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History Department

Welcome to the Department of History

  CNU history students in China taking the course "Rice Fields, Imperial Palaces, and the Great Wall:  Historical Landscapes of China" taught by Dr. Xiaoqun Xu.  On the left, students and faculty are at West Lake, Hangzhou, China; on the right, the class is visiting the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.  
 
Germany:  From Tragedy to Triumph
Summer 2007

Class visit to Frederick's the Great's

retreat of Sans Souci in Potsdam, Germany

In the Bundestag, heart of

United Germany's Government

   
       

Egypt in the UK Class

London, June, 2008

The British Museum

Dr. Santoro and class at entrance to

Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan

 
   

Egypt in the UK Class

London, June, 2008

"Cleopatra's Needle"

on the Thames

       


The History Department congratulates our majors on their achievements.

•  Alexandria Ruble was awarded second prize in the undergraduate category in the DAAD essay contest, Changing Demographics:  Migration Flow From and To Germany.
•  Frank Garmon was awarded the second place prize in the undergraduate division at the 81st annual Virginia Social Science Association conference.
History major winners of CNU's Undergraduate/Graduate Research Council's Sumer Research Stipends:

• Joanna Andrusko (Faculty Mentor:  Dr. William Connell)
• Frank Garmon (Faculty Mentor:  Dr. Andrew Falk)
• Alexandria Ruble, Alumni Society Award (Faculty Mentor:  Dr. Brian Puaca)

The Department of History was one of the first departments established by Christopher Newport College in 1961.  When the school moved to a four-year program in 1970, the Department achieved degree-granting status.  From 1970 to the 1990s, the Department consisted of five faculty members, who specialized in European and American history.

In recent years, the History Department has dramatically grown.  We currently have thirteen full-time scholars, who offer courses in U.S., European, Russian, Middle Eastern, African, Latin America, and East Asian history.  Our faculty also teach specialized classes in Indian history, archeology, American slavery, military and ancient history.  The Department, moreover, is developing a Public History program to prepare students for careers with museums and other historical agencies.  In addition, the Department participates in the MAT (Five-Year Masters of Arts in Teaching) Program. 

The History Department prides itself on maintaining high standards while at the same time each faculty member is committed to working closely with students to help them achieve their academic and career goals.  Over the past several years, student enrollment in history has grown substantially and the number of history graduates is the highest ever.  This past academic year (2007-08), the Department graduated 67 history majors and 7 students in the MAT program.

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