Arts and Sciences (A&S) Rules and Regulations for Graduation for a History major

Transcription

1 Arts and Sciences (A&S) Rules and Regulations for Graduation for a History major Credits needed to graduate (unless doing a Double Degree, a BA and a BS degree either in Arts and Sciences or a degree in Arts and Sciences a degree in another school within Pitt. That is 150 credits) History credits a. 18 credits at the 1000 level b. One course covering the period before 1800 c. One survey course focusing primarily on the U.S. (HIST 0600, 0601, 0671, 0672) d. Four courses chosen from the following six areas, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and/or Global/Comparative History e. One Reading/Writing History Seminar to be taken as soon as possible once you declare. (History 1001) f. Capstone Research Seminar to be taken in senior year. (HIST 1000) g. 9 credits in a Concentration approved in consultation with your Advisor h. a 2.0 GPA in the History Major 3. A Related Area and/or an Official Minor, and/or a Certificate. a. 2.0 overall for the Related Area b. For minors and certificates, students must check each for their individual requirements. c. If you do a second major then you automatically complete this requirement. 4. Students may earn minors from other schools (the ADMJ and Leglst minors in CGS, for example), but still must complete a minor, Related Area, or certificate in Arts and Sciences. a. Always keep in mind that you can only use 18 non-a&s credits to count toward graduation. 5. Complete all Foundation Skills and General Education requirements (Major advisors will go over these with students) History Honors major requirements: Students may apply for the honors program as early as their sophomore year upon completion of 12 credits in history with a minimum GPA of 3.5 in history, an overall minimum GPA of 3.35, and the submission of a writing sample for approval by the Undergraduate Committee. No grade below B is acceptable in fulfillment of honors requirements. Honors in history consists of fulfilling all requirements for the major. In addition, students must complete the following. one University Honors College (UHC) course in History HIST 1901 Independent Study six additional credits:

2 HIST 1902 Writing: History Honors Seminar (Student exempts History 1000) HIST 1903 Honors Thesis/Majors (25-50 pages) Cross listing courses in multiple majors: If a student is doing a double-major, for instance in Classics and History and takes courses that are cross listed in both departments, only 6 of those cross listed credits can count for each major. No course students are using for one major can count toward either a minor or a related area Students cannot count a course toward multiple minors. Students should not assume a course is cross-listed with a History course, regardless of how similar it seems to History course offerings. If you have any questions about cross-listings, please check the course listings which should show sections in BOTH disciplines. If you have further questions, please contact your advisor for clarification Foundational Skills: Intensive composition Students can be exempted from this requirement by scoring 600+ on the verbal SAT, or by scoring highly enough on the A&S placement exam. Seminar in composition Students typically take Engcmp 0200 (0203, 0205, or 0207, 0208, 0209, FP 0003, FP 0006) to fulfill this requirement, or have AP or transfer credit. First W-course One of the writing intensive requirements MUST be in the student s major. (History majors fulfill this requirement by completing History 1000 or 1001 and only in EXCEPTIONAL circumstances can this be done somewhere else. Second W-course If a student has a double or dual major, the second writing intensive course may be completed in the other major; the student should discuss this requirement with the advisor from that department. If a student has only one major, this requirement can be fulfilled in any writing intensive course that is in an A&S discipline, including his/her major. There are a number of History courses other than 1000/1001 which satisfy the W requirement, for example. Algebra Students can be exempted from this requirement by scoring 600+ on the math SAT, or by scoring highly enough on the A&S placement exam. Quantitative reasoning

3 Go to to find out which courses fulfill this. For those planning on going to law school, we recommend that students take PHIL 0500 We recommend for those of you going to Law School, to take Phil 0500 in the Junior year before the LSAT. For those interested in Secondary Education, we recommend Stat Disciplinary Approaches: ALWAYS GO TO before you choose one of these courses. Don t assume something will fulfill a requirement. Literature The Arts 2 nd Literature/Music/Art/Creative Expression Students can take three one credit courses of the same instrument (i.e. three one credit courses of violin) and have this count for their creative expression. Students have in the past also used three one credit courses of marching band to fulfill this requirement. Students who are wishing to pursue this direction for creative expression will need to go to the Student Records office to fill out a form to have this recognized for graduation. Instead of taking a 2 nd level Lit 2 nd level Music, or 2 nd level Art course or a CEX course (for which there are no levels), a student may fulfill this requirement by taking a course that fulfills the [regular] Lit or Arts requirement under one condition: the course must be from a department different from the department or departments from which the courses that are already fulfilling the Lit and Arts requirement came. As per A&S documentation, students who prefer to emphasize breadth of study may satisfy (this requirement) by selecting an additional course from the lists of approved first-level literature, music or art courses, provided they select a course from a department different from that they chose for the first-level requirement. For example: If a student has taken EngLit 360 to fill the Lit requirement and Music 311 to fill the Arts requirement he/she may take any 1 st level HAA course that would fill the Arts requirement (such as HAA 10, 20 30, 40, etc.) to fill the 2 nd Lit/Music/Art, CEX requirement. If that makes no sense whatsoever, check with us in your meeting for majors. Philosophy Social Science History All History majors will satisfy this requirement as they work toward the major.

4 Natural Science 1 st course Students need to complete 3 NAT SCI requirements in at least two different departments. Natural Science 2 nd course Natural Science 3 rd course Foreign language Students are required to take at least two terms of a single language with a grade of C- or better. Students can be exempted from this requirement if they successfully completed at least 3 years of a single language in high school with a grade of C or better, passing the exam offered in A&S, or if the student is bilingual and/or the student s native language is not English. Sign language is also considered an option, and the same rules apply. (If a student has not completed a placement exam, they can do so online at: The password to access the exam online is panthers1. After a student completes the exam, they should print out their score and take the print out to Academic Records.) International Foreign Culture 1 st course Students must complete the three IFC requirements in at least two of the three areas: comparative, global, and regional. Completing a Study Abroad experience may fulfill IFC 1, 2, and 3*. This also fulfills the nonwestern requirement if the student studies in Australia, Latin America, Egypt, Russia, and Asian countries such as Japan and China. This listing is not exhaustive; it simply indicates some of the countries that have been specified in the past. *If while living abroad, a student has taken 1) a minimum of 6 credit hours from an accredited institution, 2) transferred the credits back to Pitt, and 3) have the credits appear on the transcript, then IFC requirement fulfillment can be considered. It may not be automatic and the student may have to contact the A&S Director of Student Records to have the credits reviewed. International Foreign Culture 2 nd course International Foreign Culture 3 rd course International Foreign Culture/Non-western This course and the writing intensive courses are the only A&S requirements that can double-up. If a student takes one of the IFC courses that also fulfills the

5 non-western culture course requirement, (this is indicated in the union list) then that single course may be used to fulfill BOTH an IFC requirement and the IFC/NW requirement. Courses approved to fulfill the IFC non-western requirements address a culture or cultures other than those of the Mediterranean, Central and Western Europe, and French- or English-speaking North America. ADDITIONAL DEGREE COMPLETION & A&S/UNIVERSITY POLICY INFORMATION Community College Credits: Once a student has completed 60 credits overall he/she cannot take ANY classes in the summer at a community college to transfer back to Pitt. If you want to do this, you must meet with a Dean. 4 Year College Credits. Students wishing to take summer classes at a 4 year college can do so up to 90 credits. The last 30 credits must be done at Pitt unless permission is given by the Dean. Related area: The related area requires 12 credits, which usually comprises four courses. According to the A&S web site, the related area may represent a thematic cluster, geographic grouping, or some other combination. Courses that fill any of the basic skills requirements cannot be used in the related area. PEDC courses: Students are allowed to take up to four credits of PEDC courses that count toward the 120 credits for A&S graduation. This also means that a student could take the same PEDC course four times and receive four credits. Student athletes are held under the same rule, they are allowed to register for varsity sports (it is a PEDC course) credit only four times. ROTC Credits: Only 4 credits of ROTC can count towards graduation and they take the place of PEDC credits. Non-A&S credits: A student may use up to 18 non-a&s credits toward the 120 credits necessary for graduation. HPA and HPRED courses are considered non- A&S unless they are cross-listed with PEDC courses. If you take a PEDC courses cross-listed with HPA as an HPA class that counts towards the student s non Arts and Sciences Credits. If a student takes the cross-listed as a PEDC course then it counts towards the PEDC credits. Marching band/glee club, choir, orchestra, theatrical performance: A student can take one credit of these types of courses per semester for a maximum of 8 credits total toward their undergraduate degree. External studies credits: A student may take up to 6 credits of external studies coursework that can be counted toward the 120 credits for graduation.

6 Double or Triple Majors in CAS Students can only use a maximum of six credits that overlap between the chosen majors. Double degrees in different schools (i.e. CBA, CGS, etc.) Students who are pursuing a double degree (BS/BA) option must complete 150 credits and fulfill all of the degree requirements for both schools. A related area is not required for students who are completing the double degree option. Honors College Courses (UHC) Continuing students qualify to take UHC courses if they have a 3.25 grade point average (GPA), a B+ average. Those who do not meet SAT or GPA requirements may nonetheless be given permission to enroll in a UHC course. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. Flexibility is afforded those students having strong interest and background in a specific discipline. Motivation and genuine interest in the subject are very important. Freshmen with SAT combined math and critical reading scores of 1400 or above (or a 32 composite ACT score) and who are in the top 5 percent of their high school class are eligible to enroll in University Honors College (UHC) courses. Additionally, some introductory courses in the sciences and math also may require a minimum score on a placement test. All freshman applicants are automatically reviewed for UHC eligibility. Repeating courses: Students may attempt a course three times for passing or meeting degree requirements. A student who has not successfully completed a course at this point will need to meet with a Dean in 140 Thackeray Hall in order to receive permission to take it for a fourth time. Grade issues & course repeats: If you repeat a course you need to go to 140 Thackeray to complete a Course Repeat form. The old grade will stay on your transcript but WILL NO LONGER BE FACTORED INTO YOUR GPA. Instead, the new grade will be used in calculating your GPA. Be aware that if you earned a D- or better previously and you retake the course you are replacing both the grade and the credits. If you repeat an F you get both 3 new credits and a new grade. MATH MATH 0120, MATH 0220, and MATH 0121 (UPJ course) are considered equivalent, meaning that students will not receive credit for both courses. Prep courses for these calculus courses, MATH 0100 and MATH 0200, are also considered equivalent and the same rule applies. Writing course transfers:

7 Writing courses for the most part do not transfer in as a W course, however the student will receive appropriate credit for the course. Students who transfer Engcmp 0450, Research Writing, (typically from CCAC) can use this course as a W if and only if they have already completed Engmp If they have not completed Engcmp 0200, and have completed Engcmp 0450 this course will transfer as fulfilling Pitt s seminar in composition. However, students always have the option to petition a transfer course at the Dean s Office if they believe the course was writing intensive. Cross-listed courses Non A&S courses which are cross listed with an A&S course can be counted as A&S credits. S/NC (pass-fail) grading option Students opting for the S/NC grading option must earn a C or better in the course to earn an S grade. Students must submit a Grade Option form to the A&S Dean s office by the semester deadline. History majors can count up to THREE S/NC history courses toward the History major. Study Abroad Processes Students interested in study abroad go through the following process: 1. Attend an Essentials meeting. 2. Meet with study abroad advisor(s) to discuss programs and choose the most appropriate. 3. Students pick courses from chosen program that are of interest/fulfill requirements. 4. Students attend a contract meeting and receive instructions for completing the contract. 5. It is the student s responsibility to petition for all courses: major, minor, certificate, general education requirements, and elective courses with the appropriate department(s). Students should print out any supplemental materials (syllabi, course descriptions, etc.) and include with petition. We want to thank Cindy Lausberg and the Psychology Department Advisors for the extensive work they did on this document. This allowed us to adapt it for the History Department.