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Welcome to the History Department!

History encompasses the whole of human experience, helping us understand ourselves in the context of our times and traditions through the study of times and traditions other than our own. History means not only the record of the past but also the discipline of investigating and interpreting the past. The study of history develops habits of critical thinking and effective writing, as well as it cultivates the careful analysis of various types of quantitative and qualitative evidence. It should be of value not only to undergraduates who intend to pursue advanced degrees in the field, but also to students interested in exploring the diversity and complexity of the human past, even as they hone their analytical and expository skills.

 

Catch up with History

Student News

Samantha Ortega wins the Katherine Reeve Girard Prize 2022, awarded to a student whose interests are in the international aspects of her major

Daniela Goodman Rabner wins the Schwimmer Prize 2022, awarded to an outstanding graduating senior in the humanities who exemplifies a scholarly commitment to the humanist tradition

Heather Loepere wins the Ellen Davis Goldwater History Prize 2022 for superior work by an undergraduate in history

Ruby Guralnik Dawes wins the Eugene H. Byrne History Prize 2022 for superior work by an undergraduate in history

History Major Daniela Goodman Rabner wins Fulbright to do research in Argentina

History Major Phoebe Jones (class of 2018) writes an article on compensation for exonerated people, wrongfully accused of a crime they did not commit

History Major Lula O’Donnell publishes op-ed on the struggles of essential laundromat workers to defend their rights

History Major & El Pasoan Samantha Ortega publishes historical op-ed comparing the treatment of migrants at the border during a 1917 typhus outbreak & COVID-19

History Major Rachel Eu publishes senior thesis in the Journal of Urban History

History Major Jodi Lessner publishes senior thesis in the Journal of Sino-American Affairs

History Major Jodi Lessner contributes to the Washington Po

History Major Shahnur Said receives 2020 Taraknath Das Prize

History Major Lula O'Donnell writes an op-ed for the NY Daily News calling for Governor Cuomo to allocate state aid to undocumented immigrants during COVID-19

Announcements

Rising Senior History Majors: APPLY NOW for Histories of the Present Senior Thesis Track! To read more about this thesis option and to apply, go here: https://forms.gle/yUBdMFX9Hrjhy3Vv5 (Deadline extended from June 1; please apply ASAP!)

Inviting Applications for Barnard History Seminar, Fall 2022
Seeking Asylum: History, Politics, and the Search for Justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border

Congratulations to all of the Graduating History Seniors, Class of 2022!

Recording of the November 10th, 2021 History Prospective Majors Meeting

Rising Seniors: See the Recording of the Senior Thesis Info-Session

Check Out the Student History Blog Posts: 1/17, 1/28, 2/2, 2/26, 3/9, 7/1

Sample Course Syllabi Now Available

 

 

Faculty News

History Professor Celia Naylor's Digital Humanities project (Un)Silencing Slavery: Remembering the Enslaved at Rose Hall Plantation, Jamaica is now live. The other team members and collaborators on this project include Kristen Akey (Barnard Class of '20), Madiha Zahrah Choksi, Moacir P. de Sá Pereira, Alex Gil, and Monique J.S. Williams (Columbia University, Class of '17).

History Professor Celia Naylor's latest book Unsilencing Slavery: Telling Truths About Rose Hill Plantation, Jamaica is now available from University of Georgia Press

History Professor Anupama Rao interviewed in Columbia News regarding her thinking about identity & difference, equality & exclusion, through the caste system

Mapping Historical New York: A Digital Atlas has won two prestigious prizes from the 49th Annual Map Design Competition of the Cartographic and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS): Best of the Digital/Interactive Map category as well as tied for the Best of Show (all categories). The MHNY project team includes Gergely Baics, Rebecca Kobrin, Laura Kurgan, Leah Meisterlin, Mae Ngai (Co-Principal Investigators); Wright Kennedy, Dan Miller (Project Leaders)

History Professor Nara Milanich writes an op-ed for The Washington Post on the multi-faceted responsibilities of the United States to separated migrant families 

History Professor Abosede George works with immigrant advocacy nonprofit African Communities Together to launch a new podcast

History Professor Abosede George publishes an article on the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria for the Washington Post

History Professor Anupama Rao publishes two articles on race and discrimination for the Wire and Scroll

History Professor Carl Wennerlind's new book, A Philosopher's Economist: Hume and the Rise of Capitalism (co-authored with Margaret Schabas), has just been published by University of Chicago Press

History Professor Celia Naylor discusses the history of Juneteenth and how it relates to current events