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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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Department of History News

Maria Cristina Garcia

María Cristina García receives a Lifetime Achievement Award

María Cristina García, professor of history and American studies in Cornell's College of Arts & Sciences, has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society. The award recognizes “her service to the Society and her outstanding scholarly contributions to the fields of immigration and ethnic history.”

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Panel explores Indigenous voices in Abiayala/Latin America

Cornell University will host “Indigenous Voices in Abiayala/Latin America,” on April 9 at 4:45 p.m., exploring Indigenous media self-representation in Latin America – known as Abiayala in the Guna language. Held in the in the A.D. White House and organized by Polly Lauer, a Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow in Romance studies in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences, the panel will feature scholars discussing Mapuche and Maya K’ishe’ cultural production, Indigenous languages and broadcasters’ fight to sustain native-language media such as Guatemala’s oldest Maya radio station.

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Admitted Class of 2030 seeks real-world impact

Cornell admits the Class of 2030 emphasizing real-world impact, enrolling 5,776 students from 102 countries.
At Cornell University, the diverse cohort reflects the land-grant mission and applied learning goals across multiple colleges.

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Humanities students take D.C. trip to advocate for funding

Cornell University Humanities Scholars traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for increased National Endowment for the Humanities and National Archives funding, meeting with congressional offices to highlight the impact of humanities programs on education. Their two‑day trip underscored how federal support strengthens community partnerships, language programs, and public humanities initiatives benefiting campuses and local organizations nationwide.

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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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