University of Minnesota
Department of History
history@umn.edu
612-624-2800


Department of History

Welcome to the History Department at the University of Minnesota! For well over a century, we have introduced undergraduates to the excitement and significance of historical studies. We have trained generations of graduate students who have gone on to teach and research in colleges, universities, museums, and libraries. Our faculty’s research has taken them around the world.

We see scholarship, teaching, service, and outreach to the community in Minnesota and beyond as mutually reinforcing. All members of the faculty teach at all levels from freshmen surveys through graduate seminars. Many have won awards to recognize the high quality of their scholarship, teaching, and service. They have received fellowships from the most prestigious foundations and government granting agencies. We have a lively community of graduate student scholar-teachers. Our undergraduate major prepares some of the best students in the College of Liberal Arts for a variety of careers.

Our faculty contribute to knowledge about people and places all over the globe; our students study the ways people have interacted through trade, migration, media, and conquest from the ancient world to the present. They learn that what transpires in Minnesota is related to events as far away as Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. The work of historians in all their endeavors is international education at its best.

History Department has moved to Heller Hall

After more than 40 years in the Social Science Tower, the Department has moved to more spacious quarters in Heller Hall. Many of us have traded the views of the Mississippi outside of our windows for the dramatic skyline of downtown Minneapolis. A twelth-floor meeting space will open up new vistas and possibilities. Our new address is 1110 Heller Hall, 271 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

Learn more about us

Explore our website. Find out about the recent books published by our faculty and their current research projects. Look at the range and quality of the courses we offer. Read about the variety of community outreach projects we have undertaken. And contact us to learn more!

With best wishes,
Eric Weitz, Professor and Chair of History

News & Events

  • IAS "Oil Spill" Fall Course Garners National Attention

    "Oil and Water: The Gulf Oil Spill of 2010", a Fall semester course sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Study and taught by PhD student Robert Gilmer, is featured on the front page of today's Star Tribune. The story profiling the course offering, instructor Robert Gilmer, and the IAS and its director, Prof. Ann Waltner, is also featured on CNN.com's "Intriguing People" blog, on HuffingtonPost.com, the website of the Washington Post, and the 6/23 edition of The Minnesota Daily.

    Congratulations to Rob and Ann!

    For a course description of "Oil and Water: The Gulf Oil Spill of 2010", click here.

  • 2009-10 Distinguished Teaching Award - Ruth Mazo Karras

    On Monday, April 26, 2010, Prof. Ruth Mazo Karras was honored as a recipient of the 1009-2010 Graduate/Professional Award.

    The Award for Outstanding Contributions to Postbaccalaureate, Graduate, and Professional Education (Graduate/Professional Award) was established in 1999 to recognize contributions to postbaccalaureate, graduate, and professional education. Recipients are chosen for excellence in instruction; involvement in students' research, scholarship, and professional development; development of instructional programs; and advising and mentoring of students.

    Prof. Karras Award Profile

  • 2010 Dean's Medal to Ruth Mazo Karras

    The College of Liberal Arts has awarded the 2010 Dean's Medal to Professor Ruth Karras, Department of History.

    This honor is awarded each year to a member of the CLA faculty who has demonstrated excellence in scholarship and/or creative activity. Previous recipients have been Professors Edward Prescott, Sara Evans, Lydia Artymiw, Elaine Tyler May, Marcia Eaton, Gordon Legge, Jeylan Mortimer, Clarence Morgan, R. Dennis Cook, David Wilkins, Paula Rabinowitz, and John Freeman.

    The faculty member selected receives an inscribed medal and a cash award, and is invited to address the faculty at the time the award is presented.

    Prof. Karras' Dean's Medalist address: "A Medieval Perspective on Marriage Equality"

    The college will honor the 2010 Dean's Medalist, as well as the 2010 Scholar of the College Awardees, on Monday, February 22, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in the Mississippi Room (3rd floor, Coffman Memorial Union) and is open to the public.

    More Information

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