Department of History Blog
Explore the history community at AU and learn about the achievements and activities of our students, faculty, and alumni.
You are here: American University College of Arts & Sciences Department of History
Department of History
Offering doctoral, master's, public history, and bachelor's programs.
The World Is Open to AU History Majors
History classes hone our students' research, writing, and analytical skills. Our home in Washington, DC, offers students unparalleled resources for research, internships, and jobs. The nation's capital is our classroom.
Our outstanding faculty are not only exemplary teachers and scholars, but they are also actively involved with archives, museums, government institutions, and non-profits in DC, across the United States, and around the world. Whether you are interested in working in government, private industry, non-profits, or academia, AU's Department of History offers a stepping stone to a promising career.
The History Department offers a BA, a minor, a combined BA/MA, an MA in History, an MA in History with Public History Concentration, and a PhD.
Fast-Track Your Way to a BA / MA in History
American University's Combined BA/MA Degree program allows students to complete both their BA and MA in History in as little as 5 years. Students in the BA/MA program save upwards of $22,000 in tuition costs by sharing credits between the two degrees.
Students may pursue either the General MA program or the Public History Concentration. Inquire at history@american.edu to learn more about our BA/MA program.
Spring 2026 Featured Courses
See Eagle Service course catalog for all History courses offered this semester.
History of the White House
HIST 212 001
3 credits, Matthew Costello & Lina Mann, Wednesdays, 11:20 a.m. - 2:10 p.m.
Explores the history and evolution of America's most prominent home and national landmark. Spanning from the founding of our nation's capital to the present, it examines the architectural transformations of the President's House; the history of its occupants and staff; the presidency; the conceptualization of the White House as a "living museum"; and the building's development as a cultural symbol for political democracy and diplomacy.
Law & America's Racial Crisis
HIST 244 001
3 credits, Gautham Rao, Tuesdays & Fridays, 11:20 a.m. - 12:35 p.m.
This course examines the making of modern governance through the construction of race and governance of social and political crises arising from understandings of race. It focuses on how people and social movements have negotiated citizenship and belonging through legal institutions. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity.
Introduction to Modern Middle East
HIST 248 001
3 credits, Pedram Partovi, Mondays & Thursdays, 2:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Examines the history of the modern Middle East from the late eighteenth century to the present, during which Euro-American involvement intensified. Students consider the various representations of the Middle East and its people that contributed to Western political and cultural hegemony in this period. Attention is also given to (semi-)indigenous attempts to meet this challenge from the West.
The Viking World
HIST 301 001
3 credits, Mary Frances Giandrea, Tuesdays & Fridays, 11:20 a.m. - 12:35 p.m.
The course of European history was changed forever when the Vikings began to take an interest in their neighbors. What began as a series of small but devastating raids in the late eighth century soon mushroomed into a mass movement of Scandinavians to Ireland, Britain, France, and beyond, forever altering the landscapes of these kingdoms. To their victims they were heathen pirates who killed without regard for age, gender, or status. But the Vikings also impacted Europe in more positive ways, opening up long-distance trade routes and encouraging urban development, among other things. This course takes a broad view of the Viking world by considering the evidence for the Vikings themselves as well as their impact abroad. Students use material evidence (i.e., archaeology) and primary sources to better understand Viking society and religion, technology, ways of warfare and influence across time and space.
The Holocaust in Film
HIST 412 001
3 credits, Alicja Podbielska, Tuesdays & Fridays, 11:20 a.m. - 12:35 p.m.
This course explores how the history of the Holocaust has been presented in film. A recent book covers over 400 Holocaust films. They include feature films and documentaries in multiple languages. The earliest appeared shortly after the end of World War II. The longest, Shoah, clocks in at over nine hours. They tell their stories from different points of view, the victims, the enslaved, the perpetrators, the rescuers. From 1945 through 1991, half of all American Holocaust features were nominated for Oscars.
History Seminar: Washington, DC
HIST 468/668 001
3 credits, M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, Mondays, 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
This course prepares students to do sustained research and interpretation on the social, cultural, and political history of Washington, DC and its inhabitants, from 1800 to the present. Students read primary and secondary sources, meet with local historians, visit archives, and learn about how the history of this city has been told.
Bulletins
Iran Between Repression and War
April 7, 3–5 p.m. | SIS Founders Room
Featuring Professor Pedram Partovi and PhD candidate Reza Akbari.
History PhD Alum Lauren Duval was awarded the 2026 Distinguished First Book Award for a First Book by the Society for Military History for her book The Home Front: Revolutionary Households, Military Occupation, and the Making of American Independence.
PhD Candidate Reza Akbari published "'Unconditional Surrender' is Always an Illusion: An American myth reemerges for the Iran War" with Foreign Policy.
Professor Allan J. Lichtman's Conservative at the Core has been nominated as a finalist for the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the History category.
Professor Pamela Nadell’s Antisemitism, an American Tradition won the 2026 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies.
More
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Professor Theresa Runstedtler appears in the docuseries based on her book, Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association. The docuseries premiers on Amazon Prime.
Professor M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska published "'Play the Long Game': Public Historians' Approach to the Semiquincentennial and Beyond" in The Public Historian.
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History PhD alum Nathan Sowry published Indian Boarding Schools, Native Anthropologists, and the Race to Preserve Indigenous Cultures (University of Nebraska Press, 2025).
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Pam Nadell published "Smokescreen: Antisemitism on campus is real—and the Trump administration is exploiting it" in Liberal Education.
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History PhD alumna Lauren DuVal, Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma, published her first book, The Home Front: Revolutionary Households, Military Occupation, and the Making of American Independence (UNC Press, 2025).
- Prof. Anna F. Kaplan's recent article, "A Black Woman's Practice" was recognized as an honorable mention for the Oral History Association's article award.
- Prof. Pamela S. Nadell published Antisemitism, An American Tradition with W. W. Norton and Company. See her upcoming book tour events.
- Prof. Allan J. Lichtman published Conservative at the Core: A New History of American Conservatism with (Notre Dame Press, 2025). Conservative at the Core was named one of Library Journal's top books of 2025.
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Prof. Kate Haulman published The Mother of Washington in Nineteenth-Century America with Oxford University Press (September 2025).
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The Department of History hosted our first Shelf Life Book Sale on October 16. Check out this article from The Eagle recapping the event.
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PhD Candidate Reza Akbari participated in a roundtable discussion hosted by Security in Context on the strategic logic of Iran's foreign policy during the "12-Day War."
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Alum Thomas Hauser published Seizing the Electronic High Ground: Transforming Aerial Intelligence for the United States Army.
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The Department of History recognized PhD Candidate Henry Dickemyer as History Teaching Assistant of the Year for academic year 2024-2025. Congratulations, Henry!
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Prof. Laura Beers has been awarded a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship as part of the 100th class of fellows for the Guggenheim Foundation. Her book, Orwell's Ghosts (W. W. Norton & Coo., 2024), has also been awarded a Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the biography category.
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The Department of History and the Jewish Studies Program held the annual Brandenburg Lecture & Annual Awards Ceremony, April 9, 2025, featuring Julie Keresztes and her recently published book, Photography and the Making of the Nazi Racial Community. Watch the lecture.
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Check out our 2023-24 newsletter! See what we got up to last academic year, including faculty and student achievements, events, and more. Read the newsletter.
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Doctoral student Paul Kutner published an article with Medium on Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde's speech on January 21.
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Theresa Runstedtler spoke with Time about race, sexuality, and gender- themed conversations surrounding Caitlin Clark’s inaugural WNBA season.
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Allan Lichtman spoke with NPR about President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to invite Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the inauguration.
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Peter Kuznick co-authored an article for The Nation about Nihon Hidankyo’s receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Department News
Top image credit: Teddy Roosevelt (right of man in white vest) watches the laying of the cornerstone for AU's McKinley Building, 1902. AU Archives.