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EOU’s undergraduate history program offers a personalized learning experience thanks to its manageable size, fostering close interaction between faculty and students both on campus and online. Meaningful discussions and individualized feedback, facilitate students’ critical thinking and understanding of historical concepts. This approach ensures that each student receives the attention needed to develop a nuanced perspective on historical events.
Lower division courses are capped at 35 students, allowing for an interactive environment where foundational skills in historical analysis can be developed effectively. As students progress to upper division courses, class sizes are further reduced to 10-15 students, supporting a deeper exploration of specialized topics and fostering intensive scholarly debate. This structure enhances students’ research skills and engagement with complex historical inquiries.
Our program focuses on improving critical thinking, writing mechanics, and informed reading through detailed feedback and hands-on learning. Smaller class sizes enable constructive critiques of student work, whether in written assignments or presentations. This personalized approach prepares students for careers that value analytical rigor and historical insight.
Many of our students go on to graduate school, law school, or become teachers at the elementary or secondary level. This is because the history major emphasizes the continuity of culture by providing a historical background for the study of other disciplines and the tools necessary for responsible citizenship. It also helps to prepare students for careers in teaching, public service, consulting, research, museums, archives, and libraries, and provides a liberal education as a basis for entering a variety of careers such as public administration, business, and law.
The culmination of the History degree is the capstone, which students complete in the final term of their senior year at Eastern. The capstone (HIST 403) is offered on campus and online every academic year. The course typically adheres to a given historical period, region, or topic. Examples from past terms include “The American West,” “The History of the Renaissance,” and “World War II.” Students undertake a ten-week research and writing project and produce a multiple-draft, fifteen- to twenty-page term paper that incorporates primary and secondary sources. Honors-quality capstones, as decided on by the department, will be printed and housed at the EOU Library.
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EOU Admissions OfficeEmail: admissions@eou.eduPhone: 800-452-8639
“Eastern Oregon University has given me the chance to obtain new leadership skills, while being in leadership positions. I am thankful that I have had the chance to learn from some wonderful leaders. I would not be on this path if it wasn’t for the chances I was given to make a change on campus.”
Micah TroutmanHistory, Theatre ArtsUnion, Ore.
Established in 1921, Phi Alpha Theta is the nation’s premier history honor society. It is the charter member of the Association of College Honor Societies, the nation’s only certifying agency for college and university honor societies, which sets standards for scholastic eligibility and organizational excellence.
There are many great opportunities to engage with a community around History programs and beyond with LiveStream presentations and ongoing visiting lecturers.