History Advising

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Meet with a History Faculty Advisor

Here in the History Department, our tenured and tenure-track faculty act as our advisors. Students are strongly encouraged to meet with their advisor regularly to plan, track progress, and discuss future goals. 

History Faculty Advisors must approve major/minor declaration forms and degree evaluations.

Email (history@wwu.edu) or call (360-650-2324) the history department's office assistant. Feel free to let us know if you prefer an advisor who shares your area of interest, is someone who you'd like to connect with, or who you've had in class.

Visit during their office hours or contact your advisor directly to schedule an appointment. Office hours are listed on our department Canvas page. Advisors are typically not available during Winter Break, Spring Break, and Summer.

  • Email is the preferred form of communication for all our professors.
  • Email format for all professors is firstname.lastname@wwu.edu.
  • If a professor has a hyphenated last name, only the first last name is used.

Log in to Degree Works. Your major information and advisor will be listed at the top of the page.

A screenshot of a hypothetical student's academic profile on Western Washington University's portal.

Plan and Track Progress with Your Advisor 

Degree Works

Degree Works is Western’s primary academic planning and degree progress tool.

  • Your advisor will help you use this tool effectively to track progress.
    • Degree Works is designed to aid and facilitate academic advising but is not intended to replace face-to-face advising sessions.
  • You can learn more about Degree Works on the Registrar’s Office website.
A screenshot of a hypothetical student's academic profile on Western Washington University's portal.

Degree Planning Sheets

The Degree Planning Sheets below are an optional supplement (not a replacement for Degree Works) to help track your progress.

History, BA 

Refer to the history major requirements page as you complete the degree planning sheet below.

Thematic Field

If you are a History Major and interested in designing your own thematic field, please discuss your interests with an advisor. The Thematic Field allows students, in consultation with an adviser, to choose a theme (tailored to the student's interests) to study as a part of their major.

  • A thematic field must be approved by a department adviser and may include, but is not limited, to the list below:
    • Transnational/Global
    • Gender
    • Environmental/Science
    • Religion
    • Social/Cultural
    • Military/Diplomatic
    • Imperialism/Colonialism 

History/Social Studies, BA   

Refer to the history/social studies major requirements page as you complete the degree planning sheet below.

History/Elementary, BAE 

Refer to the history/elementary major requirements page as you complete the degree planning sheet below.

History Minor

Refer to the history minor requirements page as you complete the degree planning sheet below.

Public History Minor

Refer to the public history minor requirements page as you complete the degree planning sheet below.

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Declare Your Major or Minor with an Advisor

Other Advising Resources:

Any undergraduate override requests (except for HIST 499) should be sent directly to the instructor of the desired course.

Graduate TA override requests should be sent to history@wwu.edu.

Transfer Credits

Woodring College of Education

History/Social Studies Majors

Secondary Education students who wish to be endorsed in Social Studies may choose this major. However, the History/Social Studies degree does not require that a student pursue a teaching certificate. History/Social Studies majors interested in Secondary certification must apply separately to certification programs, such as those in Woodring College of Education. Students usually apply to Woodring in their senior year or after they graduate.

History/Elementary Majors

This major satisfies the academic major requirement for teacher certification with an endorsement in elementary education and must be accompanied by the professional preparation program in elementary education. 

For more information, contact teacherEd.admission@wwu.edu at Woodring College of Education.

Preparing to graduate? Follow these steps:

  1. Contact your history faculty advisor for major/minor evaluation(s) at least a month ahead of the application deadline.
  2. Your adviser will document approval of the evaluation by recording a Note in Degree Works.
  3. After all major/minor evaluations have been submitted, complete and send a Degree Application to DegreeEval@wwu.edu.
  4. Track your application status in Degree Works.

For the Degree Application Form, Deadlines, and other information, visit the Registrar's Office's Page.

Academic Advising

For advising needs outside of the history department, please visit the Academic Advising & Student Achievement Center.

Graduate Student Advising

We offer a Master of Arts in History. For questions or advising please contact our Graduate Advisor, Professor Jen Seltz.

Phi Alpha Theta Advising

Both undergraduate and graduate students can join PHI ALPHA THETA (P.A.T) National History Honor Society. Please contact the Phi Alpha Theta Advisor, Professor Dan Chard, for more advising questions specific to the Honor Society. 

Career Services provides a comprehensive range of services to empower students and alumni in their career journeys.

Related Programs

There is no application process or requirement to declare a history major or minor. 

However, we strongly recommend setting up a time to talk with a history faculty advisor before declaring.

Once you have been assigned a history faculty advisor, please visit them during their office hours or contact them directly to schedule an appointment. 

After (or during) the meeting, complete the Declaration Form below and send it to your history faculty advisor for approval.

Major/Minor Declaration Form

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