Share our enthusiasm for the study of past societies and cultures

History unlocks important insights into the world we inhabit. But we also find intellectual satisfaction, and wisdom, in understanding the past on its own terms. Because of the geographical breadth of our courses, history students develop a global consciousness as they develop key transferable skills such as critical thinking, communication, and empathy.

The World is Calling: History Majors

History is the centerpiece of a humanities education. It's about problem-solving, gathering evidence, and fitting that evidence together to understand what happened in past societies - and why those things happened.

Projects

Iowa Native Spaces

History Writing Center

History Corps

News and announcements

Stromquist Claiming the City

Shelton Stromquist wins the 2023 "Book of the Year" award from ILHA

Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Professor Emeritus Shelton Stromquist won the 2023 “Book of the Year Award” for labor history from the International Labor History Association (ILHA) for his book, Claiming the City: A Global History of Workers’ Fight for Municipal Socialism.
Group photo of Bob Cargill, Paul Dilley, Sarah Bond, and Brenda Longfellow

Sarah Bond appointed Holtsmark Associate Professor

Wednesday, October 4, 2023
History Professor Sarah Bond is one of two faculty members appointed to the Holtsmark Associate Professorship. She was one of four CLAS faculty recently honored with new named professorships in classics.

Upcoming events

New Histories for Reproductive Justice: Authors in Conversation promotional image

New Histories for Reproductive Justice: Authors in Conversation

Thursday, March 28, 2024 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Professors Natalie Lira, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and Angela Hume, University of California, Berkeley, will be in conversation with each other about their recent books on the topics of abortion and the history of sterilization. Their work is deeply informed by and grounded in a reproductive justice framework.
What is an overseas Japanese space? Incendiary test structures and “things Japanese” promotional image

What is an overseas Japanese space? Incendiary test structures and “things Japanese”

Friday, March 29, 2024 12:00pm to 1:30pm
University Capitol Centre
As part of its WW II incendiary weapons development program, the United States designed and built test structures to use in weapons performance trials. The most well-known of these might be the German and Japanese tenement housing at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. This presentation compares the design processes of the Japanese and German test structures, and locates the Japanese structures among late 19th and 20th century practices of modeling Japanese material culture and “Japanicizing” spaces.

Floating Fridays- Robert Rouphail

Friday, March 29, 2024 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Jefferson Building
What, if any, is the relationship between natural disaster and historical processes of identity formation? Drawing from the 20th century history of Mauritius, a multi-ethnic and linguistically plural island in Indian Ocean Africa, this presentation examines how tropical cyclones (hurricanes) compelled everyday Mauritians and their late-colonial British government to reckon with questions of identity and power.
Craft Critique Culture Graduate Conference: Black Legacies promotional image

Craft Critique Culture Graduate Conference: Black Legacies

Thursday, April 4, 2024 12:00pm
On April 4–6, 2024, English graduate students are hosting the 23rd annual Craft Critique Culture interdisciplinary graduate conference on the University of Iowa campus. This year’s conference theme is “Black Legacies.”
Craft Critique Culture Graduate Conference: Black Legacies promotional image

Craft Critique Culture Graduate Conference: Black Legacies

Friday, April 5, 2024 12:00pm
On April 4–6, 2024, English graduate students are hosting the 23rd annual Craft Critique Culture interdisciplinary graduate conference on the University of Iowa campus. This year’s conference theme is “Black Legacies.”
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