The History Department announced yesterday its plans to reduce the number of half-courses required to graduate by two, granting concentrators more flexibility in choosing courses.

In an e-mail to the department’s 233 declared concentrators, Director of Undergraduate Studies and History Professor Daniel L. Smail wrote that the department will now require 10 half-courses to graduate and 12 to qualify for honors.

The move—which will be in effect for the class of 2013—is coupled with a policy change that will limit concentrators to a maximum of one related-field petition to receive history concentration credit for other departmental courses.

Rising juniors and seniors will have the option of graduating under the new requirements.

“We hope that you will accept this invitation to explore the rich array of history courses that are taught in many departments at Harvard,” Smail wrote.

Since the Faculty of Arts and Sciences extended the deadline for undergraduates to declare their concentrations to sophomore fall, the History Department has seen an increase in the number of related-field petitions as concentrators had to seek credit for related courses that they had already taken, History Lecturer Trygve Van Regenmorter Throntveit ’01 said.

By reducing the number of requirements, Throntveit said, history concentrators would have more flexibility to take courses outside the department.

History concentrator Antonio J. Hernandez ’10-’11, who took a year off, said that the change will give him the necessary flexibility to complete his coursework in one semester.

“It’s like finding $20 in your back pocket,” he said. “You could do without it, but it’s nice that you found it.”

—Staff writer Noah S. Rayman can be reached at nrayman@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Elyssa A.L. Spitzer can be reached at spitzer@fas.harvard.edu.