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Major: Culture and History

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Major Culture&History

The Major Culture and History is the humanities concentration in LAS. It focuses on the academic study of the cultures and histories of people from around the world and across time and has no temporal or geographic concentration. Students sample an exciting range of topics while developing their ability to analyze all kinds of cultural objects, frame strong questions about cultural-historical problems, and produce coherent interpretive arguments – classic humanistic skills that remain relevant to individual reflection, academic research, and global public life. Culture and History's interdisciplinary approach to the humanities combines history, philosophy, anthropology, and the study of art, music, and literature.

The following chart gives you an overview of the modules in the Culture and History Major:

Grafik Culture and History 2023

The chart provides an overview of the Major composition, but the modules are not necessarily listed in the order in which they will be taken. You can find the full description of each module in the Module Handbook. The  courses we offer in the above-mentioned modules are listed in the Course Catalog.


Full description

In Culture and History, students gradually build up a humanities skill set that will serve them in the academic, professional, and personal contexts that they choose. We do not ask students to amass a body of knowledge about some particular culture or history. Rather, we want students to practice the academic methods that will allow them to understand whatever culture or history they are most interested in, while developing a sophisticated and critical theoretical background.

In the Introduction to Culture and History, students get a strong foundation in the theories, methods, skills, and practices that are fundamental to all humanistic work.

In Theory of Culture and Theory of History, students explore important theoretical questions that cannot be simply answered or resolved, but rather provide continuous stimulus to thinking in the humanities. What are the limits of understanding another culture or another time? Why do human groups care about their past?

The Methods Modules are the central learning experience of the Major, where students practice the methods appropriate to different kinds of cultural objects and different disciplines. This is where students broaden their horizons and discover which fields, cultural objects, peoples, places, and times they are most interested in. The topics of these courses change regularly, but the learning goals are always the same. An example: The module History: Ancient, Medieval, or Early Modern could include courses such as "Ancient Empires" or "Medieval Japan." Notwithstanding the concrete course material, students learn how to research pre-modern societies. What are the typical source materials left by such societies? What kinds of questions can these sources answer?

Later in their studies, students use the Profiling Modules to refine their training in preparation for their next steps after graduation. The Culture and History Major has lots of space for students to flexibly choose how their studies will contribute to their life. They must do a minimum of research-oriented training in a specific discipline or field (Specialization Option I/II). The Senior Profile: Culture and History can be filled with a variety of advanced learning, including further research training, creative or communication project work, among other options.

Culture and History is designed to provide a strong foundation in humanistic academic disciplines while allowing students to pursue their own intellectual passions in a context of critical reflection. After graduation, Culture and History students often pursue an M.A. program in the humanities or social sciences and they go on to work in fields like education, cultural management, journalism, politics, and business.

An overview of what Culture and History graduates do after their Bachelor from UCF, can be found here.

For more information about this Major, please contact Dr. Ryan Plumley.