A Note from the Department Chair

Welcome to the UIS History Department! Our department of excellent teacher-scholars looks forward to meeting you in our classrooms, at events on campus, and via email and Zoom. Please reach out to me at kbarn2@uis.edu or (217) 206-7420 to answer questions and facilitate ways for you to become engaged.

The History Department offers our students high-quality, flexible, and broad opportunities—much more so than might be expected at a smaller university. Our students take classes where they develop digital exhibits, propose solutions to thorny problems, and ask deeper questions about everyday things we might take for granted. Together we consider issues and phenomena in national, regional, and global contexts in the ancient past and in our more recent histories.

The History Department offers degree programs at the undergraduate (Bachelor of Arts) and graduate (Master of Arts) levels. For the BA, we offer both an online and in-person option. Additionally, you can minor in History or supplement your History BA with a concentration in World History or Public History. All of our classes, in whatever format you take them are taught by faculty who are experts in their fields.

Our faculty are among the most-decorated on campus, boasting several campus-wide teaching and research awards, in addition to national and international recognition. You can learn more about faculty members’ expertise and accomplishments through our faculty directory. We are proud of our small class sizes and high-impact practices such as community engagement, professional development, internships, and study away opportunities.

UIS History undergraduates go on to do great things in a variety of professions. Our alums are teachers, entrepreneurs, policy analysists in state and national institutions, research librarians, paralegals, and museum professionals. About 90 percent of our graduate students seeking full financial support achieve it, and we have a 100 percent job placement rate for MA students graduating from the Public History concentration.

Kristi Barnwell

Professor and Chair, History Department

University of Illinois Springfield