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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June 21, 2024
Cultural heritage imaging system expands international impact to South America
Led by Professor Juilee Decker, Professor David Messinger, and Professor Roger Easton Jr., the development of the MISHA system was originally planned to help small- to medium-sized cultural institutions in the United States.
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May 13, 2024
Ceramics and Illustration graduate Emma Herz Thakur travels to France as a Fulbright awardee
Emma Herz Thakur ’24 feels fortunate that at RIT she met people who have won major grants, had their work featured in museums, and are connected with scholars from around the world. Now, she is one of them.
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May 13, 2024
Undergraduate experiences help lead Izzy Moyer back to Croatia as a Fulbright awardee
Izzy Moyer has a wide-ranging résumé of experiences, from working as an intern at the Seneca Park Zoo through her biology minor to helping create models of historic homes at Genesee Country Village & Museum. Next, she will be taking her talents to Dubrovnik, Croatia, to help The State Archives, thanks to a prestigious Fulbright scholarship.
Featured Work
Historians Put Today’s AI to Work to Better Understand the Past
From medical devices to economic forecasting tools to writing and editing assistants and more, artificial intelligence is playing a role in nearly every industry and activity of contemporary life, but...
Traveling Exhibition Makes a Powerful Social Impact
Samaya Nasr
Featuring work by Samaya Nasr, Lecturer, RIT Department of History
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...
Featured Profiles
2024 Fulbright Scholar: Izzy Moyer
Moyer, a museum studies graduate, will continue working with RIT’s Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts at The State Archives in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Melissa Sagen
’15
“My professors each encouraged my passion for film preservation in their own unique ways. It was meaningful to have that type of positivity and reassurance while I was discovering how I fit in and...
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.
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