At Queen’s the History Program includes Specialization, Major, Minor, and General plans. In each of these degree plans, students have the option to choose courses from a wide range of topics and themes and build up their interest in a chosen historical area or period. While students in the Specialization and Major plans undertake intensive training in historical research and writing skills, the Minor plan helps to widen the horizon of historical understanding by integrating a historical perspective with a different major discipline. Specialists and Majors have the opportunity to include Minor degrees in disciplines across the Faculty of Arts and Science. History Majors may also combine a History Major with a Major in another discipline in a Double Major degree. The General plan enables students to pursue their historical interests in a three-year Bachelor of Arts degree option. See our History FAQs to learn more about choosing a History degree plan.
The first-year courses are large lectures that introduce students to broad overviews on the intellectual origins of the modern West, issues of global historical processes, and critical glimpses of Canadian history. The seminar courses in the second and upper years provide in-depth training in historical methods, analytical thinking, and intensive writing skills.
Students in the Specialization and Major plans combine lecture courses and small seminar classes. Alongside taught courses, students have the option to undertake independent research courses as well as experience-based learning in a variety of internships. Students in the Minor and General plans choose from an array of lecture courses at all levels of their study.
Students who chose a Double Major combine a History Major degree with a Major degree in the discipline of their choice. The Double Major offers students the opportunity to tailor their degrees to their interests now and to their plans for the future. The breadth, depth, and flexibility of the History curriculum allow Double Majors to choose courses that augment and enhance their work in both disciplines. Double Majors may combine History with a Major in the Arts, Humanities, or Sciences.
Beginning in Fall 2025, all students in History will be able to choose from four different degree options, outlined below. All incoming second-year students will pick from one of these degree plans. The Academic Calendar produced in the Faculty of Arts and Science holds the most up-to-date plan information.
Students entering their third or fourth years of a BAH Degree in 2025 may choose to stay in their current degree plan (see the 'Pre 2025 Plan' under Major and Minor), or they may choose from one of the plans outlined below.
