University of Alberta Department of History

University of Alberta Department of History
Name	University of Alberta Department of History
Established	1911
Parent institution	University of Alberta
Location	Edmonton, Alberta

University of Alberta Department of History is a faculty unit within the University of Alberta located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The department offers undergraduate and graduate programs, pursues research across regional and thematic specialties, and engages with provincial, national, and international partners. It maintains collections, archives, and public programs that connect scholarly research to communities including Indigenous Nations, municipal institutions, and cultural organizations.

History

The department traces its origins to the founding of the University of Alberta in 1908 and the early hiring of historians connected to institutions such as Oxford University, University of Toronto, McGill University, University of British Columbia, and Harvard University. Over the twentieth century the department expanded through associations with scholars who studied topics including the North-West Rebellion, the Klondike Gold Rush, the Great Depression in Canada, and the Treaty 6 region. Faculty exchanges and visiting appointments linked it to networks at Princeton University, Yale University, Cambridge University, McMaster University, and Queen's University. The department’s evolution reflected broader academic developments exemplified by comparative work on British Empire, Imperial Russia, Ottoman Empire, and Qing dynasty histories, alongside studies of Métis people, Cree people, Blackfoot Confederacy, and other Indigenous histories. Institutional milestones involved partnerships with the Royal Alberta Museum, the Provincial Archives of Alberta, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and national funding from bodies like the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Academic Programs

The department offers a range of degrees tied to curricular initiatives influenced by programs at University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Chicago, Columbia University, and London School of Economics. Undergraduate degrees include majors and minors that foreground courses on topics such as Canadian Confederation, World War I, World War II, Cold War, Reformation, Renaissance, French Revolution, Industrial Revolution, and transnational themes like Atlantic World and Transatlantic Slave Trade. Graduate programs encompass MA and PhD training with supervision shaped by comparative projects on Imperialism, Decolonization, Nationalism, Migration Crisis, and regional specializations in East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Middle East. Collaborative offerings include joint degrees and certificate programs with the Faculty of Native Studies, the Faculty of Law, the School of Public Health, and the Department of Political Science.

Research and Centres

Research strengths are supported by interdisciplinary centres and institutes modeled on collaborations like the Centre for Historical Studies, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the Royal Historical Society. The department hosts or partners with units addressing themes such as Indigenous histories with links to National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation initiatives, environmental history in dialogue with Parks Canada projects, labour history connected to United Food and Commercial Workers studies, and digital history collaborations referencing methods used at Stanford University and the University of Oxford. Grant-supported research has engaged comparative work on Holocaust studies, Slavery, Gender history, Religious Reformations, and urban studies involving the City of Edmonton, Calgary, and other municipalities.

Faculty and Staff

Faculty appointments have included scholars trained at institutions such as University of Toronto, Cornell University, University of British Columbia, University of Chicago, McGill University, and Yale University. Research profiles cover biographies of figures like John A. Macdonald, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Louis Riel, Winston Churchill, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and studies of movements including Suffrage movement, Civil Rights Movement, Indian National Congress, and Solidarity (Poland). Staff and librarians work with partners such as the Provincial Archives of Alberta, the Glenbow Museum, and the Royal Alberta Museum to manage collections, digitization projects, and student training.

Students and Student Life

Students engage in clubs and associations comparable to groups at University of Toronto and McMaster University, including history societies, moot groups focused on historical legal cases like the Persons Case, and reading groups studying texts such as The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, The Communist Manifesto, The Origins of Totalitarianism, and The Guns of August. Graduate students present at conferences hosted by organizations like the Canadian Historical Association, the American Historical Association, Royal Historical Society, and regional meetings in Western Canada.

Facilities and Collections

Facilities include seminar rooms, archival reading rooms, and labs modeled after digital humanities spaces at Stanford University and University College London. Collections are curated in partnership with the Provincial Archives of Alberta, the Glenbow Museum, the Royal Alberta Museum, and university libraries that hold primary sources related to Treaty 6, Hudson's Bay Company, Canadian Pacific Railway, WWI Trench Diaries, and oral histories from Métis and First Nations communities. Special collections feature materials connected to figures such as R.B. Bennett, Alexander Rutherford, and correspondence tied to settler and Indigenous interactions in Prairie Provinces.

Community Engagement and Public Outreach

Public programming includes lecture series, exhibitions, and partnerships with civic bodies like City of Edmonton cultural initiatives, collaborations with the Alberta Historical Society, and outreach to schools and Indigenous communities modeled on public history programs at the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum. The department contributes expertise to commemorations of events such as Remembrance Day, Canada Day, and provincial centennials, and works with media outlets, municipal archives, and heritage organizations to translate research into public exhibits, op-eds, and teacher resources.

Category:University of Alberta Category:History departments