History

University of California, Berkeley

Overview

The Department of History is one of the largest and most respected units in UC Berkeley's College of Letters and Science. The Department's faculty ranges across virtually all of the major geographical and chronological fields recognized by the discipline. Berkeley has long been proud of its extensive engagement with the history of Asia, a part of the world only recently given its due by many other history departments. While developing ambitious programs in the study of East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern history, UC Berkeley has also maintained and increased its reputation in the several fields in which it first attained distinction in the first half of the 20th century: Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern European, Latin American, and United States history. Many faculty members are also doing pioneering work in transnational, international, and global approaches to historical scholarship. The Department is comprehensive also in the thematic and methodological emphases that render the study of history one of the most capacious of all academic callings. Although in recent years the Department's strengths in cultural, intellectual, and political history have been the most widely noted, the Department's distinction in social, economic, international and other kinds of history is also recognized throughout the world.


Professional assessments of the nation's history departments (e.g., those sponsored by the National Research Council) usually rank Berkeley first, second, or third. The intellectual stature of the Department's faculty is registered in many metrics, including the fact that seventeen regular or emeriti members have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition, individual members of the Department have often carried major responsibility within the Campus's administration. The Department also enjoys a reputation for excellence in both undergraduate and graduate teaching. Many of its members have won major teaching awards in recent years. Our students, both undergraduate and graduate students, have been highly successful in winning university and external prizes and fellowships to support their innovative research. The Department's baccalaureate and doctoral alumni have gone on to a variety of successful careers in fields such as research, education, law, business, non-profits and NGOs, journalism, public affairs, diplomacy, and international relations.

Undergraduate Programs

History: BA, Minor

Graduate Program

History: PhD

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Courses

History

Contact Information

Department of History

3229 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-1971

Fax: 510-643-5323

history@berkeley.edu

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Department Chair

Cathryn Carson

3303 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-3402

clcarson@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Affairs Officer

Julie Aranda

3310 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-2034

history-gradadvisor@berkeley.edu

Graduate Admissions & Career Development Advisor

3312 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-2378

histadm@berkeley.edu

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