Welcome to the Department of History
Our initial connection to history is sparked by reading an exciting book, hearing an inspiring teacher, watching a gripping documentary, or walking a Civil War battlefield. As our curiosity leads us to analyze the past in greater depth, we discover that history is important in a more profound sense. MORE...

Dr. Kenneth Swope Publishes Book, A Dragon's Head and A Serpent's Tail
A fresh perspective on the late Ming and early modern East Asia The invasion of Korea by Japanese troops in May of 1592 was no ordinary military expedition: it was one of the decisive events in Asian history and the most tragic for the Korean peninsula until the mid-twentieth century. Japanese overlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi envisioned conquering Korea, Ming China, and eventually all of Asia; but Korea’s appeal to China’s Emperor Wanli for assistance triggered a six-year war involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers and encompassing the whole region. For Japan, the war was “a dragon’s head followed by a serpent’s tail”: an impressive beginning with no real ending. MORE...

Dr. Sergei Zhuk's Publishes in Nationalisms Across The Globe
Dr. Zhuk's article "Building the Ukrainian Identity through Cultural Consumption in the 'Closed' City of Soviet Ukraine: Dnipropetrovs'k KGB Files and 'Transgressions' of Everyday Life during Late Socialism, 1959-1985" was recently published in the Nationalisms Across The Globe Volume 1 out of MORE...

2010 Student History Conference- Call for Submissions
The Department of History invites submissions for the Thirteenth Annual Student History Conference to be held on February 26, 2010 in the Pittenger Student Center. MORE...

Dr. Carol Symes to give Burkhardt Lecture
Dr. Carol Symes will give the Burkhardt Lecture as part of the 13th Annual Student History Conference MORE...

Ronald Morris' DVD, Finding Harmony, wins Regional Emmy
The Lower Great Lakes Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognizes excellence and promotes the highest standards in television professionalism. MORE...

Dr. Bruce Geelhoed Publishes On the Western Front with the Rainbow Division
An ordinary soldier’s day-by-day account of the Great War Vernon E. Kniptash, an Indiana national guardsman who served in the Rainbow Division during World War I, observed firsthand some of the Great War’s fiercest fighting. As a radio operator with the Headquarters Company of the 150th Field Artillery MORE...