Prospective Students
About the History Major at Cal Poly
Historians study the past in its variety and complexity. With such an analysis, students of history gain multiple perspectives on the present and an aptitude to plan intelligently for the future. Although the lessons to be learned from the past are rarely simple, solutions to present-day problems rest on comprehension of historical forces and events.
History deepens our understanding of other peoples and cultures. All courses offered in the History Department seek to examine the issues of race, gender, class, and cultural diversity. A degree in history is excellent preparation for students interested in a teaching career, the legal profession, or advanced work in the discipline. Students wishing to become business executives, administrators, and public servants profit immensely by gaining the methodological skills of the historian. Historians learn to gather, synthesize, analyze, and interpret evidence; they become skilled in presenting their conclusions to a general audience in a lucid and logical manner.
The study of history and its method prepares students for a wide range of careers while also sensitizing them to the complexity and diversity of the past and present. History is an excellent foundation for a broadly based education in the liberal arts.
History Major Requirements
Please see the Cal Poly Catalog (PDF) for the complete curriculum and history major requirements.
The History Department also offers a History Major Flowchart, designed to assist students in the selection of History courses throughout their four years in the program.
Four-year Flowchart for History Majors (PDF)
Two-year Flowchart for History Transfer Students (PDF)
About the History Minor at Cal Poly
The History Minor is a 30-unit program that focuses on reading, research, and writing skills. It is also flexible enough so that students can follow their own particular interests. Students from other majors will find that a History Minor complements their program and gives them specific skills: in technical fields, communication and critical thinking (understanding evidence, truth from different perspectives, analyzing and explaining, and reaching conclusions); for teachers, training in methodologies and in historical chronology; for the business and professional world, research and writing, understanding global cultures, and the ability to evaluate and pursue logical courses of action.
History Minor Requirements
Please visit the Cal Poly Catalog (PDF) for the History Minor curriculum and course requirements.
How to Apply
Please visit the Cal Poly Admissions website for more information on how to apply to Cal Poly.
Internal Transfer Student
The History Department admits undergraduate transfers according to the following procedure, as per the 2009-2011 Cal Poly Catalog, pp. 49-50 (updated 19 July 2010):
- The student must be able to finish the requirements for the history major without exceeding 204 total units or a length of time enrolled at Cal Poly of four years plus one academic quarter.
- The student must meet with the department chair in order to discuss a change of major and to set up an Individualized Change of Major Agreement (ICMA). This ICMA will serve as a contract, and will be valid over the following two academic quarters. Students must meet the following requirements by the end of this period in order to be accepted into the History major:
- Completing at least three History courses at Cal Poly, with a History GPA of 3.2 or higher. (For junior or senior transfers, at least one History course must be upper-division.)
- Achieve a Cal Poly GPA of 2.8 or higher for the two-quarter duration of the ICMA (enrolled full-time), or have a Cal Poly GE GPA of 2.8 or higher.
- Meet personally with the department chair to discuss completion of the ICMA.
- The above policy also applies to students wishing to add the History major as a second major.
Students who enter into an Individualized Change of Major Agreement (ICMA) with the department and are not accepted into the History major within two quarters will not be eligible to reapply to the major. In this event, students are advised to consider pursuing a History minor.