Share our enthusiasm for the study of past societies and cultures

History unlocks important insights into the world we inhabit. But we also find intellectual satisfaction, and wisdom, in understanding the past on its own terms. Because of the geographical breadth of our courses, history students develop a global consciousness as they develop key transferable skills such as critical thinking, communication, and empathy.

The World is Calling: History Majors

History is the centerpiece of a humanities education. It's about problem-solving, gathering evidence, and fitting that evidence together to understand what happened in past societies - and why those things happened.

Projects

Iowa Native Spaces

History Writing Center

History Corps

News and announcements

John Eicher

History PhD Alum, John Eicher releases 10-part Lecture Series

Thursday, May 30, 2024
John P. R. Eicher (PhD, 2015), Associate Professor of European History at Penn State University and a 2023-24 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, has released a ten-part YouTube lecture series titled, "Western Civilization (1500-Present): From Dawn, to Decadence, to Disillusionment."
Alyssa Park

Associate Professor Alyssa Park Awarded NEH Grant

Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Alyssa Park, associate professor in the Department of History, will use the funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities to travel to South Korea to conduct research for her upcoming book.

History Faculty and Staff win UI Awards

Monday, April 8, 2024
Heineman, Howard, Kelley and Warren honored

Upcoming events

Pasts Imperfect | Panel Discussion promotional image

Pasts Imperfect | Panel Discussion

Tuesday, September 24, 2024 2:30pm to 4:30pm
Stanley Museum of Art
Join us for a panel discussion at the Stanley Museum of Art, and Online via Zoom, that explores how and why we write for the public as art critics, historians, journalists, editors, and nonfiction writers. Moderator Derek (DK) Nnuro | Author and Curator of Special Projects, Stanley Museum of Art Panel Hrag Vartanian | Editor-in-Chief, Hyperallergic Stephanie Wong | Editor and Co- Founder of Pasts Imperfect Jennifer Banks | Senior Executive Editor, Yale University Press The event will...
Book Talk: Built From the Fire promotional image

Book Talk: Built From the Fire

Monday, October 7, 2024 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor, journalist, and author Victor Luckerson will discuss his recent book, Built From the Fire, with Assistant Professor Ashley Howard.  Built From the Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa's Greenwood District, America's Black Wall Street, is the winner of the Stone Book Award from the Museum of African American History in Boston, the SABEW Best in Business Book Award, the Lillian Smith Book Award, and the Oklahoma Historical Society's E.E. Dale Award. It...
Out of the Dark Archives: Books Bound in Human Skin and the New Science of Old Books promotional image

Out of the Dark Archives: Books Bound in Human Skin and the New Science of Old Books

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 6:00pm to 7:00pm
University of Iowa Main Library
Come join us for Iowa Bibliophiles fall semester guest lecture with Megan Rosenbloom!
The Hero You Don’t Know: Hubert Humphrey and the Long Struggle for Civil Rights promotional image

The Hero You Don’t Know: Hubert Humphrey and the Long Struggle for Civil Rights

Thursday, October 24, 2024 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Virtual
To mark the 60th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, award-winning author Samuel G. Freedman, professor of journalism at Columbia University, and Norman Sherman, who served as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary during Lyndon Johnson’s administration, will delve into a bit of history that bears remembrance this presidential election year. Together, Freedman and Sherman will examine Humphrey’s efforts—in tandem with African American leader A. Philip Randolph—to advance civil rights in the 1940s, which set the stage for what President Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Humphrey accomplished in the 1960s.
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