Contacts

Office: Building 200, Room 113
Mail Code: 94305-2024
Phone: (650) 723-2651
Web Site: http://history.stanford.edu

Courses offered by the Department of History are listed under the subject code History on the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses website.

Mission of the Department of History

We live in a world shaped by the past. To make sense of the past, we must empathize with people who once thought very differently than we do today. We must learn how to see bygone lives and events on their own terms, to render the strange legible and the unfamiliar comprehensible. As a discipline, History teaches the analytical, interpretive, and expressive skills necessary to study the past and to understand social change over time.

 It might seem counterintuitive that one of the best ways to understand the present is by studying the past, but that is precisely why History is so important. When we appreciate that History is not, first and foremost, a body of knowledge – that is, a collection of names, dates, and events – but rather a way of seeing and thinking, it becomes a powerful tool for assessing contemporary challenges and promoting social change. Once we know how to penetrate different modes of thought and human behavior and can understand their inner logic, it becomes easier to make sense of the contemporary world, its diverse peoples and ideas. Studying history cultivates a crucial set of skills that help navigate not only the past, but the present as well.

Degrees Offered

The Department of History offers the following degree programs: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy.

Graduate Programs in History

The primary goal of the Stanford Department of History's graduate program is the training of scholars. Most students who receive doctorates in the program go on to teach at colleges or universities. Other students have obtained positions in university administration and research.

History Course Catalog Numbering System

Faculty

Emeriti: (Professors) Barton J. Bernstein, Joel Beinin, Albert Camarillo, Clayborne Carson, Peter Duus, Terence Emmons, Estelle Freedman, David M. Kennedy, David Holloway, Carolyn Lougee Chappell, Peter Paret, Jack N. Rakove, Richard L. Roberts, Paul A. Robinson, James J. Sheehan, Peter Stansky, Lyman P. Van Slyke, Richard White; (Senior Lecturer) Joseph J. Corn

Chair: Caroline Winterer

Vice Chair: Jun Uchida

Director of Graduate Studies: Amir Weiner

Director of Graduate Teaching: Zephyr Frank

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Fiona Griffiths

Honors Director: James P. Daughton

Professors: Keith M. Baker, James T. Campbell, Gordon Chang, Robert Crews, David R. Como, Paula Findlen, Zephyr Frank, Estelle Freedman, Fiona Griffiths, Stephen Haber, Gabrielle Hecht, Nancy S. Kollmann, Mark E. Lewis, Thomas S. Mullaney, Norman M. Naimark, Robert Proctor, Jessica Riskin, Richard L. Roberts, Aron Rodrigue, Priya Satia, Walter Scheidel, Londa Schiebinger, Matthew H. Sommer, Kären E. Wigen, Caroline Winterer, Steven J. Zipperstein

Associate Professors: Jennifer Burns, James P. Daughton, Allyson V. Hobbs, Ana Raquel Minian, Yumi Moon, Laura Stokes, Jun Uchida, Amir Weiner, Ali Yaycioglu

Assistant Professors: Nora E. Barakat, Joel Cabrita, Rowan Dorin, Jonathan Gienapp, Destin Jenkins, Kathryn Olivarius, Steven M. Press, Partha Pratim Shil, Mikael D. Wolfe 

Courtesy Professors: Gregory Ablavsky, Rabia Belt, Giovanna Ceserani, Daniel Edelstein, Lawrence Friedman, Amalia Kessler, Emily J. Levin, Kathryn Gin Lum, Reviel Netz, Richard P. Saller, Kathryn Starkey, Fred Turner, Sam Wineburg

Senior Lecturers: Katherine Jolluck, Martin W. Lewis

Lecturer: Gil-li Vardi