History

The Department of History trains students for a historically grounded understanding of today’s complex world and for rewarding careers in research, teaching, law, administration, diplomacy, business, the arts, and public service.

We live in a world shaped by the past. To make sense of that past, we must learn how to see bygone lives and events on their own terms, rendering the strange legible and the unfamiliar comprehensible. As a discipline, History at Stanford is not merely a collection of names, dates, and events, but a powerful way of seeing and thinking. By teaching students to empathize with different modes of thought and human behavior, the study of history provides an essential toolkit for assessing contemporary challenges, understanding social change, and navigating the modern world.

Academic Programs and Historical Training

The Department of History provides rigorous, analytical educational pathways designed to cultivate interpretive, research, and expressive skills:

• Undergraduate Programs (B.A., B.A.S., and Minor): Offering a Major in History, a Major in History with Honors, and a Minor in History, as well as a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (B.A.S.) option. These programs develop the critical communication and interpretive skills necessary to understand historical systems and contemporary global challenges.

• Graduate Programs (M.A. and Ph.D.): Providing advanced, research-intensive training. Program options include a Master of Arts, a Coterminal M.A. in History, a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in History, and a Ph.D. Minor in History designed for doctoral students in other disciplines.

• Joint Programs in Law and History (JD/Ph.D. and JD/M.A.): Conducted in partnership with Stanford Law School, these joint degree programs provide top-level training in both disciplines and explore the complex, fascinating intersections between legal frameworks and historical contexts. Students gain access to a rich array of campus-wide courses, conferences, lectures, and workshops.

Research Frontiers and Historical Inquiry

Research and training in the department cross traditional boundaries, allowing graduate and undergraduate scholars to engage with diverse geographic, chronological, and thematic methodologies. Students analyze historical dynamics across fourteen distinct subfields:

• Geographic and Regional History: Examining the political, social, and cultural evolutions of Africa, Britain, East Asia, Eastern Europe/Russia, Latin America, Medieval and Modern Europe, the Ottoman Empire and Middle East, South Asia, and the United States.

• Thematic and Cross-Cutting Histories: Tracing ideas, institutions, and movements across borders through specialized studies in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, Jewish History, Early Modern Europe, and Transnational, International, and Global History.