The History Department offers numerous opportunites for students to expand their education beyond the standard courses. The History department isn’t just a place to study the past: it’s a community with chances to connect with other students via the Freshman Learning community, Phi Alpha Theta events, or faculty-led study abroad trips. It's also a chance to apply uour skills in real-life settings such as internships at local historical sites or museums or doing research in archives around the country.
Freshmen Learning Community
The Freshmen History Learning Community is is one of the oldest freshmen programs on campus. Its focus is on "Children in war and conflict" and through two semesters offers students the chance to consider how children have suffered and developed through events such as the holocaust, or Rwandan genocide among other events. The History Learning Community (HLC) program is for all majors and undecided freshmen with an interest in history or its pre-professional foci in business, law/justice, public history, education, military, diplomacy, and advocacy. This one-year program offers small-scale learning in a large university and is designed to accelerate and enhance academic performance with hands-on experiences in history. The curriculum is centered around two dedicated major courses, with opportunities for field work, career orientation, excursions, and job shadowing. HLC members may opt to live together, commute; or select housing elsewhere on campus. The HLC is required for entering history freshmen; all other majors or undecided freshmen are welcome. As the freshman cohort learns, explores, lives, and studies together under dedicated year-long mentorship, HLC members report higher satisfaction in their course and learning experience, outscore their peers on GPA and time to completion data, are more likely to pursue honors and less likely to drop out of college; and form tight friendships that carry through the remaining college years and beyond.
Transfer Student Learning Community
Welcome to the History Transfer Learning Community (HTLC). We are glad you are here. The HTLC is a one-year program for transfer students majoring or interested in majoring in History at UNC Charlotte. Joining the learning community will ease your transition as a transfer student through a sense of belonging and joining a tight-knit community. As part of the community, you will take one of the required non-Western (HIST 2xxxx) courses and one of the required methods courses (Hist 3600). Additionally, you will have the opportunity to join events that will help you explore UNC Charlotte while meeting new people and discussing new topics. With the guidance of the co-coordinators, you will be introduced to the methods and skills of history while networking with fellow students.
Requirements: This Learning Community is open to ALL transfer students who are majoring in History or who are interested in majoring in History. Click on this link to apply https://lc.charlotte.edu/. HTLC is good fit for you if:
· You are interested in majoring in History
· You are interested in taking a series of courses with a group of other students who share your experience as a transfer student
· You are interested in joining a community of students, faculty, and scholars who specialize in history
· You are interested in better understanding the broader world around you
· You would like to connect with faculty, graduate students, and other undergraduate students both inside and outside of the department
· You would like to participate in workshops that help you explore and take advantage of the resources available at UNC Charlotte
· You would like to develop clear goals for completion of your major and explore post-graduation plans
Goals: The goal of the HTLC is to engage transfer students in the intellectual and social community of UNC Charlotte. The purposes of this community are four-fold:
(1) integrate new transfer students into the University and the Department;
(2) enable students to make timely progress towards degree completion;
(3) provide guidance within the major by two dedicated advisors, Dr. Carol Higham and Dr. Carmen Soliz;
(4) allow students to explore professions related to the history major and network with other historians and students.
HTLC will help students develop friendships and build support networks with other students and faculty. In addition to taking one class a semester together, HTLC students explore campus resources, career opportunities, and other activities together. Transfer students will be guaranteed seats in HIST 2002 (fall) and HIST 3600 (spring), both needed for the degree. We want you to join us as part of the department and make the most of your time on campus!
Some unique activities and opportunities for HTLC students:
· Orientation to the Department and the University as well as one-on-one meetings with the academic advisors
· Taking core courses together to develop a sense of community
· Attending on-campus events to meet other students and faculty, such as Personally Speaking, Major/Minor Meetups, and guest speakers
Students’ engagement in the social community is addressed both in class and out of class as you develop relationships with faculty, other undergraduate students and graduate students. Students in the HTLC will also participate in workshops and sessions with co-coordinators on topics relevant to academic and career success.
Course Work:
Fall 2023:
· HIST 2xxx: This course fulfills one of the Non-Western requirements and provides students with the training/ guidance/ supervision necessary to succeed on an intensive writing seminar like HIST 3600
Spring 2024:
· HIST 3600: The Frontier in American History with Dr. Carol Higham
o This course fulfills the first course of the history sequence and is a writing-intensive seminar required of all majors.
Have Questions?
If you have academic advising questions specific to the History Program UNC Charlotte, please contact one of our following advisors: Dr. Carol Higham (ahigham@uncc.edu) and Dr. Carmen Soliz (carmen.soliz@uncc.edu).
Internships
Internships offer an exciting chance for students to gain experince in their chosen field and apply their skills in real-world situations. While most of our students intern at local museusms of historical sites, the History major provides the sort of skills that government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private companies are looking for in their interns, including the ability to write and communicate effectively, to think critically, and to manage information. For that reason, our students intern at numerous businesses and non-profits in Charlotte and beyond. A listing of some sample internships is on the internship page. Students holding an internship can earn up to 3 hours of credit.
Independent Study
Independent Projects allow undergraduate history majors to studay a topic not currently or otherwise offered by the Department. Independent projects permits are only issued in extraordinary circumstances, such as preparation for graduate or professional studies, timely satisfaction of undergraduate or pre-professional requirement, or to avoid graduation delay due to circumstances beyond the applicant's control. Independent projects are directed by permanent faculty on a voluntary basis.
Study Abroad
The History Department has numerous study abroad options for its majors. Students can spend entire semsters or academic years at partner institutions or travel with a faculty member from UNCC on a short term trip over spring break or during the the summer. A full list of potential programs can be found at edabroad.uncc.edu.
Phi Alpha Theta
Phi Alpha Theta is a nationally recognized honor society for history students (non-majors are welcome to apply). Members of this society have the opportunity to present their written work for local conferences and national prizes. New members will receive a year's subscription to the Phi Alpha Theta publication, The Historian. And finally, members are entitled to graduate with the Phi Alpha Theta honor cord.