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| Ithaca College Department of History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ithaca College Department of History |
| Established | 1931 |
| Type | Academic department |
| Parent | Ithaca College |
| City | Ithaca |
| State | New York |
| Country | United States |
Ithaca College Department of History The Ithaca College Department of History is an academic unit within Ithaca College offering undergraduate instruction, public programs, and research initiatives. The department situates teaching and scholarship in conversation with regional institutions such as the Cornell University libraries, national archives like the Library of Congress, and international collections including the British Library. Its curriculum and outreach engage topics connected to figures and events from Abraham Lincoln and the American Revolution to Winston Churchill and the Cold War.
The department traces roots to curricular offerings in the 1930s influenced by curricular models at Harvard University, Columbia University, and Yale University. Expansion after World War II paralleled the GI influx seen at University of Michigan and programmatic shifts similar to those at University of Chicago and Stanford University. Faculty hires in the 1960s and 1970s brought specializations in areas resonant with scholarship at Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, and Oxford University, while curricular reforms in the 1990s echoed innovations at University of Pennsylvania and Brown University. Recent developments include collaborative projects with institutions such as Syracuse University, New York Historical Society, and the National Archives.
Undergraduate offerings include majors and minors that cover chronological and thematic fields comparable to curricula at Rutgers University, Georgetown University, and University of Virginia. Course sequences address subjects tied to primary sources housed at The Morgan Library & Museum, topics anchored in the study of Renaissance culture through materials at the Vatican Library, and modern diplomatic history paralleling syllabi referencing the Treaty of Versailles and the United Nations Charter. Capstone seminars prepare students for graduate study at institutions such as Columbia University, Yale University, University of Chicago, and professional pathways toward employment in organizations like the Smithsonian Institution and Getty Research Institute.
Faculty research spans comparative and transnational history, with expertise intersecting studies of figures such as Frederick Douglass, Simón Bolívar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Mahatma Gandhi; regional emphases include European studies linked to archives in Paris, Latin American studies connected to collections at Biblioteca Nacional de España, and Asian studies referencing manuscripts from National Diet Library (Japan). Scholars have received fellowships from agencies and prizes associated with National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Collaborative projects have produced work on events including the French Revolution, the Taiping Rebellion, and the Spanish Civil War, and on themes related to the Civil Rights Movement, the Meiji Restoration, and the Industrial Revolution.
Students participate in internships with partner organizations like the Ithaca Tompkins County Public Library, the Sciencenter, and the Tompkins County Historical Society, and pursue fieldwork modeled on internships at National Museum of African American History and Culture, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and New-York Historical Society. Student-run groups and honor societies echo structures at Phi Alpha Theta chapters nationwide and coordinate conferences engaging scholars connected to American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians. Study-abroad options align with programs in cities such as Rome, London, Madrid, Athens, and Beijing, enabling archival research in repositories like the Archivio di Stato di Firenze and the Archivo General de Indias.
Resources supporting instruction include classroom spaces, digital labs with access to databases used at JSTOR and Project MUSE, and proximity to research libraries such as Cornell University Library and the Tompkins County Public Library. Special collections collaborations facilitate student work with holdings comparable to those at the Newberry Library and the Huntington Library. The department leverages interlibrary loan networks connected to the OCLC system and participates in digitization initiatives resembling projects by the Digital Public Library of America.
Alumni from the department have pursued graduate degrees at Harvard University, Princeton University, Oxford University, and careers with institutions including the National Park Service, Library of Congress, United Nations, and media outlets such as The New York Times and NPR. Graduates have entered public history roles at the Smithsonian Institution and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, education roles in districts like Ithaca City School District, and policy positions in state offices including the New York State Assembly.
The department maintains partnerships with regional cultural institutions including the Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, the Hangar Theatre, and the Ithaca Commons community organizations. Public programming includes lecture series modeled on forums hosted by the New York Historical Society and collaborative exhibitions with the Tompkins County Historical Society and the Finger Lakes Museum. These initiatives have addressed local history topics connected to events such as the Sullivan Expedition and regional developments tied to the Erie Canal.