The History Department is primarily committed to undergraduate teaching, but also offers M.A., M.A.T., and Ph. D. degrees. Major areas of emphasis, with graduate as well as undergraduate offerings, are the United States (particularly the southern U. S., including New Orleans and Louisiana), Latin America, Europe (ancient, medieval, modern, and recent), Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Within these geographic concentrations individual faculty members offer courses on a wide range of topical fields: political, military, economic, social, intellectual and cultural (including the study of popular culture). Women's history, gender in history, and the history of the family are also offered. The department employs 21 faculty members. It has 14 associated faculty.
The History collection supports African Diaspora, American Studies, Medieval Studies, Political Economy, and Russian Studies programs.
Affiliated Programs
- African and African Diaspora Studies Program: The Program Director and Faculty Liaison is Filipe Smith, Ph. D. The Program in African and African Diaspora Studies offers students an interdisciplinary course of study that may lead to either a Major or a Minor. Both the Major and the Minor are designed to enable students a considerable degree of freedom in the choice electives and they both offer ample avenues for students interested in pursuing independent research and/or internship experiences. The Program supports students who choose to study the languages of Africa and its Diaspora and is particularly interested in encouraging the study of less commonly taught languages such as Yoruba, Kiswahili, Arabic and Haitian Creole. The Program also encourages students to pursue Study Abroad opportunities in Africa and its Diaspora and advises them in all matters pertaining to such study. The option to write an Honors thesis is available both to students who are in the University's Honors Program as well as to those who seek Honors within the ADST Program.
- American Studies: The Program Director and Faculty Liaison is Teresa Toulouse, Ph. D. American Studies is an interdisciplinary and interdepartmental major which provides an analysis of American thought, culture, and society, past and present. Current emphases include the city, the environment, and technology. The oldest interdisciplinary program at Tulane, American Studies draws on the teaching and research offerings of twenty-five faculty in several academic departments, e.g., English, History, Political Science, Architecture, Anthropology, Art, Communications, and Music.
- Russian Studies: The Program Directors for Russian Studies are Samuel Ramer and William Brumfield. A major in Russian Studies consists of two years of Russian language plus nine courses selected from a variety of areas and offered primarily by the departments of Art, History, English, and Political Science.
