The Department of History, Politics, and Geography offers several degree tracks designed to prepare students for either their career or advanced degrees programs (masters, Juris Doctorate (J.D.), or Ph.D.).

We offer a major in history for those students who are interested in broadening their awareness of the world, their nation, themselves, and the human condition. This program of study encourages students to take several important "core" history classes. Courses such as World Civilization I and II, U.S. History I and II, and Introduction to Historical Study prepare our students with foundation content and research and writing tools to excel in our more advanced courses as well as courses through the university's liberal arts General Education curriculum.

We offer students interested in pursuing a career in politics or law and those students interested in broadening their understanding of the contemporary political process or contemporary world affairs a course of study that we call "Politics and Law." Like the history program, the politics and law program requires students to take a core set of courses upon which they can build a more advanced program of study tailored to their interests and career goals.

Students called to teach history and social studies at the high school or middle school level take a wide selection of courses designed to prepare them both for their teacher certification exams and for the challenge of the classroom. Students pursuing the Social Studies Education major will take courses across the disciplines that make up the social and behavioral sciences in order to understand not just the human past, but also human psychology and the way that our societies are constructed and function.

The Department of History, Politics, and Geography also offers a minor in geography. Students who find the world's places alluring are encouraged to allot 18 credit hours of their overall college academic experience to the study of geography. Students earning a minor in geography are introduced to physical and world regional geography and then select advanced courses in particular world areas or study geography's cutting edge--Geographical Information Systems. All geography students will earn some of their credit hours by traveling and studying in field courses, either through CCCU sponsored semester programs, SNU sponsored field courses (Costa Rica, Southwestern Cultures, etc.), or other departmentally approved study abroad activities.