History | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | The University of Iowa

students sitting on lawn in front of Schaeffer Hall studying

Centerpiece of a humanities education

With its global scope, history helps us to understand today’s crises as well as today’s success stories.

Why Iowa?

With the geographical breadth of our courses, our students develop a global consciousness along with key transferable skills such as critical thinking, communication, and empathy.

Study Here

History students listening in class at their desks, some are wearing hawkeye sweathsirts

Build a foundation

Students of history learn how to locate, verify, and interpret many kinds of evidence in order to understand the causes and effects of changes over time.

Build a foundation

students in special collections with history professor

We are a small, selective program offering students individually tailored study in a range of historical fields alongside opportunities to closely work with faculty on research, teaching, and public engagement at the MA and PhD levels.

Expand your horizons

Tyler Priest interacting with students in his History of Oil class

Learn from experts

In addition to teaching, our faculty members do cutting-edge research in their fields of specialization.

Learn from experts

See Yourself Here

Share our enthusiasm for the study of past societies and cultures to unlock important insights into the world we inhabit.

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Everything has history behind it

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.

Write Your Story

Become an expert in analyzing and contextualizing the past to guide decisions for today and future. With our programs in history, you’ll find intellectual satisfaction and wisdom in understanding the past on its own terms.

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Iowa Native Spaces

Until recently, Iowa Native history was not a big part of social studies curricula in Iowa’s public schools. That is changing, and the University of Iowa is helping drive the change.

History Writing Center

The History Writing Center is available to any student in a history course needing assistance with a writing assignment.

History Corps

History Corps is a graduate student-led, online digital and oral history project based out of the Department of History at the University of Iowa.

News and announcements

Professor Lisa Heineman Receives Hubbard-Walder Teaching Award

Thursday, March 26, 2026

The Hubbard-Walder Teaching Award honors UI faculty who participate in teaching and contributed to curriculum and/or program development.

History Professor named 2026 UI Distinguished Chair

Friday, March 6, 2026

Colin Gordon, professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been named the 2026 University of Iowa Distinguished Chair.

History Undergraduate Chosen for Research in the Capitol Program

Friday, February 27, 2026

Jamison Stone, an undergraduate honors student, was selected as one of just 20 Iowa students to participate in the prestigious Research in the Capitol program.

Upcoming events

Cultivating Rurality: Building Community around Rural Research — 2025–26 Obermann Symposium

Thursday, March 26 to Friday, March 27, 2026 (all day)

Iowa City Public Library

Directed by Brian R. Farrell, Daria Fisher Page, and Ryan T. Sakoda (UI College of Law), "Cultivating Rurality: Building Community around Rural Research" will bring together scholars, community leaders from across the U.S., and professionals who work with rural populations and in rural spaces. During the symposium, attendees will be invited to collaborate in theorizing rurality, share how it impacts their work, examine how rurality is represented and celebrated, and begin to discuss challenges...

"Reimagining the Rural from Idyll to Hinterland: Exhausting Rural Childhoods” — keynote lecture by Esther Pereen, University of Amsterdam

Thursday, March 26, 2026 6:00pm to 7:00pm

Stanley Museum of Art

This is a keynote lecture for the 2025-2026 Obermann Symposium: "Cultivating Rurality: Building Community around Rural Research."

Esther Pereen, University of Amsterdam: "Reimagining the Rural from Idyll to Hinterland: Exhausting Rural Childhoods”

Across the social and cultural realms, the rural is often imagined through idyllic and pastoral genres that allow it to be conceived as a refuge from globalization. Pereen's European Research Council–funded project RURAL IMAGINATIONS, concentrating on...

Cultivating Rurality: Building Community around Rural Research — 2025–26 Obermann Symposium

Friday, March 27, 2026 (all day)

Iowa City Public Library

Culture on Film: Short, Indigenous, Creative (pick 2 or more) - Ida Beam public lecture

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 3:30pm to 4:20pm

Becker Communication Studies Building

This talk will offer a quick-start guide for novice filmmakers, illustrated by several Indigenous-made films that showcase the creative energy and power of short-form and do-it-yourself media.

Documentary screening of "Searching for Sequoyah" hosted by Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor Joshua B. Nelson

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Becker Communication Studies Building

We will hold a screening of the PBS documentary "Searching for Sequoyah (ᎾᏍᎩᏃ ᏍᏏᏉᏯ ᎠᏥᏲᎭ)" with commentary by co-producer, co-writer and host Prof. Joshua B. Nelson, Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor.

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