About Us

Welcome to the Department of History at the University of Louisville.  Established in 1907, the Department of History is one of the original departments of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Louisville. We offer a full range of courses, from our introductory History of Civilizations to graduate classes. If you’re interested in pursuing a major or minor in History, please visit us in Gottschalk Hall, located on the southwest corner of the Belknap Campus quad. Or, you can contact us at (502) 852-6817, or email us at history@louisville.edu.

Why History Matters

The Department of History contributes to the collective understanding of the past through teaching, service, and the scholarly and public dissemination of original research.  The Department introduces students to the history of societies around the world, helping them to acquire knowledge about those societies, to think critically about the processes that shape the human experience, and to communicate effectively about what they have learned.  Members of the faculty serve the public as writers, speakers, commentators, and professional consultants.  Faculty members contribute to the profession by conducting original historical research and participating in disciplinary and interdisciplinary discourses at the local, regional, national, and international levels.  Dr. Blake Beattie Chair, Department of History University of Louisville.

A recent research article published in Perspectives on History by Paul B. Sturtevant (April 2017), History Is Not a Useless Major: Fighting Myths with Data, shows what career fields History majors are in and how a History degree has positive impacts on employment.