Fall 2026 Course Guide

Take a class with the UMass Amherst history department this spring for an uncensored look at the past.

Bold text reads "study history now" with a highlighter mark under "now"

Join Us!

History faculty are award-winning teachers and leading scholars in their fields. Our classes are open to all majors and many fulfill one or more GenEds. This page contains our undergraduate course guide. View our graduate course guide and our summer online course guide.

Meeting the Requirements

Each semester, numerous history department courses fulfill one or more General Education requirements, including Historical Studies (HS), United States Diversity (DU), Global Diversity (DG), and Interdisciplinary (I). Some courses are cross-listed with other departments, such as economics and legal studies. These courses and others may count toward major requirements in other departments. We advise you to contact your major advisor to determine whether a history course may count for a non-history major. This semester's courses also fulfill various requirements for history majors and minors, including:

Non-Western

Pre-1500

Integrative Experience

Junior Year Writing

Fall 2026 Undergraduate Courses

HIST 100 Western Thought Since 1600

HIST 110 World History to 1500

HIST 111 World History Since 1500

HIST 112 Intro to World Religions

HIST 116 History of Japan

HIST 117 Science and Society in Modern China

HIST 120 Latin America: The Colonial Period

HIST 130 Middle East History I

HIST 131 European History 1815-Present

HIST 150 US History to 1876

HIST 151 US History Since 1876

HIST 161 History of Africa Since 1500

HIST 180 The History of Science and Technology in the Western World, Part I

HIST 200 New Approaches To History: Oligarchy

HIST 202 Civil War Era

HIST 204 Ancient Rome

HIST 220 Capitalism and Alternatives in Latin America

HIST 225H Christianity, Honors

HIST 242H American Family in Historical Perspectives, Honors

HIST 245 Chinese Diasporic Communities in the US and the World: Race, Empire, and Transnationalism

HIST 250 Introduction to South Asian History and Culture

HIST 264 History of Healthcare and Medicine in the US

HIST 268 Women and the Law: History of Sex and Gender Discrimination

HIST 270 Indigenous Histories for STEM

HIST 275 The Craft of History

HIST 283 History of American Gridiron Football

HIST 290V History and Video Games

HIST 303 The Later Middle Ages 1100-1350

HIST 305 Renaissance & Reformation Europe

HIST 320 From Muhammad to the Caliphate: The Rise of Islam in the Late Antique Context

HIST 322 Modern France

HIST 325 World War I

HIST 341B Ottoman Empire

HIST 345 China in the 19th Century

HIST 356 US Empire and Solidarity in Central America

HIST 357 Women and Revolutions

HIST 359 Modern Brazil

HIST 361 American Revolutionary Era

HIST 368 US Between World Wars

HIST 378G Rape Law: Gender, Race, and (In)Justice

HIST 382 Cities in the Modern US

HIST 391PM Public History and Museums

HIST 394AI Age of Crusades

HIST 394CI Ideas that Changed History

HIST 394RI Comparative Revolutions in the Modern Era

HIST 396W Navigating Washington

HIST 450-01 Junior Year Writing: History Writing and Political Engagement

HIST 450-02 Junior Year Writing: China and the US

HIST 450-03 Junior Year Writing: Maps, Politics, and Power

HIST 591UU Uncovering UMass History: A Critical Research Seminar