Undergraduate students in the George Washington and his World class. Text: Department of History, Columbian College of Arts & Sciences seal

 

Examining the Past to Understand the future
Studying history through today's lens

 

Who We Are

 

Professor Joel Blecher teaching a class on Islamic History with a group of graduate students listening

 

With an unparalleled location in the nation's capital, award-winning faculty and access to some of the most important research repositories in the world, the GW Department of History offers an ideal platform from which to explore our past. Undergraduate and graduate students are exposed to a diversity of topics, from the Africa diaspora to the Cold War, from imperialism to urbanization, from the founding of Islam to Jewish history, from race relations to labor, law and politics. Students graduate with the knowledge and analytical tools necessary for success in a wide range of careers.

 

 

Where We Are

 

The Washington, D.C., area offers a front-row seat to history. Students are immersed in their surroundings through trips to museums, battlefields and historical sites including the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Jamestown Settlement, the Gettysburg Battlefield, the Society of the Cincinnati and George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate.

Through the department's collaborative relationships with institutions throughout the region, students also have extraordinary access to historical documents at the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the National Security Archive and the Smithsonian Institution.

Aerial picture of the national mall. Left to right: The Smithsonian, The Washington Monument, museum of natural history

 

 

Upcoming Events

See our News and Events page for more.

 

Farah al-Nakib

Farah Al-Nakib, BA '01

Author, Kuwait Transformed: Oil and Urban Life

"[Senior year] was the first time I ever studied Kuwait's history. ... Being able to unearth unused documents about the subject I was researching was really thrilling. I didn't quite know it back then, but that experience officially turned me into a historian."

 History by the Numbers

100+ students in the major

 

50+ students in the minor

 

~40 full-time faculty members

 

 

Our Highlights 

Department Headlines

Nemata Blyden and Paul Wahlbeck speak on a stage with the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences logo behind them

Africa's Impact on the African American Experience

How does Africa figure in “real and imagined ways” to the African American experience? Professor of History and International Affairs Nemata Blyden spoke with CCAS Dean  Paul Wahlbeck about the customs and traditions—from religion and food to language and music—that carried over from the African continent centuries ago and can still be seen today. 

Professor Christopher Brick at his desk listening and recording a podcast

Failing Grade: Are Americans Flunking History?

History professor Christopher Brick has a lesson plan to raise our humanities IQ.

During World War II, Jews in France like Denise Bauman were required to carry identity cards. (Photos Courtesy Ashley Valanzola)

Commemorating History’s Dark Chapter

PhD student Ashley Valanzola is researching the stories of six extraordinary Jewish women—Holocaust survivors who worked to honor the memory of lives lost.

Faculty Books

  • Book cover of "ruling the savage periphery" by Benjamin Hopkins

    Ruling the Savage Periphery: Frontier Governance and the Making of the Modern State

  • Book cover of "African Americans & Africa: A New History" by Nemata Amelia Ibitayo Blyden.

    African Americans and Africa: A New History

  • Book cover of "Spinoza's Challenge to Jewish Thought: Writings on His Life, Philosophy, & Legacy" edited by Daniel B. Schwartz.

    Spinoza's Challenge to Jewish Thought: Writings on His Life, Philosophy, and Legacy

  • Book cover of "Partitions: A Transnational History of Twentieth-Century Territorial Separatism" by Arie Dubnov and Laura Robson.

    Partitions: A Transnational History of Twentieth-Century Territorial Separatism