Chinese military drills send ominous message to Taiwan
The drills, in the waters and airspace around Taiwan, serve three military purposes, says professor David Silbey.
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The Department of History thrives on its close relationship with many other departments, centers and area studies programs in the humanities and social sciences at Cornell. The faculty includes more than a dozen prize-winning authors as well as winners of Cornell’s prestigious teaching and advising awards.
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Individuating Identity in Postcolonial Pakistan
Uris Hall
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Department of History News
Historian Barry Strauss wins 2025 Bradley Prize
The award carries a stipend of $300,000; Strauss will receive the award at a ceremony on May 29 in Washington, D.C.
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Canadian ‘snap’ election all about President Trump, says Cornell historian
Professor Jon Parmenter says Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to call the election looks like a smart decision.
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Student spotlight: Jingya Guo
Jingya Guo, a doctoral candidate in history, studies how historical actors contested and reconfigured the demarcation between pathology and health for female bodies in China.
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HIST 4931 Vitality and Power in China
HIST 4931 Vitality and Power in China (also ASIAN 4429, BSOC 4911, CAPS 4931, RELST 4931, STS 4911) (HST-AS, SCD-AS) (HPE, HAN) Tuesday: 2:00-4:30 plus Independent Research Professor TJ Hinrichs Chinese discourses have long linked the circulation of cosmic energies, political power, and bod...
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HIST 4672 Europe in Flames: World War II and its Aftermath
HIST 4672 Europe in Flames: World War II and its Aftermath (also JWST 4672) (GLC-AS, HST-AS) (HEU) Tuesday: 2:00-4:30 plus Independent Research Professor Cristina Florea One of the most spectacular conflagrations in global history, World War II surpassed all previous conflicts in violence, ...
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HIST 4204 Early American History throught Film, ca. 1500-1800
HIST 4204 Early American History through Film, ca. 1500-1800 (also AMST 4205) (HST-AS) (HPE, HNA) Thursday: 2:00-4:30 plus Independent Research Professor Casey Schmitt While the purpose of Hollywood films is to entertain, when those films are set in the past, they offer a critical lens onto...
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HIST 3740 America Becomes Modern: The Gilded Age and Progressive Era
HIST 3740 America Becomes Modern: The Gilded Age and Progressive Era (also AMST 3744) (HST-AS) (HNA) Tuesday and Thursday: 2:55-4:10 Professor Lawrence Glickman “America Becomes Modern” offers an upper-level survey of major themes in American history between 1877 and 1917. The course will h...
Read moreAcademic Pursuits
Undergraduate Study
History is valuable as preparation for graduate, professional, or law school and for any career that requires critical thinking and good writing; the reputation of the faculty for scholarship, teaching, and advising; and most of all, the intrinsic interest of the discipline.
Graduate Program
Cornell's Department of History has a topnotch faculty covering a wide range time periods, geographic regions and methodologies. As a student in our program, you will also be able to work with members of the wider Graduate Field of History, which includes scholars whose main appointment is in other colleges and programs at Cornell but who are able to supervise dissertations of Ph.D. students in History.
Connections through history
Public History Initiative
The Cornell Public History Initiative (CPHI) works to stimulate and deepen dialogue among undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and their wider communities about the sedimented histories that shape our contemporary world.