History

Degree

B.A.

Division

Social Sciences

Program Options

Area of Concentration, Joint Concentration, Secondary Field

Students in the History program engage with a broad range of historical sources to develop an understanding of the complexities of the past as well as our own role in its interpretation.

About the History Area of Concentration

The AOC in History includes in-depth attention to particular historical moments as well as geographical and chronological breadth, helping students to understand the past on its own terms as well as how past events have formed the world today. Students learn to recognize multiple perspectives, to analyze historical patterns such as continuity and change, and to accept that all historical understanding is provisional. They pursue independent research and archival work in areas as diverse as Miami, Alabama, California, New York, Iceland, Germany, Italy, and China; many present and/or publish their work publicly. History students also take advantage of a variety of academic and professional internships in fields like archival preservation, digital mapping, teaching, heritage studies, and non-profit fundraising.

As a core part of a liberal-arts curriculum, the History program embraces the interdisciplinarity of historical study; students frequently combine History with AOCs like Gender Studies, International Studies, Political Science, and Urban Studies. The skills developed studying history—such as critical thinking, information literacy, global perspectives, written & oral communication—prepare students for a wide variety of professional careers and lives of global citizenship.

Featured Course

HIST 4200

Contemporary French History

This course will examine the history of France from Napoleon’s defeat in 1815 to the present. Topics covered will include the failure of two Restorations, industrialization and class conflict, the revolutions of 1830, 1848, and 1871, the rise and establishment of republicanism, imperialism, religion in the fin de siècle, the First World War, the interwar crisis, defeat and occupation in 1940, Gaullism and technocracy, decolonization and immigration, the May ’68 movement and its consequences, and today’s French society.

History Curriculum

Recent courses

sThe Age of Openness: China Before Mao (1912-49)
A Brief History of the Bible
Chinese History Since 1800
Contemporary French History
East Asian Civilization
Empire, Power and Culture: The Mongols
Environmental History of China
Food, Fuel, Fiber and Finance: A History of Global Capitalism
The Global Middle Ages: Travel and Cultural Exchange Before the “Age of Exploration”

Islamic Movements, Past and Present
Historical Methods
The Long Road to 9/11: The United States in the Middle East 1945- the Present
Medieval Cities
The Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern World
Modern European History
The Rise of Urban America: How Race, Region, Gender and Class Shaped the Modern American City