Everything and Everyone has a History

An image of Mary Schiavone holding a book.

From history major to librarian: Q&A with alumna Mary Schiavone

Meet Mary Schiavone (BA,'18, history and English; MS, '23, Library and Information Science), a Student Success and Engagement Librarian at Beloit College. She initially enrolled at the University of Illinois as a business major but discovered her passion for history in HIST 170: U.S. History...

book cover of the Second battle for Africa and Erik McDuffie

Professor Erik McDuffie receives Jon Gjerde Prize for Best Book in Midwestern History

Erik McDuffie, an associate professor in the Department of African American Studies and History, was recently awarded the Jon Gjerde Prize for best book...

Kalani Craig (left), Tayzhaun Glover (right)

Two new faculty members will join the Department of History this fall

The Department of History is pleased to announce that two new faculty members will join our ranks in the fall. Our new colleagues will add to our strengths in digital history, public history and Caribbean history.Kalani Craig Professor Craig joins us from Indiana University (Bloomington) where...

Richard Young posing in front of a prairie and mountain.

Graduate student spotlight: How Richard Young combines his love of computers with history

Even though Richard Young is pursuing his PhD in history, he has always been interested in computers. During his undergraduate years, Young and his friend, a computer science major, would get together over weekends to tell each other what they were learning about in their respective fields of...

From history major to social studies and English teacher: Q&A with alumna Anne Sweeney

Meet Anne Sweeney (BA,'15, history), a social studies and English teacher at Oswego High School. She has taught a range of courses in her 10 years at Oswego, including AP Psychology, World Cultures, and U.S. History. Sweeney credits her strong critical thinking skills and being an effective...

John Randolph teaches the first SourceLab students in 2016

History in the digital age: How digital humanities collective SourceLab is innovating new ways of publishing the past

How do we preserve and interpret the historical record in a digital age? Traditionally, archivists collect and preserve historical sources, historians interpret them through books or documentary editions, and publishers distribute them. Today, historical sources that once would have been only...

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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.

HIST 104

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.

HIST 141

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.

HIST 207

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.

HIST 227

Constructing Race in America

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

HIST 281

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.

HIST 311

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.

HIST 337

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.

HIST 476

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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

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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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