About Us

Duke’s History Department —among the top programs in the country —regards 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.

We are committed to drawing upon our historical knowledge to collectively create and foster a more inclusive, just, and equitable society for all. We condemn racial violence and hatred, in all its forms locally and globally. We stand in solidarity with families who have lost their loved ones and all those who are exercising their constitutional right to assemble and protest against racial injustice and discrimination.

 

Statement of Solidarity Against Anti-Asian Violence

In the wake of the murderous attack on Asian American women in Atlanta, Ga., and incidents of hate that include physical assault, civil rights violations, and harassment of several thousand Asian Americans and Asians in the United States, the Duke History community condemns the scapegoating and ethnic-based and racial hatred that has proliferated in this country over the last year.

As historians, we have studied the emergence and reproduction of racist ideas in this country and across the globe. We know the long-enduring impact of bigotry and racism that have targeted Asians and Asian American people since the mid-nineteenth century, unleashing hurt and harm. Continue Reading

Undergraduate Programs

Our curriculum enables our Bachelor of Arts majors to: understand history as a discipline, build critical and analytic abilities, and enhance their written communication skills. Our students 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.

We also offer a History minor.

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Featured Courses

HISTORY 390

Many of the leading Enlightenment philosophes, from Lemonnier, The Reading of Voltaire’s Tragedy of the Orphan of China.   What was the Enlightenment? Were its leading thinkers really so… read more about Topics in History Lecture »

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Graduate Programs

We offer graduate training leading to a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in a wide range of fields, including Early America, Modern America, African-American, Military, Medieval and Early Modern Europe, South Asia, Imperial and Soviet Russia, Traditional and Modern China, Modern Japan, Africa, History of Medicine, and History of Science and Technology.

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2021 Graduating Majors
40
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Published Books by Our Faculty
40+
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Research Focus Areas
20

Selected Faculty Books

Pete Sigal, Zeb Tortorici, Neil L. Whitehead (editors)