Everything and Everyone has a History
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Why Study History?
Take a walk with professor Rosalyn LaPier to learn why the study of history is important today.
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.
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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.
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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.
In the News
TIME Made by History
Professor Marc Hertzman wrote an op-ed about how the history and memory of Palmares in Brazil reveals that people can resist attempts to erase hard truths about slavery.
New Books Network
Professor Laura Goffman discusses her recent book "Disorder and Diagnosis: Health and the Politics of Everyday Life in Modern Arabia."
Latino News Network
Professor Antoinette Burton wrote an op-ed about the future of feminism.
Calendar
Alumni Spotlight: Alexander Rushing (2024)
Alexander Rushing (BA, '24, History) is a Visiting Scientific Specialist in Historic Mining & Geology at the Illinois State Geological Survey.