Welcome to the History Department!
A message from the Department Chair, Dr. Shobana Shankar
The History Department at Stony Brook University is dedicated to the rigorous study of the past in all time periods and places. Our award-winning faculty conduct research and offer undergraduate and graduate classes on many parts of the world, from early history to the present. Our research takes us near and far, from archives to large datasets and personal diaries, and to people themselves, who have witnessed what we study. You can find our work in academic books and journals, as well as in public-facing op-eds, interviews, exhibits, and other outlets. Our experts cover a lot of topics, some that you might not expect historians to study: big tech, healthcare, suburban sprawl, prisons, pearls, dance, food, and fashion.
We are an engaged, highly research-active, and growing faculty who combine our passion for knowledge-production with deep commitment to teaching our students to think critically, reason, and write effectively using evidence. The undergraduate major in History offers a balance of structure and freedom to explore individual interests. Introductory classes on African, American, Asian, European, and Latin American history give students a solid base from which to take specialized topics courses in areas of their choice, learn historical methods, and produce a research paper. There are also opportunities for experiential learning and faculty-mentored research. Students who excel can apply to write an honors thesis and join Phi Alpha Theta, the international honors society in history. With the generous assistance of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, the department covers accepted students’ initiation fees.
History majors are a community of nearly 250 strong and growing. They organize book clubs, peer mentoring, the History Club, and the publication of a peer-reviewed journal. Our undergrads have been recognized for their excellence throughout the university, for example, by selection onto the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Student Leadership Advisory Council and as Valedictorian of Stony Brook’s graduating class of 2026. They have gone on to work in a variety of careers, including law, education, publishing, and medicine.
Masters and doctoral students are also a vital part of our community. We have trained excellent historians working in many different regions of the world, on topics ranging from laborers in colonial Canada and soccer in Chile to Pan-Africanism in Ghana. The History Graduate Student Association organizes an annual conference and hosts speakers from around the world. Our graduate students have a great track record of success in winning competitive intramural and extramural fellowships, internships in New York City and further afield, and jobs in academia, museums, and research institutes.
There’s a lot more to learn about History at Stony Brook, where you will find a welcoming intellectual home that combines the best of a major research university and a teaching-centered department. Explore our website, email us, or, better yet, drop by the third floor of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Building. We look forward to meeting you.