History of Public Policy and Law, B.A.

The B.A. in the History of Public Policy and Law combines comparative historical studies with training in related academic disciplines. The goal is to train students to critically examine the policy and law-related problems of the past with an eye toward understanding the present. Along with extensive course work in history and courses in cognate fields of the student’s choosing, students in the major will acquire competence in historical research and writing using primary and secondary sources, and are encouraged to acquire competence in a foreign language, and in quantitative, digital, and/or qualitative research methods appropriate to their fields of interest. The culmination of the major is a one quarter research seminar or a two-quarter senior thesis project based on original historical research. Along with these studies, students are encouraged to take an internship in public policy and law, by participating in opportunities available through the UC Washington or Sacramento programs, or in other independently arranged venues.

Requirements

Click to view the requirements for the Major in History of Public Policy and Law:

Interested in the History of Public Policy and Law major? Try taking one of our lower division gateway courses:

These courses are offered in alternating years, and are only offered once per year, so be sure to check the history department yearly course offerings.

Want to declare the history of public policy and law major? Click HERE.

Internships

Students in the History of Public Policy and Law major are strongly encouraged to pursue an internship in governmental and public affairs. See below for possible internship opportunities.

Learning Outcomes

History of Public Policy and Law Program Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyze Primary Sources
  2. Explain their historical significance and the historical context in which they were produced.
  3. Explain how a primary source reflects the point of view of its creator(s).
  4. Explain how diverse groups understood and reacted to such documents, artifacts, oral testimonies, or artistic works.
  5. Formulate an argument that assesses contradictions within and among different primary sources.
  6. Analyze the historical context of public policy issues to assess the relationship between historical contexts and events, ideas, and processes.
  7. Place contemporary public policy issues in their historical context.
  8. Identify and summarize an author’s argument.
  9. Identify points of agreement and disagreement among conflicting scholarly interpretations of the past.
  10. Identify how disciplines other than history approach the study of public policy and law.
  11. Based on primary and secondary sources, construct a well-developed thesis and persuasive argument.
  1. Organize an analytical essay that sustains an argument over the entire length of the paper.
  2. Present arguments and evidence in lucid, grammatically correct pose.
  3. Construct paragraphs with effective topic sentences.
  1. Effectively use the library, relevant databases and indexes, as well as the internet to identify and locate primary and secondary sources.
  2. Develop bibliographies of primary and secondary sources.
  3. Master conventions for citations and bibliographies.
  4. Produce an original research paper in the history of public policy and lawt that analyzes primary and secondary sources.
  1. Develop a comparative understanding of the ways broadly similar developments in the history of public policy and law have been experienced in varied times and places (e.g. state formation, domestic and interstate conflicts, economic and social welfare development, cultural promotion and incorporation, urbanization, migration, and environmental use).
  2. Describe historical change over a broad sweep of time (ancient to present), and in appropriate local, national, comparative, and/or global context.
  3. Explain how various forms of identity (political, religious, cultural, ethnic, racial, class, gender, sexual, etc.) have shaped how people experience the past.
  4. Understand the ways law and public policy create and change various forms of identity.
  5. Recognize the varied ways power is exercised, contested, and legitimized through the state, law, and public policy.
  6. Understand how public policies of the past influence the present.

Department of History
--> University of California, Santa Barbara
--> Santa Barbara, California 93106-9410
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Department of History
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California 93106-9410

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