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American University Catalog 2021-2022
American University
   
    Apr 24, 2024  
American University Catalog 2021-2022 
    
American University Catalog 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

History


Administration

Chair  Eric Lohr
Director of Graduate Studies  Gautham Rao
Director of Undergraduate Studies  April Shelford and Pedram Partovi
Director of Public History Program  M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska

Full-Time Faculty

Distinguished Professor  A. Kraut, A. Lichtman
Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender History  P. Nadell
Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies  M. Brenner
Dr. James H. Billington Chair of Russian History and Culture  E. Lohr
Professor  L. Beers, M. Brenner, E. Findlay, M. Friedman, P. Kuznick, L. Leff, E. Lohr, P. Nadell
Associate Professor  A. Demshuk, A. Fedyashin, K. Franz, K. Haulman, J. Jacobs, D. Kerr, P. Partovi, G. Rao, T. Runstedlter, M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, A. Shelford, E. Stockreiter, K. Vester
Senior Professorial Lecturer  M. Giandrea

Emeriti Faculty

Distinguished Professor Emeritus/a  B. Reagon, R. Breitman
Associate Professor Emeritus/a  I. Klein

Department Overview

A major in history at AU prepares students to succeed in their careers and to become lifelong learners. Our major is flexible. With few specific requirements, students are free to explore their interests and passions, taking courses that they find compelling, and building their own unique programs of study. We offer courses across a broad range of international, topical, and chronological boundaries. Our major is also rigorous, demanding high levels of writing, research, analysis, and close reading–all foundational skills for nearly any vocation. Our majors do very well in applications to professional and graduate schools. 

Our faculty are nationally and internationally renowned scholars. They are also engaged in contemporary politics and social commentary to a degree that is rarely found among history professors. Our students thus not only study history, but also interact with professors who actively seek to apply understanding the past to understanding the present and future. 

AU History faculty also have close, ongoing relationships with major institutions in Washington, DC, such as the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the National Museum of American History, the White House Historical Association, the National Building Museum, the State Department, embassies, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Our students find many opportunities for student internships and for engagement in the application of historical study to contemporary policy and culture. History is a classic liberal arts major that prepares our students to see the world with historical perspective, to be informed citizens, and to thrive in many professions. 

Special Opportunities

  • Valerie French History Education Endowment Fund; Dorothy Gondos-Beers Scholarship; Janet Oppenheim History Prize; Richard and Carol Breitman Endowed Scholarship; Roger Brown Dissertation Fellowship; Dr. Dorothy and Victor Gondos, Jr. Student Support; Patrick Clendenen Dissertation Fellowship; Robert Griffith Education Fund for Public History; History Outstanding Teaching Assistant Prize; Best Single-Semester Capstone History Prize; Anna Kasten Nelson Award for Excellence in History; History Research & Conference Travel Funding
  • Internships at Washington area museums, libraries and archives, historic sites, historic preservation offices, historical societies, and government agencies

Honors in History

The Honors in History  program deepens the major experience of the department’s best students. 

Programs

    Major Program (UG)Minor (UG)Master’s Program (GR)Doctoral Program (GR)