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! style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | College
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Arts and SciencesThe College of Arts and Sciences is a division of Cornell University. It has been part of the university since its founding, although its name has changed over time. It grants bachelors degrees, and masters and doctorates through affiliation with the Cornell University Graduate School...
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! style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | Department Chair
| style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | Barry Strauss
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! style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | Location
| style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | McGraw Hall,
IthacaThe city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, USA
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! style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | Website
| style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/
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The
Cornell University Department of History is an
academic departmentAn academic department is a division of a university or school faculty devoted to a particular academic discipline. This article covers United States usage at the university level....
in the
College of Arts and SciencesThe College of Arts and Sciences is a division of Cornell University. It has been part of the university since its founding, although its name has changed over time. It grants bachelors degrees, and masters and doctorates through affiliation with the Cornell University Graduate School...
at
Cornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
that focuses on the study of
historyHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. Founded in 1868, it is one of Cornell's original departments. Its first faculty included university president
Andrew Dickson WhiteAndrew Dickson White was a U.S. diplomat, historian, and educator, who was the co-founder of Cornell University.-Family and personal life:...
and
English historianThe history of England concerns the study of the human past in one of Europe's oldest and most influential national territories. What is now England, a country within the United Kingdom, was inhabited by Neanderthals 230,000 years ago. Continuous human habitation dates to around 12,000 years ago,...
Goldwin SmithGoldwin Smith was a British-Canadian historian and journalist.- Early years :He was born at Reading, Berkshire. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, and after a brilliant undergraduate career he was elected to a fellowship at University College, Oxford...
. In 1881, the department named
Moses Coit TylerMoses Coit Tyler was an American author and professor of American history.-Biography:He was born in Griswold, Connecticut. At an early age he removed with his parents to Detroit, Michigan...
the first professor of
American historyThe history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
in the United States. Three of Cornell's twelve presidents have been members of the department: Andrew Dickson White,
Charles Kendall Adams, and
Hunter R. Rawlings IIIHunter Ripley Rawlings III is an American classics scholar and academic administrator. He is best known for serving as the 17th President of the University of Iowa from 1982 until 1995 and as the 10th President of Cornell University from 1995 until 2003. He also served as Cornell's interim...
. The longest teaching member of the faculty was Frederick Marcham who, upon completing his graduate work at Cornell in 1924, continued lecturing until a month before his death in 1992 – a total of 68 years.
History
The department was founded in 1868 by President
Andrew Dickson WhiteAndrew Dickson White was a U.S. diplomat, historian, and educator, who was the co-founder of Cornell University.-Family and personal life:...
as one of Cornell's original departments as the Department of History and Political Science. White had already earned a reputation as an up and coming historian, having taught at the
University of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
as a Professor of History and
English LiteratureEnglish literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
from 1857 to 1863 and as a Lecturer of History from 1863 to 1867, while serving as a
New York State SenatorThe New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
. Employing his reputation as a well-regarded historian in his own right, White attracted other notable historians and upcoming of the day to his department. He convinced
Goldwin SmithGoldwin Smith was a British-Canadian historian and journalist.- Early years :He was born at Reading, Berkshire. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, and after a brilliant undergraduate career he was elected to a fellowship at University College, Oxford...
to leave his comfortable post at Oxford and travel across the
AtlanticThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to rural, up-state New York. When Smith realized just how lacking the new university's library was for historical study, he promptly had his entire 3,400 book collection shipped from England for donation to the
Cornell University LibraryThe Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2010 it held 8 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.5 million microfilms and microfiches, more than of manuscripts, and close to 500,000 other materials, including motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and...
and made a $2,500 bequest for the purchase of more historical works. From the College of Horace Mann (later known as
Antioch CollegeAntioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
), White attracted their Department Chairman William Channing Russel. Russel would later serve as the Department Chairman, Cornell's Vice President and acting President during White's long periods abroad.
In 1881, the department notably hired the first, full-time chair of American history ever. In the spring of 1872, non-resident professor
George Washington GreeneGeorge Washington Greene was an American historian as well as the grandson of Major-General Nathanael Greene, who served during the American Revolutionary War.-Biography:...
, grandson of
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
General
Nathanael GreeneNathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
, offered a series of lectures on American history. Upon Russel's stepping down as the Department Chairman in 1881, the department attracted
Moses Coit TylerMoses Coit Tyler was an American author and professor of American history.-Biography:He was born in Griswold, Connecticut. At an early age he removed with his parents to Detroit, Michigan...
from the
University of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
to take Russel's position. At Tyler's request, he exclusively taught American history .
In 1884, the department founded the
American Historical ReviewThe American Historical Review is the official publication of the American Historical Association, established in 1895 "for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical documents and artifacts, and the dissemination of historical research." It targets readers...
in a joint effort with
HarvardHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's Department of History in the model of the English Historical Review and the French Revue Historique. Also in 1884, Professors White and
Charles Kendall Adams founded the
American Historical AssociationThe American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
with a handful of other leading historians of the day and both would later serve as its president, as well as later department faculty member
Carl L. BeckerCarl Lotus Becker was an American historian.-Life:He was born in Waterloo, Iowa. He studied at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Frederick Jackson Turner was his doctoral advisor there. Becker got his Ph.D. in 1907. He was John Wendell Anderson Professor of History in the Department of History...
.
In 1887, the Department was renamed the
President White School of History and Political Science in honor of Andrew Dickson White's service to the university and the donation of his large personal library. Over the summer, the board of trustees nominated White, who was no longer university president, to be Dean of the school and Honorary Lecturer on History and Political Science, but White declined the offer. Soon thereafter, president
Charles Kendall Adams, White's protégé, sought a younger dean and interviewed
Woodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
and
Herbert Baxter AdamsHerbert Baxter Adams was an American educator and historian.Adams was born to Nathaniel Dickinson Adams and Harriet Adams in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. On his mother's side, he was a descendant of Thomas Hastings who came from the East Anglia region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in...
for the position. Adams notably did not interview the older
Moses Coit TylerMoses Coit Tyler was an American author and professor of American history.-Biography:He was born in Griswold, Connecticut. At an early age he removed with his parents to Detroit, Michigan...
, current department chairman, or
Herbert TuttleHerbert Tuttle was an American historian, born at Bennington, Vt. He graduated in 1869 at the University of Vermont. From 1880 to 1881 he was a lecturer on international law at the University of Michigan, and in the latter year was appointed to the chair of politics and international law in...
, an associate professor, to much annoyance of Taylor and the faculty in general. The trustees eventually overrode Adams and installed Tyler as Dean.
On June 18, 1891, the
Cornell Board of TrusteesThe Cornell University Board of Trustees is the board of trustees for Cornell University, a private, Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York. The board is vested with "supreme control" over the entire university, in accordance to university bylaws...
resolved that steps be taken to form a "Department of History, Political and Social Science, and General Jurisprudence" and the following year, the faculty of economics and finance and political and social institutions broke off into a single department separate from the White School. As the history and government departments were moved around campus over the next few decades, the White School became a more informal grouping of the two departments. In September 1932, Cornell revived the White School by moving the two disconnected departments to Boardman Hall, allocating space for three classrooms, administrative offices, and graduate student areas.
Reputation
The US News and World Report's 2009 rankings of graduate programs places the department 12th overall in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Many alumni and faculty members have won major awards for their work as historians. Alumnus
Robert FogelRobert William Fogel is an American economic historian and scientist, and winner of the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He is now the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions and director of the Center for Population Economics at the...
was the co-recipient of the 1993
Nobel Prize in EconomicsThe Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics, but officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel , is an award for outstanding contributions to the field of economics, generally regarded as one of the...
, in recognition of his quantitative historical analyses.
Walter LaFeberWalter LaFeber was a Marie Underhill Noll Professor of History and a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow in the Department of History at Cornell University...
won the
Bancroft PrizeThe Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948 by a bequest from Frederic Bancroft...
in 1996 and
David Brion DavisDavid Brion Davis is an American historian and authority on slavery and abolition in the Western world. He is the Sterling Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University and founder and Director Emeritus of Yale’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. He is a...
won in 1976. LaFeber also won the
Beveridge AwardThe Albert J. Beveridge Award was established in 1939 in memory of United States Senator Beveridge of Indiana, former secretary and longtime member of the American Historical Association , through a gift from his wife, Catherine Beveridge and donations from AHA members from his home state...
in 1962 and Davis received it in 1975. The
French governmentThe government of the French Republic is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic"...
awarded
Steven KaplanSteven Kaplan is the Goldwin Smith Professor of European History in the Department of History at Cornell University.His primary fields of expertise are French history and the history of food, specifically the history of bread. He earned his A.B. at Princeton University in 1963 and his M.A. in...
the
Ordre national du MériteThe Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...
and named
Henry GuerlacHenry Edward Guerlac was an American historian of science. He taught at Cornell University where he was the Goldwin Smith Professor of History and a member of the Department of History....
Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.
Anthony GraftonAnthony Grafton is a historian and the current Henry Putnam University Professor at Princeton University. He is also a corresponding fellow of the British Academy and a recipient of the Balzan Prize...
won the
Balzan PrizeThe International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organisations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the brotherhood of man.-Rewards and assets:Each year the...
.
Numerous people associated with the department have won
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
s. Current faculty member
Michael KammenMichael Kammen is a professor of American cultural history in the Department of History at Cornell University. He was born in 1936 in Rochester, New York, grew up in the Washington, DC area, and was educated at the George Washington University and Harvard University . He has taught at Cornell...
is the 1973 winner of the prize for
HistoryThe Pulitzer Prize for History has been awarded since 1917 for a distinguished book upon the history of the United States. Many history books have also been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography...
. Former professor
David Brion DavisDavid Brion Davis is an American historian and authority on slavery and abolition in the Western world. He is the Sterling Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University and founder and Director Emeritus of Yale’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. He is a...
won in the category of
General Non-FictionThe Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction has been awarded since 1962 for a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in another category.-1960s:...
in 1969. Alumna
Sheryl WuDunnSheryl WuDunn is a Chinese American business executive, author, lecturer, and the first Asian American to win a Pulitzer Prize.A senior banker focusing on growth companies in technology, new media and the emerging markets, WuDunn also works with double bottom line firms, alternative energy issues,...
won the award for
International ReportingThis Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years , it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting - International...
in 1990. Alumnus
John MottJohn Raleigh Mott was a long-serving leader of the YMCA and the World Student Christian Federation...
was the co-recipient of the 1946
Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
for his work as the head of the
YMCAThe Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
.
Two buildings at Cornell's main campus are named in honor of history department professors. White Hall, one of the original three buildings on the Arts Quad, named after Andrew Dickson White, and Becker House, a
residential collegeA residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
named after
Carl L. BeckerCarl Lotus Becker was an American historian.-Life:He was born in Waterloo, Iowa. He studied at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Frederick Jackson Turner was his doctoral advisor there. Becker got his Ph.D. in 1907. He was John Wendell Anderson Professor of History in the Department of History...
in recognition of his pedagogical contributions to the Cornell community.
Department in Popular Culture
The OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
, a
parody newspaperthumb|right|220px|[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]] is a news satire program.News satire, also called fake news , is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content...
, featured an article about fictional History Department professor Wallace Schroeder on September 9, 1997 titled, "Byzantine Empire Will Fall To Turks, Historian Warns". In the
The Office,
salesA sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
man
Andy BernardAndrew "Andy" Baines Bernard is a fictional character from the U.S. television series The Office. The character is highly insecure, yet egotistical, constantly mentioning his education at Cornell University...
minored in history at Cornell.
Alumni
| Name |
Class year |
Degree |
Notability |
Reference |
|
1976 |
Ph.D. American History |
Historian, professor |
|
|
1982 |
B.A. |
Liberal author and columnist |
|
|
1969, 1971 |
M.A., Ph.D. |
Southeast Asia Historian |
|
|
1881 |
B.A. |
U.S. historian, diplomat, author, and educator |
|
|
1968 |
Ph.D. |
Medieval historian; Academic administrator |
|
|
1942 |
B.A. Medieval History |
United States Congressman New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... 37th District, 1965–73; 35th District, 1973–83; 30th District, 1983–85; President of the World BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty... , 1986–91 |
|
|
1984 |
B.A. |
Conservative author and political commentator |
|
|
1973 |
B.A. |
CEO of Lloyds Banking GroupLloyds Banking Group plc is a major British financial institution, formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. As at February 2010, HM Treasury held a 41% shareholding through UK Financial Investments Limited . The Group headquarters is located at 25 Gresham Street in London, with...
|
|
|
1968 |
B.A. |
Hockey Hall of FameThe Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup... goaltender; Member of the Canadian ParliamentThe Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
|
|
|
1892 |
Ph.M. |
Influential Austrian School The Austrian School of economics is a heterodox school of economic thought. It advocates methodological individualism in interpreting economic developments , the theory that money is non-neutral, the theory that the capital structure of economies consists of heterogeneous goods that have... economistEconomics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
|
|
|
1948 |
B.A. |
Nobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895... -winning economic historian |
|
|
1991 |
B.A. |
Reporter at National Public Radio |
|
|
1971, 1974 |
M.A., Ph.D. |
Historian, academic administrator |
|
|
1981 |
B.A. |
Congressman, Illinois 10th District, 2001–2010, Senator, Illinois 2010–present. |
|
|
1963 |
B.A. |
Former Director of Policy Planning The Director of Policy Planning is the United States Department of State official in charge of the Department's internal think tank, the Policy Planning Staff. The position of Director of Policy Planning has traditionally been held by many members of the U.S. foreign policy establishment... at the United States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries... , professor at Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
|
|
|
1905 |
B.A. |
Author of the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ... for an outstanding contribution to children's literature, historian, educator |
|
|
1978 |
B.A. |
Political pundit, host of Real Time with Bill MaherReal Time with Bill Maher is a talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous show, Politically Incorrect on ABC , Real Time features a panel of guests that discuss current events in politics and the media...
|
|
|
1976 |
B.A. |
Co-Founder and President of Bright Horizons Family Solutions |
|
|
? |
Ph.D. |
Eisenhower White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical... staff and historian |
|
|
1888 |
B.A. |
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who... recipient (1946), YMCAThe Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs... and World Student Christian FederationThe World Student Christian Federation is a federation of autonomous national Student Christian Movements forming the youth and student arm of the global ecumenical movement... leader |
|
|
1947 |
Ph.D. |
Historian, professor, author of The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community is a popular work by Canadian historian William H. McNeill...
|
|
|
1984 |
Ph.D. |
Professor of history at University of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
|
|
|
1941 |
B.A. |
The most decorated American serviceman, according to the Guinness Book of World Records |
|
|
1981 |
B.A. European History |
Journalist at The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization... , co-winner in 1990 of the Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City... for her coverage on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989... , winner of the George Polk Award in 1989, and winner of the Overseas Press ClubThe Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member... in 1990. |
|
|
1966 |
Ph.D. Southeast Asian History |
Historian, professor, authority on Thai |
|
Former faculty
| Name |
Title(s) |
Field of study |
Year joined |
Year left/retired |
Reference |
|
Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Literature and History |
Hebrew Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews... and ChineseChinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese... Literature |
1874 |
1876 |
|
| |
Professor of History, University President |
EuropeHistory of Europe describes the history of humans inhabiting the European continent since it was first populated in prehistoric times to present, with the first human settlement between 45,000 and 25,000 BC.-Overview:...
|
1885 |
1889 |
|
| |
Associate Professor of History |
Modern England, MaritimeMaritime history is the study of human activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant...
|
1969 |
? |
|
| |
John Wendell Anderson Professor of History |
The Enlightenment |
1917 |
1941 |
|
| |
Professor of History, Department Chairman (1956–1963) |
ChinaChinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
|
1938, 1946 |
1944, 1972 |
|
| '1881 |
John Stambaugh Professor of History |
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
|
1888 |
1923 |
|
| |
Ernest I. White Professor of History |
SlaveryThe history of slavery covers slave systems in historical perspective in which one human being is legally the property of another, can be bought or sold, is not allowed to escape and must work for the owner without any choice involved...
|
1955 |
1969 |
|
| '1892 |
Instructor, Professor in Political Economy (and Finance) |
Political Economy Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy... , Finance"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
|
1895 |
1911 |
|
| |
John Stambaugh Professor of History , Department Chairman (1946–56) |
United States public land policy |
1936 |
1971 |
|
| |
Instructor in History |
Renaissance The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
|
1974 |
1975 |
|
| |
Non-resident Professor |
United StatesThe history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
|
1871 |
1875 |
|
| |
Goldwin Smith Professor of the History of Science |
Science The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....
|
1946 |
1977 |
|
| |
Professor of Political Economy and Politics |
Political Economy Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
|
1891 |
1912 |
|
| |
Professor of History |
ClassicsClassics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
|
1960 |
1969 |
|
| |
Andrew H. and James S. Tisch James S. Tisch has been the CEO of Loews Corporation since 1999. Tisch graduated from Cornell University and received his MBA at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.... Distinguished University Professor, Department Chairman |
United States foreign policy, Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
|
1959 |
2006 |
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John Stambaugh Professor of History, Department Chairman |
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
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1925 |
1941 |
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| '1986 |
Professor |
Southeast Asia The history of Southeast Asia has been characterized as interaction between regional players and foreign powers. Each country is intertwined with all the others. For instance, the Malay empires of Srivijaya and Malacca covered modern day Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore while the Burmese, Thai,...
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1987 |
1998 |
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Professor of Modern European History |
Modern Europe |
1894 |
1903 |
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Visiting Assistant Professor |
American Civil Rights Movement (1896–1954) |
2007 |
2008 |
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| |
Professor of English and General Constitutional History |
England |
1868 |
1871 |
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| |
Professor in History |
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
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1923 |
1941 |
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Professor in History |
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
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1931 |
1941 |
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| |
Professor of Modern European History |
Modern Europe |
1890 |
1894 |
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| |
Professor of American History, Department Chairman (1881–?1887), White School Dean (1887-?) |
United StatesThe history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
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1881 |
1900 |
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| |
Professor, Department Chairman (1868–1881), University President |
Science The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences.... , WarfareMilitary history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships.... , Religion |
1868 |
1887 |
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| |
Professor of Political Economy and Statistics, Dean of the College of Arts and SciencesThe College of Arts and Sciences is a division of Cornell University. It has been part of the university since its founding, although its name has changed over time. It grants bachelors degrees, and masters and doctorates through affiliation with the Cornell University Graduate School... (1901–1907) |
Political Economy Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy... , StatisticsStatistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
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1891 |
1931 |
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| '1948 |
John Stambaugh Professor of the History of Science, Department Chairman |
Political Economy Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy... , StatisticsStatistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
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1960 |
? |
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| |
Goldwin Smith Professor of Southeast Asian History |
Southeast Asia The history of Southeast Asia has been characterized as interaction between regional players and foreign powers. Each country is intertwined with all the others. For instance, the Malay empires of Srivijaya and Malacca covered modern day Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore while the Burmese, Thai,...
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1964 |
1990 |
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| '1966 |
John Stambaugh Professor of History and Asian Studies, Department Chairman |
Southeast Asia The history of Southeast Asia has been characterized as interaction between regional players and foreign powers. Each country is intertwined with all the others. For instance, the Malay empires of Srivijaya and Malacca covered modern day Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore while the Burmese, Thai,...
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1969 |
2002 |
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Current faculty
| Name |
Title |
Field of study |
Year joined department |
Reference |
| |
Hu Shih Hu Shih , born Hu Hung-hsing , was a Chinese philosopher, essayist and diplomat. His courtesy name was Shih-chih . Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese liberalism and language reform in his advocacy for the use of written vernacular Chinese... Professor of Chinese history |
ChinaChinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
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1974 |
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| |
John Stambaugh Professor of History |
Sexuality, GermanyThe concept of Germany as a distinct region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul , which he had conquered. The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the...
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1977 |
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| |
Newton C. Farr Professor of American History and Culture |
American cultureThe Culture of the United States is a Western culture originally influenced by European cultures. It has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore...
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1965 |
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Goldwin SmithGoldwin Smith was a British-Canadian historian and journalist.- Early years :He was born at Reading, Berkshire. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, and after a brilliant undergraduate career he was elected to a fellowship at University College, Oxford... Professor of History |
FranceThe history of France goes back to the arrival of the earliest human being in what is now France. Members of the genus Homo entered the area hundreds of thousands years ago, while the first modern Homo sapiens, the Cro-Magnons, arrived around 40,000 years ago... , bread |
1969 |
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| |
Professor |
JapanThe history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...
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| '61 |
Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies |
Intellectual history Note: this article concerns the discipline of intellectual history, and not its object, the whole span of human thought since the invention of writing. For clarifications about the latter topic, please consult the writings of the intellectual historians listed here and entries on individual...
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1969 |
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| |
Mary Donlon Alger Mary Donlon Alger was an American lawyer and politician. She was the first woman appointed to a federal judgeship in New York.-Life:... Professor of American History |
United StatesThe history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
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1971 |
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| |
Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History, Former Goldwin SmithGoldwin Smith was a British-Canadian historian and journalist.- Early years :He was born at Reading, Berkshire. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, and after a brilliant undergraduate career he was elected to a fellowship at University College, Oxford... Professor of American History, Former Department Chairman (1977–1980) |
United States constitutional law United States constitutional law is the body of law governing the interpretation and implementation of the United States Constitution.- Introduction :United States constitutional law defines the scope and application of the terms of the Constitution...
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1966 |
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| |
Andrew H. and James S. Tisch James S. Tisch has been the CEO of Loews Corporation since 1999. Tisch graduated from Cornell University and received his MBA at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.... Distinguished University Professor, Charles A. Alexander Professor |
Science The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....
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1969 |
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| |
Professor of Classics and History, President Emeritus |
ClassicsClassics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
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1995 |
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Professor of History and Department Chair |
ClassicsClassics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
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1979 |
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| |
Associate Professor |
Southeast Asia |
1999 |
|
| |
Associate Professor |
Gender Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity... and cultureCulture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions... in 17th and 18th century EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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External links and further reading