Minor degree

Students entering the minor after April 5, 2022 or matriculating Fall 2022 or later will follow the requirements below.  Students matriculating prior to April 5, 2022 will follow the requirements outlined further down ("Old Minor").

The minor, which requires 21 credits, consists of a two-course Introductory survey in a student's particular geographic and/or temporal area of interest, followed by four courses in a Thematic area of history chosen from one of the clusters noted below.  A final course can be used either to deepen a particular area of interest or explore a new subject.  No grade lower than "C" may be applied to the minor and at least twelve of the 21 credits must be taken at Stony Brook.

Two Courses in any survey sequence at the 100 or 200 level 

Four Courses in one of the following Thematic clusters (minimum of two courses at the 300 level):

• Arts, Ideas & Culture
  Art, ideas, and culture are human products, things and activities created and practiced at specific historical times and places. Culture does not merely reflect human sentiments; it has the capacity to shape and influence history.  Courses in this concentration focus on the ways in which cultural things, ideas, and practices reflect and contribute to the societies in which they emerge; examine processes of cultural and ideological exchange across regional and national boundaries; and explore the political, economic, and social meanings given to ideas and culture by people engaged in their production and consumption.
• Empires, Violence & Global Connections
  For much of human history, empires have been the primary form for organizing and controlling territory, peoples, and cultures through violence. Empires played a key role in the creation of hegemonic networks for the circulation of commodities, the diffusion of ideas, and the mobility of cultures and peoples. Courses in this concentration examine empires in terms of mechanisms of domination, resistance, and negotiation; explore concepts of authority, social and political organization, sovereignty and citizenship; and investigate the ways in which conquest, ideology, and migration have fostered global connections that continue to shape society, politics, and culture.
• Health, Science & Environmental Change
  Pandemics, climate change, and toxic environments are among the greatest challenges that face humankind today.  Without understanding their historical origins, we cannot devise viable and just responses to them.  Courses in this concentration explore how understandings of our bodies and the natural worlds we inhabit have evolved over time in different parts of the globe; examine how economic, scientific and technological changes have helped to make the “modern” world; and consider how these changes have transformed not only forms of knowledge but entire environments as well.

   
• Law, Politics & Social Justice
  People have fought for social justice, rights and equality in both the past and present.  Struggles for social justice have produced some of the world’s most historic changes—from the toppling of empires to challenging systems of white supremacy and patriarchies.  Historical investigation of this theme encompasses the study of institutions, law and power, on the one hand, and the struggles that people wage against social, political, economic, racial, sexual, and gender exclusions, on the other.  Courses in this concentration explore the ways that institutions reinforce inequalities; consider how the law has evolved over time in connection with the values and characteristics of societies; and examine the development of social welfare policies, changing ideas of citizenship, and social movements for civil and human rights.

   
• Race, Religion, Gender & Sexualities
  The way humans identify and define themselves and others has changed over time.  Race/ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexuality are among the most important categories into which people sort themselves; they can offer great collective and individual fulfilment, but also serve as tools of discrimination and sources of conflict.  Courses in this concentration invite students to examine the various meanings assigned to race, religion, gender, and sexuality throughout history; to interrogate the complex processes that go into shaping them; and to explore how such identities have functioned in different historical circumstances.

One Course in any area at the 300 level or above

For a listing of which courses align with each Thematic cluster and a complete listing of History courses see the Undergraduate Catelog of Courses.