News

UMass historian Jason Moralee has published an updated edition of The Historians of Ancient Rome, a textbook tracing Roman history through ancient sources, co-authored with UCLA professor emeritus Ronald Mellor. 

Historian Richard Chu has received the 2026 ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Award in recognition of his support for his colleagues’ professional development and success. 

Department of History faculty member Stephen R. Platt has been awarded a prestigious 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 

Since 2022, UMass historian Christian G. Appy has directed the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy (EIPAD), which promotes public understanding, scholarship, and activism in support of compelling, democratic, and sustainable alternatives to militarism, authoritarianism, and environmental degradation. EIPAD is inspired by the life and legacy of whistleblower and activist Daniel Ellsberg (1931-2023). Ellsberg’s legacy is now resonating in an act introduced to Congress by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), the Daniel Ellsberg Press Freedom and Whistleblower Protection Act, endorsed by

PhD candidate Emily Whitted was named a UMass Amherst Groundbreaking Graduate Student.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst/Five College Graduate Program in History is pleased to announce that the 2026 Visiting Writer is Howard W. French

In her 35 years at UMass, Dr. Audrey L. Altstadt consistently combined her powerful work ethic, deep concern with fairness, and dry wit with a devotion to physical well-being, maintaining work-life balance, and rising early every single day. 

In May, the campus gathered to celebrate the retirement of our beloved colleagues Dr. Joye Bowman and Dr. John Higginson, and to thank them for three decades of dedication to our shared mission.

The 2025 UMass History Magazine is out now! Check out the magazine to read about highlights from the classroom, cutting-edge student and faculty research, and engaging public programs that put history to work in the world.