American University Catalog 2016-2017 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
History
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Chair Eric Lohr
Director of Graduate Studies Kate Haulman
Director of Undergraduate Studies Eileen Findlay
Director of Public History Program Daniel Kerr
Director of Carmel Institute of Russian Culture and History Anton Fedyashin
Director of Nuclear Studies Peter Kuznick
Full-Time Faculty
Distinguished Professor Emeritus/a B. Reagon, R. Breitman
Distinguished Professor A. Lichtman
University Professor A. Kraut
Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender History P. Nadell
Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies M. Brenner
Susan E. Carmel Chair of Russian History and Culture E. Lohr
Professor Emeritus/a R. Beisner, R. Brown
Professor M. Friedman, P. Kuznick, E. Findlay, L. Leff
Associate Professor Emeritus/a I. Klein
Associate Professor L. Beers, M. Curtin, A. Fedyashin, K. Haulman, D. Kerr, T. Runstedlter, A. Shelford, K. Vester
Assistant Professor A. Demshuk, M. Giandrea, J. Jacobs, P. Partovi, G. Rao, M. Rymsza-Pawlowska, E. Stockreiter
Distinguished Historian-in-Residence M. Brenner
Historians explore the past, but the pasts they uncover depend on the questions they ask, and historians keep discovering new questions appropriate to their moment in time. Exploring civilizations across time and space, historians study all the creations of men and women: politics and governments, the arts and the sciences, economic and technological changes, public and private lives, nations and their peoples.
The undergraduate history program introduces students to history broadly, requiring study of ancient, medieval, and modern histories in several geographic contexts before expecting students to specialize. The program’s lectures, seminars, and discussions facilitate student engagement. Master’s and doctoral students specialize in either United States or modern European history and hone research, writing, and analytical skills. The department also offers an MA in public history, and public history may be taken as an outside field in the doctoral program. Students in American University’s History Department have the opportunity to work closely with faculty experts who specialize not only in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and East Asia, but whose research focuses on the history of women, the Holocaust, immigration, politics, and culture.
AU History faculty have close, ongoing relationships with major historical institutions in Washington, DC, such as the National Archives, Library of Congress, National Museum of American History, National Building Museum, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. These provide excellent opportunities for student internships and for their engagement with public history, which is the presentation of history outside of the classroom. During the summer, students may participate in the department’s popular Civil War and Nuclear Studies Institutes.
In addition to preparing students for graduate or law school, the Department of History’s emphasis on research, writing, and intellectual problem solving prepares its students for a wide array of careers in business, government, public interest fields, journalism, and other professions.
Special Opportunities
- Valerie French Undergraduate Seminar Prize; Anna Kasten Nelson Award for Excellence in History; Dorothy Gondos Beers Scholarship; Janet Oppenheim Prize; Janet Oppenheim Research Awards; Richard and Carol Breitman Endowed Scholarship; Roger Brown Dissertation Fellowship; Dorothy and Victor Gondos, Jr. Graduate Research Fellowship; Patrick Clenden Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s and Gender History; Robert Griffith Public History Award; Robert Griffith Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
- Internships at Washington area museums, libraries and archives, historic sites, historic preservation offices, historical societies, and government agencies
Honors in History
Honors in History deepens the major experience of the department’s very best students. Honors students demonstrate their mastery of historical writing by producing a two-semester senior thesis earning a grade of A- or above. They also produce and reflect upon a portfolio of their work in the major, including the required study of a foreign language, a tool essential to the discipline. Finally, they will earn excellent grades in all courses, including at least one History 500 seminar OR at least one “Honors Supplement” for current existing course at the 200-level or above.
Program Requirements:
- Major GPA of 3.67 or above.
- Passing two semesters of foreign language study at the college level OR pass a department-administered proficiency examination. The examination would ask for simple document translation with the use of a bilingual dictionary.
- The two semester capstone research seminar (HIST-480/481) with a grade of A- or better on the research paper itself.
- At least one History 500 seminar OR at least one “Honors Supplement” for current existing course at the 200-level or above. The Honors Supplement will consist of a research paper which incorporates outside class research in both primary and secondary sources. The Honors Supplement research paper shall be written in addition to the regular course requirement, or, with the approval of the professor, could be a significantly enhanced version of an existing assignment.
- Portfolio of their work at American University. This portfolio would include such elements as research papers written, reflections on and evaluations of internship experiences or processing of archival collections, and other significant intellectual products developed, such as websites, lesson plans, syllabi, and oral histories. Honors students will present their portfolios at History Day in the spring of their graduation.
ProgramsMajorMinorMaster’s ProgramDoctoral Program
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