History Department

History students study records and relics. They examine the words and deeds of people who lived before us. They use all these sources of information to ask novel questions or to question others’ assumptions.

Their discoveries help all of us to become engaged citizens in a democratic society. And they use these skills to meet the demands of numerous career paths in an ever-changing world.

To study history “is to interpret the past for the purposes of the present with a view to managing the future.”

—John Lewis Gaddis, Ohio University Professor of History (1969-1997) and National Humanities Medal and Pulitzer Prize Recipient

Knowing the Past to Shape the Future

Recognized leaders in their fields, our History faculty bring proven records of excellence to their daily collaborations with undergraduate and graduate students. 

As newsmakers, book prize winners, and award-winning teachers, we advance a better understanding of the diverse people and places we study, helping our students and society to better understand our complicated present and to imagine a better future.

More about History Research

Faculty Research Areas

Contemporary History Institute