University of Minnesota
Department of History
history@umn.edu
612-624-2800


Department of History's home page.

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Undergraduate Studies

Welcome to all undergraduate students of history!

History is so much more than the dull collection of facts, names, and dates. In studying the past, we encounter fascinating stories full of human quirks, foibles, virtues and vices, comedy and tragedy, great beauty and much ugliness, the unusual and the commonplace, dastardly villains and admirable heroes, people like us and very unlike us. There are unsolved crimes and mysteries to explore, and unresolved debates to join in. Most important, the study of history is a distinctive and vital part of our education. It is essential to understanding the complex interplay of continuity and change over space and time; to explaining the development and decline of cultures, institutions and ideas; to illuminating not only how past worlds became our present but also what is possible for our future. History provides concrete lessons and a sobering reality check, but it is also a source of inspiration and hope.

The History Department at Minnesota is a great place to pursue your study of the past. We are unusual in the range and variety of undergraduate courses we offer, from the ancient and medieval to the history that was made yesterday, all around the globe. We also offer many ways to learn outside the classroom, in hands-on research opportunities, internships, foreign study, and service learning. Our history majors acquire important critical analysis, research, and writing skills that are applicable across all disciplines and in a variety of professions. As a major, minor, or student in a single course, historical study will give you the skills, context, and perspective you need in order to think about and understand ourselves and our world. Come join us!

Christopher Isett
Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies

Undergraduate Features

Undergraduate Studies
Rich Kott
1135 Heller Hall
271 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Phone: 612-624-5227
Email: histugs@umn.edu

  • CLA and History Scholarship and Paper Prize Recipients

    Congratulations to these exceptional History undergrad students!

    CLA Continuing Student Scholarships
    History undergraduate Elizabeth Bushard is among the winners for 2013-14 of the Selmer Birkelow Scholarship in the College of Liberal Arts

    History Department Scholarships and Paper Prizes
    Talle Family Merit Scholarship for Excellence in History

  • Rebecca Whitmore

    • Moen Scholarship:
  • Kevin Kallmes

    • Donovan Scholarship:
  • Kevin Kallmes--"Silchester Field School--Summer Excavation Opportunity"

  • Samuel Neisen--""Citizen Schools and Public Achievement"

  • Rebecca Whitmore--"Senegalese Elementary Education in the Shadow of International Presence"

    • George Green Prize:
  • Sara Norlin--Not All in the Same Boat: Gender and Class Inequalities in Popular Cultural Accounts of the RMS Titanic and the RMS Lusitania"

    • Class of 1889 Memorial Prize:
  • Renae Rodgers--"Transitions in Textbooks: National Identity in the Volksschule History Texts, 1939-1949"

    • Howard Reinmuth Prize:
  • Drew Horwood--"A consulting Imperialist: Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle, and the Ethos of Empire"

    • (Continue Reading)April 23rd, 2013

  • 18 History Undergrads Elected to Phi Beta Kappa

    For 2013, 18 students with History undergraduate majors have been elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa by the Alpha Chapter of the University of Minnesota. Congratulations to all of these exceptional students!

    • Baker,Stuart Karl
    • Bjornson,Christian A
    • Bona,Brian C
    • Burnette,Myra J
    • Cooper,Philip M
    • Demianiuk,Michael E
    • Galili,Joni Ariel
    • Gleiter,Gustav W
    • Mier,Bradley R
    • Miller,James R
    • Miron,Rose K
    • Ney, Kristen
    • Oiri,Hiroe
    • Osborne,Andrew L
    • Porter,Daniel J
    • Smedberg,Simon D
    • Stanoch,Matthew T
    • Wallerstedt,Sophie E
     (Continue Reading)April 17th, 2013