Department of History, Tufts University

Department of History, Tufts University
Name	Department of History, Tufts University
Parent	Tufts University
Established	1852
Location	Medford, Massachusetts
Chair	(varies)
Website	(Tufts University)

Contents

Department of History, Tufts University

The Department of History at Tufts University is an academic unit within Tufts University located in Medford, Massachusetts with programs spanning United States history, European history, Asian history, African history, and transnational studies such as Cold War and Atlantic World. The department offers undergraduate and graduate degrees while participating in cross-institutional initiatives with entities like the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the New England Historical Genealogical Society. Faculty and students engage with primary-source collections connected to institutions including the Library of Congress, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the Boston Athenaeum.

History

The department traces roots to early instruction at Tufts College in the mid-19th century, shaped by intellectual currents from figures associated with Transcendentalism, the aftermath of the American Civil War, and debates surrounding the Progressive Era. Over time the unit expanded curricular offerings in response to developments such as the study of Industrial Revolution, scholarship on Imperialism, and analytic frameworks influenced by historians of the stature of E. P. Thompson, Fernand Braudel, and W. E. B. Du Bois. Twentieth-century growth reflected connections to regional archives like the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and national scholarly networks including the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians.

Tufts History offers programs at the Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and doctoral levels, integrating seminars on topics such as the French Revolution, Russian Revolution, Meiji Restoration, Cold War, Decolonization, and the Civil Rights Movement. Crosslisted curricula connect with departments and programs at Boston University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology through consortium arrangements, as well as professional training with the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and internships at institutions like the New-York Historical Society and the Smithsonian Institution. The department administers honors theses, qualifying exams, language requirements tied to study of Latin America, East Asia, and Middle East, and sponsors study-away programs in sites such as Berlin, Paris, Beijing, and Nairobi.

Faculty research spans biographies of figures comparable in scope to studies of Abraham Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth I, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Mahatma Gandhi as well as thematic projects on topics associated with the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Industrialization, Migration, and Imperialism. Professors collaborate on grants from funders connected to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council, and publish in journals alongside scholarship that appears in venues tied to the American Historical Review, Journal of Modern History, and Past & Present. Visiting scholars and postdoctoral fellows include recipients of awards like the MacArthur Fellowship, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Bancroft Prize.

The department participates in interdisciplinary centers and labs such as collaborations with the Digital Humanities Initiative, partnerships with the Center for European Studies, and projects tied to the Human Rights Program and the Institute for Global Leadership. It co-sponsors oral-history projects with the Library of Congress and archival digitization efforts linked to the Harvard‑Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and conservation programs at the Smithsonian Institution. Collaborative grant projects have included partnerships with the National Archives and Records Administration, the Council on Foreign Relations, and international research hubs in Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, and Johannesburg.

Students participate in groups such as the Tufts University Student Union, the Tufts History Club, and journals that publish undergraduate work alongside campus chapters of national bodies like the Phi Alpha Theta and the American Historical Association. Extracurricular activities include organizing lectures that have hosted speakers with ties to institutions such as the United Nations, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the International Criminal Court, and coordinating study groups for exams on topics like the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and Modern China.

Alumni have pursued careers across sectors including positions at the National Archives and Records Administration, the World Bank, the United Nations, and cultural institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the New-York Historical Society. Graduates have included scholars who advanced research on themes comparable to work on Slavery in the United States, analyses of the Soviet Union, and studies of European integration, as well as public intellectuals active in media outlets like The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post.

Teaching and research draw on campus resources and nearby repositories including the Tufts Digital Library, the W.H. Auden Library collections, and partnerships with the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Boston Public Library, and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Practical training uses archival materials linked to collections resembling those of the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and university holdings comparable to archives at Harvard University and Yale University for manuscript study, digitization labs, and conservation workshops.