History

History provides the context for how ideas lead to actions and events that you might have seen coming—if you only knew the history.

Students studying history at Emory become rigorously independent thinkers who analyze information to reveal the micro and macro impact of past, present, and potential forces. Whether your future is in academia, innovative commerce, or transformative leadership, history is a great place to start.

Examples of Classes at Oxford

History of the Caribbean

History of the cultural, intellectual, and artistic expressions of the Caribbean as they relate to the forced and voluntary encounters of Native, European and African peoples and the socio-economic structures of global capitalism since the 15th century.

American Civil Rights History

The course focuses on the modern civil rights movement in America from 1877 to 1970 with particular emphasis on the social, political, economic, and cultural aspects of the grass-roots movement that ended legalized segregation.

History of the Christian Church

Examine the Christian church in the West from the Apostolic Age to the Reformation, with emphasis on the interaction of church and society.

Example of Major Classes

Oral History: Engaging with Live Sources

History students at Oxford College visit the Atlanta History Center’s “Atlanta Voices” Exhibit or the Center for Civil and Human Rights to examine oral histories and understand the impact of listening and hearing in the shaping of public history.

History Now

Examine current headlines through the lens of history in a way transcends names and dates and gets at the underlying context driving the course of events.

Politics and Paranoia: Conspiracism and the Making of Modern America

Explore how conspiracy theories ranging from Communist plots to Beatle mania have shaped today’s world, using the work of historians, sociologists, filmmakers, novelists, and political scientists.

Internships

Hands-on Experience

At Emory, history majors can take one elective in the form of an internship that makes a genuine contribution to their education in history. In recent years, students have interned at such places as the Atlanta History Center, Carter Center, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, Oakland Cemetery, and the National Park Service.

We help students learn to approach sensitive topics with dispassion and objectivity, which is not to say neutrality. We work to check personal politics at the classroom door in the pursuit of greater knowledge, insight, and wisdom about America's political past.
Joe Crespino
Jimmy Carter Professor of American History

Department of History