About the History Department

The study of history involves asking searching questions about how diverse societies, institutions, economies, cultures, and belief systems emerge, change, and develop over time. Thinking through these issues provides perspective on human lives in the present as well. Training in historical writing and research enables students to understand the contemporary world. For undergraduate history majors, career opportunities are many and varied. Becoming a history teacher has long been a goal, but there are also positions of interest in government, publishing, media, communications, and business. Medical, law, and other professional graduate schools favor history majors because of their broad background in liberal arts and skills in analyzing the past in relation to the present. The study of history provides insight into the long record of human experience as relived in our minds and evaluated. It provides a heightened awareness of our distant and complex heritage and is therefore an intrinsic component of a well-rounded education.

Hunter History Department faculty participates in a wide range of award-winning research and teaching projects. Our distinguished faculty is involved in interdisciplinary efforts, including women and gender studies, human rights and international relations, religious and ethnic studies, art and music history, as well as college-wide undertakings such as the Macaulay and Thomas Hunter Honors Programs, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, and Hunter’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. Professors frequently train Ph.D. students at the CUNY Graduate Center and are called upon to provide informed background and commentary on a variety of issues of public concern. They encourage History students to take advantage of some of the world’s greatest archives, libraries, and museums in New York City.

Learn more about the history of the History Department.