To understand current national and global issues, we often turn to historians for perspective. Historians provide a framework for understanding today’s challenges and caution us against mistakes of prior civilizations.

Careers in History

The combination of creativity, collaborative communication and critical thinking skills fostered by the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology makes this degree applicable to a variety of occupations. Aside from the mainstream career paths of teaching or working in archival and museum settings, students with a history degree may find employment in government, nonprofit or business organizations. Many history majors successfully complete law school, thanks to the solid writing and critical thinking foundation they receive in their undergraduate studies. Students may also be certified to teach high school history through the UT Dallas Teacher Development Center. The University’s Career Center is an important resource for students pursuing postgraduate employment. Licensed counselors are available to provide strategies for mastering job interviews, writing professional cover letters and resumes and connecting with campus recruiters, among other services.

History at UT Dallas

Students must successfully complete 120 hours to graduate, with 42 hours from the University’s core curriculum and 45 in the major. Students are encouraged to focus their work in history on a particular time or place, a significant theme, topic or problem or an approach to learning such as literature, the arts, ideas, science and technology or the social sciences. They may choose from courses designed around historical themes, issues and ideas in American, European, Latin American, African and Asian studies.

To successfully obtain a bachelor’s degree in history, students should be proficient at reading and synthesizing information rapidly, and be able to construct well-formulated research papers and projects. Potential high school preparation includes four years of English and social science, including geography, government and history, two to three years of foreign language and one year of fine arts courses, among other subjects.

Marketable Skills

• Review the marketable skills for this academic program.

About the Bass School

The Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology is a community of scholars, artists, and creative practitioners defined by their creativity, critical thinking, communication, and cross-cultural understanding. AHT cultivates skills in critical study and creative practice and fosters an incubative environment for the generation of new knowledge and new technological experiences.

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Arts: History*, Latin American studies*, literature*, philosophy, visual and performing arts*

Master of Arts: Art history, history, history of ideas, humanities, Latin American studies, literature, visual and performing arts

Doctor of Philosophy History of ideas, humanities, literature, visual and performing arts

Minors Offered

If your academic focus leads you elsewhere at UT Dallas, but you would still like to pursue studies in the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology, the following minors are available:

• Art history
• Asian studies
• Communication
• Creative writing
• Dance
• Film Studies
• History
• Latin American studies
• Literature
• Medical and scientific humanities
• Music
• Performing arts
• Philosophy
• Spanish
• Theatre
• Visual arts

Honors Thesis and Fast Track

The Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology honors thesis offers the opportunity for advanced creative and scholarly work and recognition. To earn AHT honors, students must graduate with:

• A minimum of 30 graded, upper-division semester credit hours at UT Dallas.
• A GPA of 3.67 in a student’s major.
• The completion of an honors thesis or project evaluated by two faculty members with a grade of at least B+.

*Exceptionally well-qualified Arts, Humanities, and Technology undergraduates who meet the requirements for admission to graduate school should consider the Fast Track program, which allows them to begin work on an AHT master’s degree before graduation. Qualified seniors may take up to 12 credit hours of approved AHT graduate courses during their senior year, which will apply to their undergraduate degree plans. For more information regarding Fast Track, contact an undergraduate academic advisor.

Additional Facts

Several faculty members have been awarded prestigious fellowships, including those from the Guggenheim, Fulbright, Alexander S. Onassis and Woodrow Wilson foundations. Others are recipients of the Füst Literary Award, as well as awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The school’s centers further enhance students’ educational experience by bringing the concept of globalism to campus, by bringing world events into focus through research and by encouraging innovation and creativity.

The National Science Foundation recently awarded a major grant to the school’s Center for Values in Medicine, Science and Technology to study the mentoring and education that occurs in science laboratories.