History seeks to develop students' empathy with past values and peoples, as well as to promote a critical understanding of the past. Using a variety of methods, historians examine the dynamic interplay between text and context, looking at both change and continuity over time. History courses also enable us to study people's relations with others in order to help us understand our own world and ourselves today.
From lectures and writing, to using primary and secondary sources, history uses a number of methods in order to teach students to think critically about the past. The discipline strives to develop students' ability to use evidence to create and analyze historical narratives and arguments. It encourages students to view the making of history as both a creative process and an intellectually rigorous one. History courses teach students various forms of presentation, both written and oral, and complement study abroad and other experiences outside the classroom.
The history department offers courses on geographic regions including the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia, covering time periods from prehistory to the present. We represent a diverse range of historical subdisciplines, including social, cultural, intellectual, political, military, environmental, gender, and economic history. In addition, the history department offers students many opportunities to use the knowledge and research techniques they have acquired to produce research papers on topics of their own choice.