History
Explore the past in order to shine a light on the present.
We study history—finding, evaluating, and interpreting recorded evidence—in order to understand the past and explain the present.
The UMass history program is dedicated to cultivating students’ skills in historical methodologies and analytical writing, as well as their critical thinking abilities. We’re a program with diverse specialties, and we pride ourselves on our long-standing commitment to transatlantic and global history, gender and labor studies, public history, and American history.
Our unusual resources include the public history program and community engagement programs, which bring historical scholarship to teachers and the wider public, and the innovative Five College Graduate Program in History, which broadens our students’ research opportunities.
An undergraduate degree in history can open doors to a variety of careers, including law, journalism, diplomacy, and work in the nonprofit sector. History majors may also pursue secondary education certification in conjunction with the major. At the graduate level, students deepen their expertise in such historical areas as women’s history or Latin American history through comprehensive research.
Explore our programs
Continuing and professional education
Benefits list
Feinberg Series
The Feinberg Series—uniting students, faculty, scholars, and historians—focuses on a big issue of clear and compelling concern, aiming to ground it in historical inquiry, context, analysis and experience, and features a wide variety of events, including lectures, exhibitions, performances, and more.
Writer-in-Residence Series
Dedicated to the idea that an understanding of the past is essential to living in a vibrant democracy, the Department of History’s Writer-in-Residence Series facilitates sustained conversation with widely read authors whose historical work engages broad public audiences.
Lessons from a Whistleblower
The archive of political activist Daniel Ellsberg, housed at UMass Amherst, offers researchers unparalleled access to some of the most critical episodes and issues facing American society.
Featured faculty
Brian Ogilvie
Sarah Cornell
Senior Lecturer, History
Sarah Cornell is the undergraduate program director and a senior lecturer in the history department.
Samuel Redman
Professor, History
Samuel Redman is a professor of history and the director of the public history program.
Joel Wolfe
Professor, History
Joel Wolfe is the graduate program director and a professor of history.
In the news
History's Kevin A. Young Authors New Book, ‘Abolishing Fossil Fuels’
Kevin A. Young, associate professor of history, has published a new book on climate activists’ quest to eliminate fossil fuels.
History Department to Host U.S. Representative Becca Balint (D-VT) for Conversation on Finding Your Path
UMass students have the chance to hear from Rep. Balint in a Zoom discussion moderated by Dr. Alice Nash, who advised her 2001 MA thesis in history.
HFA Recognizes History’s Asheesh Siddique and English’s Ruth Jennison for Excellence in Teaching with the 2024 College Outstanding Teacher Award
The College of Humanities & Fine Arts (HFA) has announced its 2024 College Outstanding Teaching Award recipients: Asheesh Siddique and Ruth Jennison.