History - UBC | Undergraduate Programs and Admissions

The History program will take you through a series of stages in developing knowledge, skills, and practice of history. You can choose from a wide range of courses on Asian, Canadian, European, Latin American, and American history, and examine themes such as culture, environment, politics, society, world history, and the history of science.

This program is also offered at UBC's Okanagan Campus

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Program information

Campus: Vancouver
Faculty: Faculty of Arts
Degree: Bachelor of Arts

Length 4 yrs
Co-op Yes
You can combine your studies with full-time, paid work at top local and international organizations.
Honours Yes
You can study intense specialization in a single field.

History is concerned with the study of the past. It draws on the social sciences and humanities for much of its data and conceptual techniques, but remains essentially a study in the dimension of time, with methods of inquiry appropriate to such a study. Since the study of history involves the examination of people in an almost unlimited variety of situations, it deepens our understanding of people’s capacities and failings. It trains the mind to generalize on the basis of evidence and to distinguish propaganda from fact. You can select a Minor, Major, or Honours in History.

Campus features

The Department of History’s Writing Centre is a web-based resource which assists students improve their writing skills specifically in the discipline of history. Developed UBC History department faculty, the Centre has proven highly popular, with an average of 25 to 35 visits each day from students around the world.

Department of History Writing Centre

HIST 105 - Contemporary Global Issues in Historical Perspective
Places issues and problems of current relevance such as disease, terrorism, drugs, or ethnic conflict in historical perspective. Each section will explore a single theme. Check with department for course offerings.
HIST 104 - Topics in World History
Thematically-organized topics will explore global aspects of human experience across time. Each section will examine a single theme. Check with the department for course offerings.
HIST 101 - World History to Oceanic Contact
Origins and diffusion of the world's great religions; cultural contact along overland trade routes; emergence of civilizations such as the Inca, Chinese, and Christian European; ordering of societies and their political development.
HIST 109 - Cultural Histories of Media: From Writing to Tweeting
The history of different forms of media in global perspective, with particular attention to audiovisual electronic media.
HIST 108 - Global History of Capitalism
The history of capitalism in its global dimension from the beginnings to the age of industrialization. An investigation of economies - in both their practices and cultures - around the world and across the ages from ancient times to the modern era.

HIST 259 - Science, Medicine, and Technology in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds
The history of science, medicine, and technology, emphasizing networks, exchanges, and encounters in a global context.
HIST 202 - Gateway to the Middle Ages
Problems and themes of medieval European History through the close study of the people and cultures that produced them.
HIST 252 - Modern Caribbean History
A survey of social, cultural and political history of Anglophone, Francophone and Spanish Caribbean from the Haitian Revolution to the present.
HIST 273 - History of India
Societies, cultures, and politics of the Indian subcontinent from its ancient civilizations to the formation of the modern nation-states of South Asia.
HIST 280 - Islamic World History
The history of the Islamic world in its global dimensions from its origins to the present day through the themes of religion, law, politics, culture, and modernity.

HIST 308 - Quebec from the End of the 18th Century to the Present
Relations between the English and the Canadians prior to the Rebellions of 1837-38, the emergence of French Canadian nationalism after 1840, the impact of State formation and industrialization in Quebec, the Quiet Revolution, and the independence movement.
HIST 380 - The Making of Modern China: Nationalism, War, Revolution
The history of China from 1800 to the present including the decline of the Qing empire, the rise of modern nationalism, foreign invasion, and China's multiple revolutions.
HIST 302 - History of the Indigenous Peoples of North America
Indigenous peoples from pre-contact to the present in Canada and the U.S. Topics include colonial frontiers, disease, fur trade, government policies, environment, gender, religion, oral narratives, activism, urbanization, and identity.
HIST 304 - Researching Local History from the Ground Up
Sources and methods for reconstructing local history that can be used by Social Studies teachers in B.C. The aim is to develop an appreciation of the formative processes and past experiences that created one's familiar community.
HIST 341 - Medieval Jewish History
A survey of the political, social, economic, and cultural history of the Jews from the time of the Christianization of the Roman Empire to the expulsion of professing Jews from Spain and Portugal at the end of the fifteenth century.

HIST 401 - Seafaring in the Age of Sail
Humankind’s encounter with its ocean frontier through exploration, trading, fishing, whaling, piracy, and naval warfare from 1400 to 1850.
HIST 412 - The American Impact on Canada
An examination of the influence of the United States' rise to continental, hemispheric, and world power upon Canada in the areas of economics, defence, and foreign policy.
HIST 418 - The 1960s in Global Perspective
The history of the 1960s from a transnational perspective: culture, social change, student activism, and global conflict.
HIST 425 - War and Society
Continuity and change in the relations of war and society, the connections between the economy, society, the military, and government in peacetime as well as war; not a course in military history.
HIST 444 - Slave Societies in the Americas
A comparative analysis of the institution of chattel slavery, its growth, its effects on slaves and masters, its relation to the larger society, and the causes of its decline, in the various cultures of the Americas.

Your future

Career opportunities vary widely across a range of fields including education, government, non-profit, business, law, museums, publishing, media, the arts, and others.

There are many career paths that can combine your academics, skills, and experience with your different interests, including:

Appraiser
Archivist
Charitable organization director
Communications specialist
Community programs director
Conservator
Copywriter
Cultural anthropologist
Curator
Diplomat

Careers with History

Program requirements

Canadian high schools
International high schools
International baccalaureate

English-language requirements

English is the language of instruction at UBC. All prospective students must demonstrate English-language competency prior to admission. There are numerous ways to meet the English Language Admission Standard.

General admission requirements

IB Diploma Programme

Completed IB Diploma, including at least three Higher Level courses.

IB Certificate Courses

IB Certificate courses (Standard and Higher Level) may be used in an admissions average if you are graduating from a recognized high school curriculum that can be used as your basis of admission.
IB Math Applications and Interpretations SL, or IB Math Studies, do not satisfy the math requirement for admission to UBC’s science-based programs, the Faculty of Management, the UBC Sauder School of Business, or the Vancouver School of Economics.

Degree-specific requirements: Arts

No specific courses required beyond those needed for general admission

Related courses

The following subject categories are particularly relevant for this degree. Consider taking courses in these areas in your junior year and senior year.

Language Arts
Mathematics and Computation
Second Languages
Social Studies
Visual and Performing Arts

Visit program website

This program is also offered at UBC's Okanagan Campus

Campus features

Your future

Related programs

Program requirements

English-language requirements

General admission requirements

Degree-specific requirements: Arts

Related courses

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