Welcome to the Department of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln!

Composed of thirty faculty members who have earned Ph.D. degrees from many of the leading universities across the country, the History Department offers a full range of programs and courses in North American, European, and World history. The strength of our department arises from the breadth and quality of these faculty member's commitment to scholarly excellence and their extensive teaching experience. As researchers, our faculty have produced more than one thousand publications in all areas of historical scholarship, including more than one hundred books. As classroom teachers, they have won sixteen college or university teaching awards and hold eight distinguished professorships. They have been nationally recognized with some of the most prestigious fellowships, grants, and awards available to History faculty.

At the present time, 250 undergraduates are pursuing a History major at UNL. And this number has doubled during the last five years with the continuing growth in popularity of History as an undergraduate major. Our majors receive training in the broad range of skills-careful research, critical analysis, and cogent writing-that will make them attractive candidates for a wide variety of educational and employment opportunities. The History program not only provides knowledge and expertise for students who are pursuing careers as History educators but also outstanding preparation for professional opportunities in fields such as law, journalism, museums and archives, government service at all levels, and areas of business in which a knowledge of domestic and foreign affairs is increasingly vital.

A recent survey of our undergraduate alumni uncovered an amazing range of career paths. The most frequent career destinations are university and college professors and officials, lawyers in private practice and government service, secondary history teachers, government officials, archivists, military officers, bankers, and corporate executives. But our alums also include software developers, police officers, pilots, ministers, postmasters, and professional writers. In short, a degree in History opens doors to a surprising range of career possibilities.

Our graduate program currently includes sixty to seventy students pursuing M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. Major emphases include U.S. history, the North American West, European history, German Studies, Comparative World History, and Digital History. Our department excels at instilling a global perspective and forging connections across the spectrum of scholarly inquiry. History faculty and students participate in thirty interdisciplinary programs on the UNL campus, including the Center for Great Plains Studies, the Plains Humanities Alliance, the Honors Program, the Ethnic Studies Program, the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, the Women's Studies Program, the 19th Century Studies Program, the Judaic Studies Program, the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program, Classics and Religious Studies, the Alpha Learning Community, the Human Rights and Human Diversity Program, and the Asian Studies Program.

Despite the size of our department (which teaches History to 4,000 UNL students every semester) and our growing enrollments, the History Department takes pride in offering the overwhelming majority of its courses in small lecture settings or seminars. The student-to-teacher ratio is 8:1 among undergraduate majors and 3:1 among graduate students. Both inside and outside the classroom, our faculty are energetic and engaged mentors for all of our undergraduate majors and graduate students.

Overall, the History Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is a wonderful place to begin a career in a wide range of rewarding academic and professional fields. And this is the best time ever to consider pursuing a degree in History.

Best wishes,

Kenneth J. Winkle
Chair, Department of History