Department of History

Faculty and Fields of Interest

Linsun Cheng Asian history

Anne Kirschmann Nineteenth and Twentieth Century U.S. history, history of public health and medicine, African-American history.

Chidiebere Nwanbani African and African-American history

Cristina Mehrtens Latin American and Brazilian History

Betty L Mitchell nineteenth-century United States, women’s history

Robert Pontbriand European intellectual and cultural history, France, Western civilization

Mark Santow twentieth-century U.S., urban history

Matthew Sneider early modern European and Italian history

Bridget Teboh African history

Len Travers (Chairperson) American history: colonial, early republic, and New England

Timothy Walker European Expansion, Portuguese and Maritime History

Brian Williams Islamic studies, world history

History students are offered study in United States, European, Russian, Latin-American, African, and Asian history. Students can expect to participate in a variety of academic activities including lecture and discussion courses and seminars. The history curriculum acquaints students with the various methods of historical study, provides them with a broad understanding of the major themes of history, allows them to concentrate on topical courses and themes of their choosing and offers opportunities to propose and implement their own research projects.

As a broadly-based liberal arts degree, the major emphasizes the development of critical thinking and communication skills as well as the acquisition of historical perspective. Graduates prepare themselves for a wide variety of positions in government, education and business. A BA in History can also lead to graduate work in a variety of fields and serve as a sound foundation for law school.

Students with a minimum GPA of 3.2 are eligible for nomination to the University’s Alpha Eta Theta Chapter of the International History Honor Society, Phi Alpha Theta.

The need for K-12 teachers in the areas of humanities is great in the region. History is a preferred major for future teachers. The History department participates in UMass Dartmouth’s programs to prepare teachers who are highly qualified, helping provide opportunities for students to receive both initial and professional licensure. Specifically, the department supports students who seek initial licensure as a Teacher of History (grades 5 through 8 or grades 8 through 12) through the Post-Baccalaureate Education Certificate and professional licensure as a Teacher of History (grades 5 through 8 or grades 8 through 12) through the MAT program. In order to plan to take appropriate prerequisite and enrichment courses, students should indicate their interest both to their history major advisor and to an advisor in UMass Dartmouth’s Department of Teaching and Learning.

Goals for Student Learning

Content

A broad familiarity with the basic chronology and major themes of either Western Civilization or World History.
A deeper knowledge of aspects of the history of three major regions of the world: the United States, Europe, and either Asia, Africa or Latin America.

Collection

The ability to collect historical data in printed and electronic forms.
The Ability to use bibliographic tools and data bases.

Analysis

The ability to identify chronological and geographical patterns, identify issues and problems in the past, formulate historical questions, interrogate historical data and sources, support interpretations with historical evidence and evaluate major debates among historians.

Synthesis

The ability to write historical arguments in essay exams and papers.
The ability to research and write a substantial and original long seminar paper on an historical subject.
The ability to present a formal presentation of an historical argument researched and organized by the student.

Language skills

The ability to construct coherent and persuasive arguments in written and oral forms.
The ability to read a foreign language at the intermediate level.