Welcome

Welcome to the Department of History! Studying the past is fundamental to understanding the human experience. The History Major is designed to provide students with a well-rounded understanding of history from different times and places around the world. In addition to lecture courses focusing on the United States, Europe, Latin America, or the Pacific Rim, history majors participate in research seminars, which allow students to focus on specific topics in the field of a professor's expertise. Past seminars have examined, topics such as, the history of Portland, the European family, Medieval Crusades, the French Revolution, and even the history of Bananas in Latin America. In these seminars, students take a deep dive into the literature of these topics as well as conduct original research themselves. Our capstone senior thesis course requires all majors write a paper based on their own research of a subject of their choice. Recent topics have included Medieval art, Chinese immigrants in Portland, Hawaiian Music, Portland feminist zine culture, and the history of conspiracy theories in the United States.

Our faculty members are talented, personable, and student oriented. We strive to prepare students for a future in any profession by helping them to develop independent research capabilities, oral and written communication skills, critical thinking, and a deep intellectual curiosity. Beyond the classroom, the department sponsors the University of Portland History Club. This student lead club’s recent activities have included visits to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, beach cleanup and the Maritime Museum in Astoria, the Portland Chinatown Museum, Pittock Mansion, movie nights, and hosting trivia contests at Pilots After Dark. Faculty members also support students in activities such as presenting their research at the regional conference of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honors society and publishing the department's award-winning student history journal, Northwest Passages. We also strongly encourage our students to supplement the knowledge gained through their coursework with first-hand experience in other cultures by studying abroad or Moreau Center immersion experiences.

Following graduation, our students have gone on to become Fulbright Scholars, Peace Corps Volunteers, PACE program participants, and Vision International leaders. Our majors who have chosen to pursue graduate school have been accepted at institutions around the country and abroad, including the London School of Economics, the University of Chicago, UCLA, the University of Washington, the University of Hawaii, Villanova University, and Georgetown University. Our graduates now hold a variety of professional positions, as business owners, lawyers, teachers, museum curators, filmmakers, and foreign service officers.

Through our courses, research projects, and extracurricular activities, both students and faculty members in the Department of History build friendships and community while sharing our love of history and its relevance for today's world with each other and the greater campus community. We hope that you'll join us!

Sincerely,

Blair Woodard, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair

Department of History