The Department of History offers exciting academic opportunities for its majors and minors. The history program seeks to develop a student who is broadly educated in the liberal arts and who appreciates his or her own national heritage and understands the development and problems of other cultures as well. The person who is familiar with the roots of the past and the problems of the present is sensitive to the possibilities of the future. In its broadest sense, history encompasses every aspect of human development since the beginning of written records. Thus, history is an excellent major in which to achieve a broad, general education. The 16 full-time members of the SFA history faculty hold advanced degrees from some of the nation's leading universities. The faculty consists of scholars in such broad fields as United States, medieval and ancient, modern European, Latin American, and Asian history. History courses emphasize both reading and independent research. The department is an institutional member of the American Historical Association.
Majors & Minors
Undergraduate majors in history work toward a Bachelor of Arts degree. Undergraduates can pursue a major in history (with or without secondary teaching certification); a second major in history; or a minor in history. The department also offers a Master of Arts program for graduate students, including an M. A. with an emphasis in public history.
Student Organizations
History Club: Open to all students with an interest in history; the club sponsors programs and trips to historical sites.
Phi Alpha Theta (international honor society in history): Open to outstanding junior, senior, and graduate students.
Additional Importance
- The department sponsors the East Texas Historical Association and its publication, The East Texas Historical Journal. A member of the department serves as executive director for the association.
- The department is closely linked to the university's Center for East Texas Studies. A member of the department serves as director of the center.
- The department regularly brings renowned lecturers to campus through special programs, symposiums and its Robert S. Maxwell Lecture Series. Recent visiting speakers have included James Carter (former U.S. president), Forrest McDonald (University of Alabama), Robin Winks (Yale University), Walter Lord (author and lecturer), Bill Mauldin (cartoonist), Pete Daniels (Smithsonian Institution), John Costello (author and documentary director for BBC), D'Ann Campbell (Indiana University), Alfred Crosby (University of Texas), Franklin Mitchell (University of Southern California), Warren Kimball (Rutgers University), Mack Teasley (Eisenhower Library and Museum), Lee Kennett (University of Georgia), Jeremy Black (Exeter University, England), Charles Alexander (Ohio University), Athan Theoharis (Marquette University), and Liz Carpenter (Former Chief of Staff and Press Secretary to Lady Bird Johnson.)
- Two members of the department are University Regents Professors.
- The department's graduate students produce Clio's Eye: An Audio-Visual Magazine for the Historian(clioseye.sfasu.edu).
- A member of the department provides travel-study opportunities for students through the history department. Recent trips have been to Greece and Turkey, Austria, France and Spain.
- Students can arrange internships with the Center for East Texas Studies.
- Several scholarships are available for undergraduate history students. For information about scholarships, contact: SFA Alumni Association, P.O. Box 6096, SFA Station, Nacogdoches, Texas 75962.
For more information, contact the Department of History at tdavis@sfasu.edu or 936.468.3802.