History Minor

The History minor is designed for students who are interested in deepening their knowledge of American, Western, and World History in order to support their long-term career goals. Selection of courses will depend on the interest of the student. Students seeking to gain an M.A. in Education will be particularly well-served by this minor program, as will students interested in pursuing post-baccalaureate degrees in Law, History, or Government/International Relations. The history minor consists of 15 hours of history courses with at least 2 courses at 300 level or above.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Students will demonstrate basic knowledge of important historical events in a particular historical era and geographical area within a broader global context.
Students will demonstrate awareness of historiography and historical interpretive differences.
Students will explore and employ proper historical research techniques with both documentary and digital resources in completing historical research.
Students will be able to evaluate and interpret primary and secondary historical sources and use these properly in writing about history.
Students will construct cogent historical arguments and convey them clearly in written form and oral presentations.

About Academic Minors

Farmingdale State College students are invited to enhance their studies with an "Academic Minor." A minor is a cluster of thematically related courses drawn from one or more departments. In addition to department based minors (e.g. computer programming & info systems), interdisciplinary minors are also available (e.g. legal studies).

Academic minors are approved by the College-Wide Curriculum Committee and the Provost. Students must make application for an academic minor through the department offering the minor in conjunction with the Registrar's Office Specific course work must be determined in consultation with a faculty member in the department offering the minor. A statement of successful completion of the academic minor will appear on the student's transcript at the time of graduation.

A minor is considered to be an optional supplement to a student's major program of study.
Completion of a minor is not a graduation requirement and is subject to the availability of the courses selected. However, if the requirements for a minor are not completed prior to certification of graduation in the major, it will be assumed that the minor has been dropped. Consequently, the student will only be certified for graduation in their primary major.
Only students in 4 year baccalaureate programs can apply for a minor.
A minor should consist of 15 to 21 credits.
At least 12 credits must be in courses at the 200 level or higher.
At least 9 credits must be residency credits.
Specific requirements for each minor are determined by the department granting the minor.
Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 in their minor. Some minors may require a higher GPA.
Students are prohibited from declaring a minor in the same discipline as their major (e.g. one cannot combine an applied math minor with an applied math major). Academic minors may not apply to all curricula.
Students are permitted to double-count courses.
Students are only permitted to take more than one minor with appropriate written approval of their department chair or curriculum Dean.

Admission to Farmingdale State College - State University of New York is based on the qualifications of the applicant without regard to age, sex, marital or military status, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, disability or sexual orientation.

History, Politics and Geography | Dr. Tim Nicholson | timothy.nicholson@farmingdale.edu | 934-420-2739

Fall 2026

Subject to revision

Required:

15 credits of History (HIS) courses; Any HIS course is eligible;
only one course at the 100-level is allowed. At least 6 credits must be at the 300 level or above.

Students may also choose up to two of the courses listed below:

GEO 211 The World and Its Peoples	3
GEO 222 Human Geography	3
GEO 223 Africa and Its People	3
GEO 231 Europe and Its Peoples	3
GEO 232 North America and Its Peoples	3
GEO 340 Geography and Imagination	3
GIS 301 GIScience	3
POL 250 American Politics	3
POL 340 Constitutional Law & Politics	3
POL 344 DEI History, Politics, and Policy	3
POL 390 Environmental Politics	3

Curriculum Summary

15 credits