Guyana and a global struggle for Black solidarity
Historian Russell Rickford tells how a former British colony in South America shaped and inspired a global political and intellectual movement.
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Check out HISTORY: Spring 2023!
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.
Get to know history at Cornell
Department of History News
Alum launches first Smithsonian museum dedicated to women
Lisa Sasaki ’97 is helping to shepherd the high-profile new Washington, D.C., institution into existence
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A&S faculty honored for exemplary teaching, advising
“Helping students realize their greatest potential is at the core of our mission in the College of Arts & Sciences."
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HIST 2515 Freedom Struggles in Southern Africa
HIST 2515 Freedom Struggles in Southern Africa (HST-AS) (HGS) Monday and Wednesday: 8:40-9:55 Professor Rachel Sandwell
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HIST 4338 Queer Histories of North Africa
HIST 4338 Queer Histories of North Africa (GLC-AS, HST-AS) (HGS) Tuesday: 11:15-1:45 plus Independent Research Professor Paraska Tolan-Szkilnick
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$2.5M in A&S New Frontier Grants supports bold projects
A&S faculty members will delve into questions ranging from quantum computing to foreign policy development and from heritage forensics to effects of climate change.
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Nexus Scholars Program expands research opportunities to 101 students
This summer, 101 students in the College of Arts and Sciences will take part in groundbreaking research on campus with 61 faculty as part of the Nexus Scholars Program.
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Thai elections defy long-standing rule banning criticism of monarchy
A growing dissatisfaction within Thailand with the country’s conservative monarchy makes a May 14 election significant.
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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.
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.
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.