We offer graduate training leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. in a wide range of fields, including Early America, Modern America, African-American, Colonial and Modern Latin America, Military, Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Modern Europe, British and British Empire, South Asia, Imperial and Soviet Russia, Traditional and Modern China, Modern Japan, Africa, History of Medicine, and History of Science and Technology.
Upcoming Events
Fri
25
Jan
Transnationally Thinking Men and Masculinities
11:30 AM @ East Duke Parlors
Fri
25
Jan
Gender, Race and Labor in the Academy
3:00 PM @ East Duke Parlors
About Us
Duke’s History Department — among the top programs in the country — regard the creation of knowledge as one of the fundamental missions of a research university. Our world-renowned faculty, who work closely with our students and collaborate with colleagues across disciplines, are at the cutting edge of research in their fields as they address society’s greatest challenges. And our graduate and undergraduate academic programs — designed to help students critically think about the world around them — successfully prepare students for a wide range of careers.
Latest News
Laurent Dubois shares his experience as a New...
Laurent Dubois talks about his experience as a New Directions fellow and exploring the history of he banjo in the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation blog. read more about Laurent Dubois shares his experience as a New Directions Fellow »
Third Book Prize for Fahad Bishara
Fahad Bishara, former PhD student in the department of history, has now won three book prizes for A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780-1950 (... read more about Third Book Prize for Fahad Bishara »
What I Did This Summer?
A handful of graduate students received funding from the history department for summer research. Below are reports on their experience! Garrett McKinnon The summer research... read more about What I Did This Summer? »
Nancy MacLean's Op-Ed in "The Guardian...
Democrats were once invisible in state politics. Those days are over.... You can read Nancy MacLean's latest op-ed here. read more about Nancy MacLean's Op-Ed in "The Guardian" »
Julius Scott's "The Common Wind"...
History Ph.D. graduate, Julius Scott's book The Common Wind will be in publication in late November by Verso Press. The Chronicle of Higher Education wrote a short piece on how... read more about Julius Scott's "The Common Wind" to be published November 2018 »
Kidd Joins Brazilianist Histories in Interpreting...
"Brazilianists Colin Snider, Courtney J. Campbell, and Gray F. Kidd joined Steven Hyland on Historias, the podcast for the Southeast Council for Latin American Studies (SECOLAS),... read more about Kidd Joins Brazilianist Histories in Interpreting Election of Jair Bolsonaro »
Eladio Bobadilla writes article for History Now
Graduate student, Eladio Bobadilla wrote "Immigration Policy, Mexican Americans, and Undocumented Immigrants, 1954 to the Present" for History Now. read more about Eladio Bobadilla writes article for History Now »
Robert Franco named AAHHE Fellow
Robert Franco was recently named a graduate fellow of the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE). read more about Robert Franco named AAHHE Fellow »
Ashton Merck awarded Cromwell Fellowship
Ashton Merck was awarded the William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Early Career Scholar Fellowship for her project, “The Fox Guarding the Henhouse.” This fellowship will primarily... read more about Ashton Merck awarded Cromwell Fellowship »
Academics
Graduate Program
Undergraduate Program
We offer a Bachelor of Arts major where students can focus their studies in two ways: Thematic Concentrations to explore contemporary issue and themes from historical perspectives, and Geographic Concentrations to explore issues present in specific parts of the globe. A minor is also available.
Featured Courses
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Gateway Seminar: The Global Sixties: Race,...
HISTORY 160SThe 1960s in global context, focusing particularly on Europe, Latin America, and the United States. The rise of mass movements dedicated to racial, economic, and sexual justice, against the backdrop of Cold War and decolonization. The...
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Gateway Seminar: The Price of Sex- Gender and the...
HISTORY 188SExplores how sex and gender have shaped economic policies and opportunities in different settings, particularly in the modern era (19th, 20th, and 21st centuries). Will focus on public policies and normative practices at the local,...
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Health and Healing in Africa
HISTORY 205Health and Healing in Africa. This course focuses on the ways in which African people have conceived of wellness and health. We will explore the diverse history of healing mechanisms that African people have employed, ranging from...
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PUBLISHING & MKTG POP FICTION: Book...
HISTORY 248SA case study of the US romance fiction industry and its global reach. The romance novel is the most popular form of fiction in the world. Its industry is powered by women, produces a product consumed by women, and exports to global...
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Latin American Wars of Independence
HISTORY 264This course covers the conspiracies, uprisings, and wars that led to the independence of Haiti and the Latin American colonies of Spain and Portugal between 1780 and the 1898 withdrawal of Spain from Cuba. It focuses on the key military...
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Crime and the City from Dickens to The Wire
HISTORY 313Crime and the City from Dickens to The Wire. Compares representation of crime and the city in two key "texts": Charles Dickens's “Oliver Twist” and the HBO television series, “The Wire.” Juxtaposes the social and political contexts to...
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Making Modern America:The United States from 1898...
HISTORY 342Transformations in society, politics, foreign relations, and arts and literature between Spanish-American War and World War II. Course pays particular attention to domestic politics in the Progressive Era; the Great Migration and the “...
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The Modern Regulatory State
HISTORY 365DThe Modern Regulatory State. Interdisciplinary inquiry into the origins/evolution of modern regulatory institutions in Western Europe and North America, along with the more recent rise of global regulatory bodies. Examines conceptual...
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Women, Gender, and Sexuality in U.S. History
HISTORY 374Women, Gender, and Sexuality in U.S. History. CCI, CZ, EI, SS, W Major questions relating to women and women's place in society over the course of U.S. history, broadly defined, from the colonial period to the present: How did different...
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Slavery and Capitalism: The Political Economy of...
HISTORY 390S.03This course traces the emergence of slavery as a mode of production in the 16th century and its relationship to the rise of modern or industrial capitalism in the nineteenth century United States and broader Atlantic world economy. The...
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Rethinking Care Economies
HISTORY 590S.01This course explores the economic nature of caring — including not only dependents and households but also communities, workplaces, and environments. By taking an interdisciplinary, transnational approach to thinking about care labors...
People
Professor of History
My research and writing explores the historical intersections among law, business, politics, and policy in the modern United States, with a... read more »
Associate Professor in the Department of History
Anna Krylova is Associate Professor of Modern Russian History at Duke University. She works on twentieth-century Russia and the challenges posed... read more »
Professor in History
Thavolia Glymph, professor of history and law, studies the U.S. South with a focus on nineteenth century social history. She has published... read more »
