History and Foreign Languages

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History

History courses cover a vast range array of periods and geographic areas, from the ancient era to the twenty-first-century U.S., from modern China to modern Mexico, from colonial America to the Middle East. They explore a wide variety of themes and issues, including global and regional history; the study of gender and identity; science and medicine; music and visual culture; diaspora and ethnicity; class and culture; war, violence, and peace. History offers a B.A. degree and an minor that compliments any major.

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Foreign Languages

The Foreign Languages program develops student competencies in the languages, literature, and cultures of these language communities. Introductory language courses are complemented by deeper studies, providing opportunities to develop more specific interests of students of literature and culture, including film studies. Students can earn a B.A. in Foreign Languages, with a concentration in Spanish or French. The program offers Minors in French and Spanish.

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Graduate Studies in History

We offer a 30-hour degree path to earn your M.A. in History.  Students can choose the non-thesis option if they are heading toward a teaching career or the thesis option if they plan to pursue doctoral studies. This degree can be completed in the classroom or completely on-line.

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Clubs

We offer several avenues through which you can connect with professors and fellow students outside the classroom setting.  From Phi Alpha Theta to Spanish Club to the Japan Club, we are confident that you will find a group that interests you.

Paul Beezley: Department Chair of History
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"What’s past is prologue."

This phrase appears in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and it also is engraved on the National Archives building in Washington D.C. Simply put, it tells us that our past, individual and collective, sets the stage for our present and our future. It contextualizes and, in one way or another, creates the present that we occupy.

Read Dr. Beezley's Message

Advisor Information

Among the colleges and universities in Alabama, Jacksonville State University graduates a large number of history majors who successfully compete in professional testing for teacher certification, law and graduate school admission, and acceptance into other professions. Two of the national honorary organizations in which history students participate are History Club and Phi Alpha Theta.
General inquiries can be sent to Dr. Beezley, at pbeezley@jsu.edu. If you need History advising, contact your normal adviser via email. If you are unsure of your adviser’s name, email the History Undergraduate Program Officer, Dr. Levi at tlevi@jsu.edu.  If you need Foreign Languages advising, email Dr. Pacheco (Spanish) at epacheco@jsu.edu  or Dr. Ron Koss (French) at rkoss@jsu.edu. History MA students can contact the Graduate Program Officer, Dr. Lemmons, at rlemmons@jsu.edu.