Objectives
- Developing analytical, critical and reflective skills in students, to be implemented in the study of different human societies of the past.
- Promoting the ability of students to relate the variables of time and space in their analysis and diagnosis of society.
- Providing knowledge on different historical processes, about Colombia, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
- Developing communication skills with academic peers of different areas of Social Science.
Study Plan
The History curriculum has a minimum duration of eight semesters, during which students must complete a total of 120 credits organized around 6 academic areas:
Basic year of Social Science: In the first two semesters, students will take courses offered by the School of Social Science, in order to become acquainted with core theoretical and methodological problems in the study of society, from an interdisciplinary approach.
Area theoretical-methodological education: The objective of this area is to provide students with basic concepts of the field and knowledge of the historiographic trends, in order to discuss theoretical issues that support historical research. It also aims at developing research skills in students through techniques for handling and use of different sources.
Area of education in social science: the syllabus offers the possibility to expand knowledge in other areas of Social Science, in this case, Geography.
Area of education in History: It begins in the second year and it finishes with the end of the course. The goal of this course is to introduce students to the analysis of different historical processes that have occurred in different periods and geographic areas. The area is divided in the following fields: Colombian History, Latin American History and World History. This area ends with two elective seminars, where students can implement the conceptual and methodological tools developed throughout the course, according to a specific research topic.
Uniandes Basic Cycle: In order to provide a comprehensive education to its students, the University offers courses in basic areas: Arts and Humanities, Social Science, and Science and Technology.
Graduation project options: After finishing the subjects in the History syllabus, students can choose one of four graduation project modalities:
- Dissertation: students can conduct their own research, under the direction of a professor, and submit the results in a text no longer than 60 pages.
- Teaching practice: students can work as teachers in the area of History, in an educational entity, for one semester.
- Research assistance: students can work as assistants in an ongoing research project developed by a professor.
- Co-terminal: after completing 80% of the credits, students can enroll in any Master's degree course offered by the University. Master's degree courses taken under this modality will be recognized as equivalent for undergraduate and graduate credits.
Lines of Research
Contemporary History
History as an area of research has been typically associated with the study of the past. However, since the 1960s a new field of history has emerged: the study of the present. This Histoire du Temps Présent for the French, Zeitgeschichte for the Germans, which we could summarize as an non-conjuncture analysis of the conjuncture, is a legitimate field in international historical production. This field is focus of special attention by professors of the Department in lines of research and studies on: globalization, international relations, culture of illegality, especially in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Colombia in contemporary times.
History of Science
Scientific knowledge and technological development have played a determining role in the creation of the modern world. Any attempt to study and understand history, culture, economy and society in general, must include in their analysis the social processes that bring about scientific and technological changes.
The systematic study of history of science and technology and their close relations with economic, ideological, religious and political factors, is a relatively recent activity. In the last decades, however, the studies about science, technology and society have remarkably expanded and have become a venue for discussion and convergence among areas such as philosophy, history, sociology, natural science and engineering. Particularly the professors in the Department who work along these lines have paid special attention to the relation between science and empire.
Colonial History
The relevance of colonial history revolves around the necessary dialogue between present and past. In this sense, the understanding of colonial past is considered a possibility to enlighten current social processes. The studies on the cultural parameters of the native population, as well as Africans and Europeans, who migrated by force or voluntarily, the mixture of races in the Colombian context, political culture, the development of mining, processes of territory appropriation, organization of territory, as ways to control the population, as well as responses to domination, are some of the expressions of colonial life, whose consequences on social and cultural life can be observed in the present.
Afro-Colombian Studies
This line of research is devoted to research in different realities related to the African diaspora in Colombia. The groups have developed historical and anthropological research, whose topics comprise areas as diverse as: gender, territory, social, geographic, religious and symbolic issues.
Conceptions of Conquest
It is difficult to find an event with as profound and diverse repercussions on Western history as the discovery and conquest of the American continent. Among the multiple approaches through which the subject can be analyzed, it can also be understood as an event that questioned a certain view of the world, of the conquering society, which led to a rethinking based on the basic notion of man, society and political and religious institutions. This had repercussions not only in Europe but it also influenced the general notion of nature of man since the beginning of the Colony.
Intellectuals and Catholicism in Colombia
This line of research focuses on Colombian Catholicism, covering a period starting in 1850 and extending to present day. It studies issues like secularism, secularization processes, education, education of intellectuals, cultural history, the Catholic press, and the importance of the Church in current debates.
History, Nature and Race
The geographic axis of this line of research is the Colombian Pacific coast, and focusing on developing a type of history that includes nature and explores how race is a fundamental category in understanding how Latin American nations have been built. The framework is environmental history, political ecology and social history, and it includes the role of marginal regions within nations.
Economic History and Social Protection Systems
The focus of this line of research is to analyze how societies establish their social protection systems. Reflections on this field aim not only at investigate issues related to the way societies answer the questions, what should be protected?, who should be protected? and, with which resources, but also the interaction among political, social and economic elements that support a specific social protection system.
Model Program
First Semester
Second Semester
| HIST-1102 | Introduction II: Historical Concepts | 3 |
| CISO-1900B | Historia de Las Ciencias Sociales en Colombia y América Latina | 3 |
| HIST-1417 | Introducción A la Geografia | 3 |
| CISO-12XX | Pensadores II | 3 |
| CISO-16XX | Curso Teorías Contemporáneas Año Básico | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Third Semester
| CBU- | Uniandino Basic Cycle Course | 3 |
| HIST-2101 | Sources I: Archives and Documents | 3 |
| MATE-1501 | Statistics I (Social Sciences) | 3 |
| HIST-2204A | Geography of Colombia | 3 |
| HIST-2406B | History of the Ancient World | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 18 |
Fourth Semester
Fifth Semester
Sixth Semester
| HIST-2203B | Historia de Colombia Siglo XX | 3 |
| HIST-XXXX | Curso del Área Contemporánea | 3 |
| HIST-2103 | Historiography of Colombia | 3 |
| HIST-2303B | History of Latin America in the 20th Century | 3 |
| HIST-XXX1 | Seminario electivo de pregrado I | 6 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Seventh Semester
| CLE- | Curso de Libre Elección | 3 |
| HIST-XXX2 | Seminario electivo de pregrado II | 3 |
| HIST-3103 | Seminar-Graduation Monography | 3 |
| LENG-3999 | Requirement – Command of a Foreign Language | 0 |
| CBUA- | Uniandino Basic Cycle Course | 3 |
| CBU- | Uniandino Basic Cycle Course | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Eighth Semester
| HIST-XXX | Opciones de Grado | 6 |
| CBU- | Uniandino Basic Cycle Course | 3 |
| CLE- | Curso de Libre Elección | 3 |
| HIST-3990 | Registration for Graduation | 0 |
| CBU- | Uniandino Basic Cycle Course | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Alumni Profile