Everything and Everyone has a History
Marc Hertzman and book cover
Professor Marc Hertzman receives AHA award and two honorable mentions for book "After Palmares"
Hertzman received the James A. Rawley Prize in Atlantic History, and honorable mentions for the Warren Dean Memorial Prize and Murdoe J. MacLeod Book Prize
Shannan Mason stands in front of a tree
Exploring how people consumed nature in early America
Lecturer Shannan Mason joins the Department of History
Benjamin Zavell
From history major to renewable energy analyst
Q&A with alumnus Benjamin Zavell
Book cover on left and picture of peter fritzsche on right
How 1942 was a global war without end
Professor Peter Fritzsche publishes new book "1942: When World War II Engulfed the Globe"
Chelsey Smith
Understanding education as a tool of liberation and empire in the Caribbean
Professor Chelsey Smith joins the Department of History
Bradley Harms
History alumnus receives 2025 Alumni Achievement Award
Retired colonel Bradley Harms will be honored during Homecoming Week 2025

Why Study History?

Take a walk with professor Rosalyn LaPier to learn why the study of history is important today. 

History Major Explore career paths Meet our students

Black Music

What is black music, and how do we know what we think we know about it? Examine musical creations pioneered by Africans and individuals of African descent over several centuries and across hemispheres.

Western Worlds: Ancient and Medieval Societies from the Mediterranean to Northern Europe

Explore Western societies from antiquity to the early modern age in western Asia, North Africa, and Europe; with an emphasis on cultural exchange, migration, and the transmission of knowledge, ideas, technologies, and arts.

Digital Documentary Publishing

Learn about the craft of publishing historical materials, with a special focus on how to publish the past in the digital age.

Modern Japanese History

Explore the history of the Japanese people, their social and cultural systems, politics, and economy, from the mid-sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

Constructing Race in America

An interdisciplinary examination of the historical, cultural, and social dimensions of race and ethnicity in the United States.

Global History of Intelligence

Examine the role of both diplomatic and military intelligence in the political history of major global events and developments from the nineteenth century to the present day.

Middle East since World War I

Explore political-economic, social and ideological developments in Egypt, Arabia, and Fertile Crescent (including Israel), Iran and Turkey since 1918 to the present, including U.S. involvement.

History of the American West

Explore the history of the American West in the continental U.S. in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focusing on the process of annexation of Indigenous lands, colonization of Indigenous peoples and U.S. settler-colonialism on Indigenous lands.

Chart Your Own Path

Our program empowers you to explore your interests and passions within history and gives you the flexibility to pair the major with advanced language study, internships, study abroad experiences, undergraduate research, and community engagement.  

Get involved Study Abroad

Conduct Your Own Research

Research is embedded in the history curriculum with an emphasis on transforming students from consumers of history to critical producers of it. All students have access to the resources of the second largest university library in the country. 

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In the News

Antoinette Burton

Chicago Tribune

Professor Antoinette Burton proposes an app for fascism prediction (e.g. the study of history) in The Chicago Tribune
Peter Fritzsche

New York Times

Professor Peter Fritzsche's new book 1942: When World War II Engulfed the Globe was reviewed by the New York Times.
Rosalyn LaPier

Daily Illini

Professor Rosalyn LaPier discusses the impact of mascots based on Native American imagery and implores people to stop wearing merch featuring former U of I Mascot Chief Illiniwek in a Letter to the Editor. 

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Clarence Lang

Alumni Spotlight: Clarence Lang (PhD 2004)

Clarence Lang is the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State. The below comments were obtained shortly after the completion of his PhD.