Bachelor of Arts in History

Experiential Learning

As a history major at URI, your experience will take you beyond the classroom and help you engage with the field in unique ways.

Capstones

Our capstone sequence is the quintessential history experience. You will go through the steps required to produce a history research paper and then you will write it. You will learn research methods, historiography, and how to formulate your own hypothesis that will end in a thesis. You will work with primary source documents. The end result of the capstone is a “professional” history paper.


Minors

Certain minors offer hands-on experience, most notably our Underwater Archaeology minor.


Archaeology Field Schools

Professors Buxton and Mather periodically offer underwater archaeology field schools during summer or j-term.  Some locations are Israel, Croatia, and Belize. There are also plans for an on-campus terrestrial archaeological field school in the future to be offered in conjunction with the Department of Anthropology.


Courses

An example:
HIS 391 – Directed Study or Research. Students can complete directed studies on various experiential topics, an oral history of WWII with local veterans, for example, or the reading of original medieval texts while learning Latin and paleography.


Internships

The University’s Center for Career and Experiential Learning is a good place for students to begin their search for an internship.

Another option is for students to contact one of the Rhode Island Historical and Preservation Societies.