Department of History


Department of
History
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Overview
The Department of History offers minors and immersions that promote broad perspectives on human experiences, teach critical appraisal of primary and secondary sources, develop communication and writing skills, and enable you to make comparisons and draw contrasts across global historical perspectives—all skills that are essential in a wide variety of professions, including business, education, journalism, law, politics, and public service. We are a tight-knit department with faculty who have a wide variety of professional and scholarly interests, from the history of gender to the history of computing, from the history of Asia to the history of the United States, from the history of imperialism to the history of baseball.
10
Faculty in the department
68
History courses offered
9
Geographical and historical areas of study
Latest News
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March 8, 2023
Ada Lovelace and computers, music, needlepoint and weaving
ABC Radio National in Australia interviews Corinna Schlombs, associate professor of history, about Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century mathematician.
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February 27, 2023
Interdisciplinary team heads to Ethics in Engineering Case Competition
An interdisciplinary pair of RIT students is headed to Bethesda, Md., to participate in the 2023 Lockheed Martin Ethics in Engineering Case Competition. Emma Nastro, a third-year museum studies student, and Lee Sortore, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student, will represent RIT at the competition, which is held Feb. 27 through March 1 at the Lockheed Martin Center for Leadership Excellence. This is the first time an RIT team has competed in this competition.
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February 22, 2023
Lent is here – remind me what it’s all about? 5 essential reads
The Conversation highlights an essay by Michael Laver, professor in the Department of History, about the history of ashes in Christianity.
Featured Work
History professor produces the first book-length scholarly study of polio and its survivors in France
Rebecca Scales
Dr. Rebecca Scales, Department of History, was recently awarded a Miller Fellowship for her book “Polio and its Afterlives: Disability and Epidemic Disease in Twentieth Century France” — the first...
Digital Exhibit: Suffrage Poster Exhibition
Completed in the Fall of 2020 to recognize the centennial of woman suffrage in the U.S., this virtual exhibition was a collaboration between Tamar Carroll, Associate Professor of History, and students...
Featured Profiles
Preserving Lost History
As an archivist, Kayla Jackson '18 is effectively restoring the lost history of the Black community in St. Paul, Minnesota by preserving and digitizing historical documents.
Hands-On Museum Experience
Landyn Hatch
Landyn Hatch, a fourth-year museum studies major, helped 3D-print hands for the mannequins at Genesee Country Village & Museum.
Undergraduate Programs
A history BS that will prepare you not only to become a historian, but also to succeed in fields as diverse as business, education, government, journalism, law, and public service.
Learn more about the History BS programIn museum studies, you’ll learn how collections are built, curated, and interpreted and you will apply methods of exhibition and interpretation used in museums, archives, galleries, libraries, and public spaces including national parks.
Learn more about the Museum Studies BS programMinors and Immersions
The history immersion provides students with intensive study within the discipline of history. Students may choose to structure their immersion broadly, by choosing a wide range of historical topics to study, or narrowly, by choosing a particular area to study, such as American, European, or Asian history.
Learn more about the History Immersion programThe history minor provides students with a foundation in the academic study of history. It serves as a complement to any professional degree, as historical study at the college level hones the skills that are important to any well-trained professional: namely, effective writing, critical analysis, engaged reading, and logical thinking. Students are free to shape the history minor to their liking, by choosing the geographic areas of historical study of most interest to them, such as American, European, or Asian, or by choosing the historical topic of most interest to them, such as transnational history, comparative history, war, business, race, or gender.
Learn more about the History Minor programThe immersion in museum studies introduces students to the history, theory, and practice of institutional collecting, exhibiting, storing, and preserving our cultural heritage in museums, archives, collections, galleries, and libraries. It also provides students with an introduction to public history, the technical investigation of art, the history and theory of exhibitions, and interactive design for museums.
Learn more about the Museum Studies Immersion programThe museum studies minor provides students with a foundation in the history and practice of the museum as an institution and in the history, theory, and practice of collecting, exhibiting, and preserving the cultural heritage that defines the purpose and function of the museum. Courses cover a wide range of topics that are relevant to contemporary museology: the history of museums and collecting, the technical study of art and materials, the history and theory of exhibitions, interactive design, public history, the rise of the museum profession, legal and ethical concerns, and conservation.
Learn more about the Museum Studies Minor program