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Students walking outside during autumn Cornell Widen
Welcome to History!

Department of History

The Department of History thrives on its close relationship with many other departments, centers and area studies programs in the humanities and social sciences at Cornell. The faculty includes more than a dozen prize-winning authors as well as winners of Cornell’s prestigious teaching and advising awards.

History Events

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Cornell scholars tackle democracy’s modern threats 

In classes, research and through the new Cornell Center on Democracy, faculty are collaborating to study democratic declines, as well as strategies for strengthening the republic we still have. Cornell’s role in strengthening democracy is broad – faculty research guides democracies throughout the world, alumni serve in top government and public service positions, public engagement efforts boost community and policy organizations and, perhaps most importantly, students on campus are gaining the knowledge and communication skills they’ll need to move democracy forward. 

Read more about their work.

Get to know history at Cornell

Faculty Undergraduate Program Graduate Program Courses Public History Initiative Job Placement

Department of History News

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Cornell experts on the politics of maps and Trump's renaming proposals

Trump’s proposals to rename geographic landmarks highlight how maps and place names are often used to advance political agendas, territorial claims, and national identity, say Cornell experts Christine Leuenberger and Raymond Craib. Such renaming efforts, they argue, can undermine cooperation and credibility.

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Announcing 2026-2027 EAP fellowship and grant recipients

Graduate students connected to Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences departments — history, linguistics, Asian studies, history of art and visual studies, government, comparative iiterature, Romance studies and music —have received Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies East Asia Program fellowships and grants for the 2026-2027 academic year.

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Cornell military historian: South Korea drill cuts may have been ‘inevitable’

President Trump’s move to scale back U.S.-South Korea military exercises reflects military strain from the Iran conflict, says historian David Silbey, professor in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences. Also related, Silbey says, is reduced support for U.S. allies in Asia and Trump’s affinity for authoritarian leaders.

Book cover: National Liberation

Sandwell wins prize for book on South African anti-apartheid movement

Rachel Sandwell of Cornell’s College of Arts & Sciences won the Joel Gregory Book Prize for "National Liberation and the Political Life of Exile," her study of women’s leadership in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement. The scholarship highlights how women in exile shaped African National Congress policies and national identity debates.

Book cover: The Predatory Sea

‘The Predatory Sea’ honored for maritime history

Cornell College of Arts and Sciences professor Casey Schmitt won a book award from the North American Society for Oceanic History for ‘The Predatory Sea.’ The study examines early Caribbean human trafficking and captivity that shaped racialized slavery.

More History News
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Undergraduate Study

History is valuable as preparation for graduate, professional, or law school and for any career that requires critical thinking and good writing; the reputation of the faculty for scholarship, teaching, and advising; and most of all, the intrinsic interest of the discipline.

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Graduate Program

Cornell's Department of History has a topnotch faculty covering a wide range time periods, geographic regions and methodologies. As a student in our program, you will also be able to work with members of the wider Graduate Field of History, which includes scholars whose main appointment is in other colleges and programs at Cornell but who are able to supervise dissertations of Ph.D. students in History.

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Connections through history

Public History Initiative

The Cornell Public History Initiative (CPHI) works to stimulate and deepen dialogue among undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and their wider communities about the sedimented histories that shape our contemporary world.

Learn more about CPHI

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