Cognates to History Concentration

Cognates are meant to broaden your background and deepen your understanding of history so they are generally taken in the Social Sciences or Humanities. A list of common fields follows, but please discuss your choice with a history advisor.

You need 6 credits of upper-level (300+) course work in ONE program or department outside the History Department. (If you elect a cross-listed course, you must register under the other department name.)

Since the cognates are part of your concentration program, they CANNOT fulfill the SS or HU distribution requirements of LSA, if you are a single concentrator. (Concentration courses can be used to fulfill R&E and ULWR.) Once you choose cognates, check with a general advisor to see how they impact your LSA “Progress Toward Degree” distribution checklist.

Double concentrators-
You can often use courses from a second concentration as your history cognates, if they are relevant. This is generally true for the social science/humanities fields, but not NS (see advisor about these). Yet even in SS and HU fields, some courses are not acceptable cognates (see below).

LSA allows you to use courses elected as part of one concentration to fulfill requirements of a second one, including cognates. You must exclude all courses in one concentration from LSA distribution. Check with your general academic advisor.

Using cognates from your minor-
LSA allows you to double count only ONE course for your concentration and your minor. It is common to use courses in your minor field for history cognates, but you will need to take an extra course that is not part of your minor program.

COMMON HISTORY COGNATE FIELDS
American Culture
Anthropology (cultural, not biological)
CAAS
Classics
English Literature (not writing courses)
Economics
Foreign Language literature and culture courses (not learning to speak or write the language)
History of Art
Philosophy
Political Science
Psychology (social theory, not NS courses, and no research, experiential or practicum)
Religion
Sociology (classroom theory courses, not research, group or community projects, or practicum)
Women’s Studies
Relevant courses in Area Studies such as Asian Studies, Near East Studies, LACS, REES, HJCS, AAPTIS, etc.