The Department of History encourages its students to study abroad for a semester or a year during their stay at Hamilton. Typical destinations for history majors include Spain, France, Italy, England, China, Austria and Japan. Many of these can be visited through Hamilton-affiliated programs. While study abroad is an integral part of the liberal arts curriculum, it has special resonance for students of history as they study events and issues at their source and in their larger cultural context. Students who wish to get honors in the history major must complete at least one year of study of a foreign language at the college level.
All Hamilton history courses stress the development of rigorous, critical reading and research skills. A number of history majors build on these skills by receiving funding to work in collaboration with faculty mentors during the summer as Emerson or Levitt Fellows. History students' knowledge of the world and habits of critical thinking are enhanced by closely working with their professors, who are themselves active in their own specialties.
The History Department is known – perhaps notorious – on campus for asking intellectual rigor from professors and students alike. Students are trained to do research in primary and secondary sources from all over the world. The department's expertise spans many areas of the globe and all historical disciplines and approaches: social, intellectual, political and cultural.
History majors apply their reading and research skills through extensive writing — essays, reviews, papers and an independent senior project. Three dozen of the department's regular course offerings — about half — are writing intensive.
Faculty members are highly respected in their specialties and often are honored with teaching awards, fellowships and grants. Several have won and been nominated for major publishing prizes.
The department awards four prizes each year at Class & Charter Day for high academic achievement in history. The Edgar Baldwin Graves Prize is awarded to the top senior in the department; the Darling Prize is awarded to the senior with the most distinguished record in American history; the Putnam Prize is a gift of books to the senior with the second-most distinguished record in American history; and the Edwin B. Lee Jr. Prize goes to a senior who has excelled in Asian history or Asian studies.
The History Department is known – perhaps notorious – on campus for asking intellectual rigor from professors and students alike. Students are trained to do research in primary and secondary sources from all over the world. The department's expertise spans many areas of the globe and all historical disciplines and approaches: social, intellectual, political and cultural.
History majors apply their reading and research skills through extensive writing — essays, reviews, papers and an independent senior project. Three dozen of the department's regular course offerings — about half — are writing intensive.
Faculty members are highly respected in their specialties and often are honored with teaching awards, fellowships and grants. Several have won and been nominated for major publishing prizes.
The department awards four prizes each year at Class & Charter Day for high academic achievement in history. The Edgar Baldwin Graves Prize is awarded to the top senior in the department; the Darling Prize is awarded to the senior with the most distinguished record in American history; the Putnam Prize is a gift of books to the senior with the second-most distinguished record in American history; and the Edwin B. Lee Jr. Prize goes to a senior who has excelled in Asian history or Asian studies.
The History Department is known – perhaps notorious – on campus for asking intellectual rigor from professors and students alike. Students are trained to do research in primary and secondary sources from all over the world. The department's expertise spans many areas of the globe and all historical disciplines and approaches: social, intellectual, political and cultural.
History majors apply their reading and research skills through extensive writing — essays, reviews, papers and an independent senior project. Three dozen of the department's regular course offerings — about half — are writing intensive.
Faculty members are highly respected in their specialties and often are honored with teaching awards, fellowships and grants. Several have won and been nominated for major publishing prizes.
The department awards four prizes each year at Class & Charter Day for high academic achievement in history. The Edgar Baldwin Graves Prize is awarded to the top senior in the department; the Darling Prize is awarded to the senior with the most distinguished record in American history; the Putnam Prize is a gift of books to the senior with the second-most distinguished record in American history; and the Edwin B. Lee Jr. Prize goes to a senior who has excelled in Asian history or Asian studies.
The History Department is known – perhaps notorious – on campus for asking intellectual rigor from professors and students alike. Students are trained to do research in primary and secondary sources from all over the world. The department's expertise spans many areas of the globe and all historical disciplines and approaches: social, intellectual, political and cultural.
History majors apply their reading and research skills through extensive writing — essays, reviews, papers and an independent senior project. Three dozen of the department's regular course offerings — about half — are writing intensive.
Faculty members are highly respected in their specialties and often are honored with teaching awards, fellowships and grants. Several have won and been nominated for major publishing prizes.
The department awards four prizes each year at Class & Charter Day for high academic achievement in history. The Edgar Baldwin Graves Prize is awarded to the top senior in the department; the Darling Prize is awarded to the senior with the most distinguished record in American history; the Putnam Prize is a gift of books to the senior with the second-most distinguished record in American history; and the Edwin B. Lee Jr. Prize goes to a senior who has excelled in Asian history or Asian studies.
