Small courses 

No History course is larger than 25 students; most have fewer than 20 students, allowing individual attention and a personalized learning experience. Faculty members know all their students—and their students know them. 

Appropriately rigorous

History courses challenge students to grow intellectually and personally, and to develop knowledge, skills, and habits of mind for lifelong success. Overcoming challenges together helps our majors form a tight-knit community and succeed beyond their own expectations.

Enabling success

We work together to help all students reach their full potential through courses, programs, and workshops. Faculty office doors are open for one-on-one assistance, and the peer-tutoring on offer in the History Help Room builds community as well as academic skills. 

No boilerplate lectures

All courses are taught in a discussion-based style. Many incorporate active learning techniques, collaborative projects, and online/digital work alongside more traditional assignments. Though you may catch a faculty member occasionally waxing lyrical on a favorite topic, or taking a little time to explain a complicated point, this is a lecture-free zone. 

Focus on diversity 

Understanding and evaluating multiple perspectives, including those with whom one disagrees, is essential to the historian’s craft, and thus appreciation of human diversity is an essential part of all History courses. Everyone has a history, and those histories matter.