Purdue’s approach to the study of history is equally varied among politics, society, culture, gender, race, war, diplomacy, science, and technology. The Department of History is deeply involved in educating students to think critically, with courses that teach not only what happened in the past but also how the past informs the present. History majors acquire skills in critical thinking and communication.
Points of Pride:
- Each year, the department coordinates study abroad trips around the world, most recently to Germany, Egypt, England, Greece, China, and Turkey.
- The department is dedicated to excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching as well as historical research. The department's faculty members take pride in fostering close working relationships with students. The faculty members have national and international reputations for research, and the department has earned campus-wide recognition for excellent teaching. Departmental faculty consistently win major research awards and grants, hold offices in professional organizations, and serve on editorial boards at home and abroad as well as publish articles in major journals and critically acclaimed books.
- Department members have received several prestigious awards: R. Douglas Hurt was named a Fellow of the Agricultural History Society. John Larson and Michael Morrison were co-directors of a National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar for university and college professors in 2005 and 2011. Charles Ingrao received a Fulbright for teaching and research in Cyprus in spring 2011. John Contreni was elected as a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America. Darren Dochuk won the John H. Dunning Prize awarded by the American Historical Association in recognition of outstanding historical writing in U.S. history. Jennifer Foray will be a fellow at the Remarque Institute at New York University in spring 2013. Dawn Marsh participated in a 2010 NEH Summer Institute at the Newberry Library. Caroline Janney was reappointed a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.
- Excellence in teaching remains the hallmark of the department. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named Michael Morrison (1997) and Randy Roberts (2006) the Indiana Professor of the Year. Five current faculty members are in Purdue University’s Book of Great Teachers. Four faculty members have received the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, in the memory of Charles B. Murphy. Current faculty members have been awarded the College of Liberal Arts Teaching Excellence Award a total of ten times. Three faculty members have been admitted to the University’s Teaching Academy. Six have been awarded Teaching for Tomorrow Grants.
- The Department of History's Honors Program offers students the opportunity to engage in challenging courses, research, and sustained historical writing.
- Purdue has history student organizations such as Phi Alpha Theta and the Purdue History Organization.