), the Department of History permitted History majors and minors (both History and History of Science, Medicine, and Technology) the option to take a max of two History courses Pass/Not Pass.

You should check your study list during the quarter to be sure that you are enrolled in the classes that you think you are enrolled. (Note that wait lists are dropped at the end of second week, so if you are on a wait list and you haven’t gotten into that class, it will drop off your study list.) You should also check your DARS at the beginning and end of each quarter. If you have any questions about grades you should contact the instructor as soon as possible, because instructors are only required to keep final exams and coursework for one regular quarter after the quarter in which you took the class.

This depends on what kinds of issues you have to discuss. Feel free to check in regularly (every quarter, once a year – whatever suits you!) to be sure you are on the right track, for advice on enrolling in classes, and to ask any questions that you might have.

If you have questions regarding College requirements rather than the history major, you should contact a counselor in your counseling unit:

• Honors, A-311 Murphy,
• AAP, 1209 Campbell,
• Athletics, JD Morgan Center,
• College Academic Counseling, A-316 Murphy

An incomplete will always remain on your transcript for the quarter in which you took the class; it does not disappear. The completed grade will show up on your transcript in the quarter in which the work was completed.

The professor must file the paperwork with our office to remove the incomplete.

You can repeat up to 16 units of coursework for which you received a C- or below. The grade for the second time (for better or worse) will be calculated into your GPA. Please note that the original grade will always remain on your transcript; it is simply not calculated into your UCLA GPA. After 16 units, or if you did not receive a C- or below, it is classified as an “illegal repeat” and you will not receive any grade or unit credit for the class. You may only repeat a course once.

“Electives” are history courses that can be in any geographical, thematic, or chronological area. The lower division electives for the preparation for the major can be fulfilled with upper division courses; check your DARS for a list of courses that can be used. However, courses used for the prep cannot be counted for the major as well – you will need a total of 16 upper and lower division courses for the prep and the major, including 10 upper division courses for the major alone.

So for example, if you use 2 upper division courses to count for 2 of the lower division electives, you will still need 10 upper division courses for the major itself, for a total of 12 upper division courses (plus 4 more lower division courses for a total of 16 courses).

“Upper division” courses are courses numbered between 100-199. “Lower division” courses are numbered between 1-99. The College of Letters & Science requires 60 units of upper division coursework. The History major requires at least 40 units of upper division coursework towards the major (10 upper division courses); the remaining 20 units can be additional history courses or courses from other departments.

See our website. You may also wish to consult with a departmental counselor.

As of Winter 2017, the History Department offers a minor in History, which consists of two lower division courses and five upper division courses. Additionally, the department offers a minor in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, which consists of two lower division courses and five upper division courses.

To declare the minor, students must have completed at least 45 units, have at least a 2.0 GPA, and to have completed 1 lower-division History course.

Please email undergrad@history.ucla.edu to declare the minor. Include that you wish to declare the minor, your name, and student ID. A History counselor will run your Degree Audit Report to determine if you meet the above requirements to declare the minor.

If you have been approved to enter the major/minor, it will be contingent upon graduating on time or having obtained approval from the College to exceed Time to Degree. Please note that if you are unable to graduate within the approved time, you may make yourself ineligible for a UCLA degree. You should consult with an academic advisor in the College if your academic program changes or you encounter challenges that prevent you from finishing on time. If adding a minor, you should be sure to prioritize your major to ensure that you are able to graduate.

If you choose to do the History of Science and Medicine minor, you may only use one history course for both the major and the minor. In other words, you would need 8 courses for the minor and 15 additional courses for the major (with one of the 8 History of Science and Medicine courses doubling up for the History major).

Talk to a Counseling Assistant at Letters and Science (A-316 Murphy) about applying to graduate programs. You can also check out the pamphlet Choosing Graduate School online which has information on things to consider about going to graduate school, choosing a graduate program, applications, letters of recommendations, writing personal statements, etc. Another resource is the Career Center which has references regarding the numerous programs offered.

The History department sponsors two student groups, Phi Alpha Theta and the History Undergraduate Advisory Board. These groups sponsor activities ranging from informal talks and lectures on a variety of topics to excursions, movies, and luncheons and dinners with faculty, and welcome participation.

See the answer to Question #3 above on declaring the history major.

Contact the professor or Teaching Assistant directly. We have no authorization to change any grades.

The Undergraduate Research Center provides assistance for research papers to all students in the Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Behavioral Sciences.

See a counselor in your counseling unit (Honors, AAP, Athletics, or Letters & Science), or the CAC’s Academic Advising in the College webpage for more information about counseling, including regulations, petitions, articulations, etc.