Department of History and Political Science: Advisement

Student Academic Program Advisement

Department of History and Political Science

To graduate with a bachelor's degree from Southwest Baptist University, each student must complete the following:

1. The University General Education and Graduation requirements are detailed in the current undergraduate Catalog on pages 63-64. (You may view those pages in the online copy of the SBU Catalog.)
2. University Graduation requirements. For each of the majors offered in this department the following courses are required.
  - BIB 1013. Old Testament History
  - BIB 1023. New Testament History
  - SPF 2012. Introduction to Spiritual Formation
  - HPE 1162. Foundations of Physical Fitness/Wellness
  - If the student is earning either an Associate of Arts or a Bachelor of Arts Degree he/she must also complete two courses in the same foreign language.
3. The major requirements. If you have not already visited the Department's "Major Programs" page please do so before you proceed. Then select the Program-Planner for your major from the menu on the left. Each Program-Planner includes the appropriate General Eduation and University Graduation requirements as well as the major requirements. The schedules reflected in the Program-Planners are illustrative and suggestive of the way a student can schedule his or her academic program in this department over eight semesters (4 years). That suggested schedule is, however, not to be understood as inflexible.

Alternative Schedules
Some students prefer to accelerate their work by also scheduling courses in the short terms held in January, June and July. This allows them to finish in a shorter time. Others may need to reduce their course load per semester because of outside obligations or non-academic workload. Scheduling courses in all the semesters and terms year around can help to balance your academic load with your non-academic load. Of course, this may extend the academic program beyond four years.

Other Factors to Consider in Scheduling
The offering schedule of courses has to be taken into consideration when planning your program. The 1000 and 2000 level courses (generally for freshmen and sophmores) are offered more frequently than are the 3000 and 4000 level courses (generally for juniors and seniors). Most 1000 and 2000 level courses are offered only once per year, but some are offered every semester. Most 3000 and 4000 level courses are offered only once in two academic years. A few courses that are offered every two years alternate between a regular semester and one of the short terms.

List of Scheduled Course Offerings
You may access the University's master list of scheduled offerings for the upcoming semester, called "The Course Source, on line. (The Course Source for the current semester will stay up until approximately the sixth week of the semester.) These online lists may be viewed at the "Academics > Class Schedules" page.

For the Department's offering in terms of course descriptions follow this link to the Departmental Course Offerings. Course descriptions are also linked to the courses listed in the Departmental Class Schedules pages.