FD-HS: Historical Studies
NOTE: Students who started taking classes at Northwestern in Spring 2023 or earlier should refer to the Area IV: Historical Studies page. The information below pertains to students who start at Northwestern after Spring 2023.
ABOUT HISTORICAL STUDIES
Historical studies examine change over time in a wide variety of spheres, including beliefs, cultures, economics, intellectual thought, politics, and society. The scale and scope of offerings in this area range from the local or regional to the global and from the origins of human society to the present day. Students learn to assess, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary sources (for example, documents, testimonies, texts, artifacts, images) and use them to develop arguments in oral and written form. Courses in historical studies teach critical methods including: evaluation of evidence, understanding conditions under which historical actors operated, comprehension of cause and consequence, tracing patterns (continuities and ruptures), comparative analysis of sources, and modes of historical argumentation.
Choosing courses
Students may complete the historical studies foundational discipline by completing two approved courses with a grade of D or higher. Courses are approved by the Weinberg College faculty committees and can be identified in the Undergraduate Catalog and the quarterly CAESAR class listings. Each year some courses are added to the list and others are deleted; a course must be on the approved list for the year you take it to be applicable to the requirement.
A course that is applied to the historical studies foundational discipline may a the same time be applied towards a different requirement (such as a major requirement, minor requirement, advanced expression, or perspectives on power, justice and equity) but may not double-count in a second foundational discipline area.
2024-2025 FD-HS Courses
See Historical Studies in the Undergraduate Catalog for learning objectives and a list of courses. Some courses on the list will not be offered in 2024-25, but in a future year. Some courses on the list have prerequisites.
Mid-year updates will appear below as they become available.
| Subject | Number | Title |
| ART_HIST | 329-0 | Special Topics in Medieval Art (or FD-LA) |
| ASIAN_AM | 214-0 | Asian American History (with HISTORY 214-0)1 |
| ASIAN_AM | 370-0 | Advanced Topics in Diaspora |
| HISTORY | 214-0 | Asian American History (with ASIAN_AM 214-0)1 |
1 Also Overlay 1: U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
2 Also Overlay 2: Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity