Part Two: The History of History Departments

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Stephen Sorensen

This is part two of my study into the history of history departments. Part one can be found here.

31: University of Wisconsin-Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison was established in 1848.^[1] The “Department Information” page for their Department of History did not say when the department was established.^[2]

32: Freie Universitat Berlin

Freie Universitat Berlin was established in 1948.^[3] The page for their Department of History and Cultural Studies did not say when the department was established.^[4]

33: New York University (NYU)

New York University was established in 1831.^[5] Their Department of History’s “About Us” page did not say when the department was established.^[6]

34: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen (LMU Munich)

LMU Munich was established in 1472.^[7] Their Faculty of History and the Arts page did not say when that faculty was established.^[8]

35: Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne

Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne was allegedly established in the early 13th century.^[9] Wikipedia claimed it was established in 1971.^[10] I don’t think their History Department page said when the department was founded.^[11]

36: University of Amsterdam (UvA)

The University of Amsterdam was established in 1632.^[12] I don’t know if they have an official history department but they do have a website “History” that talks about what historians at UvA do.^[13]

37: Duke University

Duke University was established in 1924.^[14] Their Department of History’s “About Us” page did not say when the department was established.^[15]

37: Durham University

Durham University was established in 1832.^[16] Their Department of History’s “About Us” page did not say when the department was established.^[17]

39: The University of Warwick

The University of Warwick was established in 1965.^[18] It didn’t look to me like their History Department had an about page. Their History Department also didn’t appear to say when it was established.^[19]

40: The University of Manchester (UMIST)

UMIST traced its origins to 1824 but it acquired its present form in 2004.^{[20], [21]} UMIST’s History department appears to me to have the best, most detailed page for the history of its history department. History was originally taught there in the 1850’s. The Manchester School of History was established in 1922.^[22]

41: University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was established in 1789.^[23] Their Department of History’s “History of the Department” had a useful link to Carl H. Pegg’s “History and Historians in the University of North Carolina, 1790 to 1950”.^[24] I briefly skimmed the book and think it’s safe to say that their department has its origins in the 1850’s when the first chair of history was established.^{[25, p.1]}

42: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM)

UNAM was established in 1551.^[26] I currently don’t know if they have a history department.

42: The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

The University of Hong Kong was established in 1912.^[27] The “About” page for their Department of History did not say when it was established.^[28]

44: University of St Andrews

The University of St Andrews was established in 1413.^[29] The “About” page for its School of History did not say when the School was established.^[30]

45: Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat Heidelberg

Heidelberg University was established in 1386.^[31] I don’t think the website for their Department of History said when the department was established.^[32]

45: SOAS University of London

SOAS University of London was established in 1916.^[33] Their “Department of History, School of History, Religions & Philosophies” page did not say when that department or that school was established.^[34]

47: McGill University

McGill University was established in 1821.^[35] The “About” page for their Department of History and Classical Studies mentions that history began being taught at McGill in 1855. However, they said the department itself “was only formally founded at the turn of the twentieth century”.^[36]

48: The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

CUHK was established in 1963.^[37] They traced the history of their Department of History to the “late 1940s when New Asia College was founded”.^[38] I don’t know if its appropriate to grant that their history department was established before their university was but I grant it anyways because at least they included information about their origins (which is better than the majority of the top 50 universities for history).

49: University of York

The University of York was established in 1960.^[39] The “About us” page for their Department of History did not say when the department was established.^[40]

50: The University of Exeter

The University of Exeter was established in 1955.^[41] The “About us” page for their Department of History did not say when the department was established.^[42]

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References:

[1] – https://www.wisc.edu/about/. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.

[2] – https://history.wisc.edu/department-information/. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.

[3] – https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/universitaet/leitbegriffe/gruendungsgeschichte/index.html. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.

[4] – https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/einrichtungen/fachbereiche/fb/gesch-kultur/index.html. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.

[5] – https://www.nyu.edu/faculty/governance-policies-and-procedures/faculty-handbook/the-university/history-and-traditions-of-new-york-university/a-brief-history-of-new-york-university.html. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.

[6] – https://as.nyu.edu/history/about-us.html. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.

[7] – https://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/about_lmu/introducing-lmu/history/index.html. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.

[8] – https://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/about_lmu/academics/faculties/fak_9_gesch_kunstw/index.html. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.

[9] – https://www.pantheonsorbonne.fr/diplomes/psme/presentation/. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.

[10] – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Paris_1_Pantheon-Sorbonne. Accessed 21 Dec. 2020.