History
History as a discipline interrogates the past recorded in human texts, material artefacts,
media, oral traditions, and other evidence in order to render its complexity accessible
to audiences in the present. More than the mere “study of past events,” whether local,
national, or international, History is a public pursuit aimed at the preservation
and dissemination of collective memory and the diversity of human experience across
times, places, contexts, and communities.
In building a deep, thoughtful knowledge of the many pasts that have intersected to
lead to an equally complex present, the Skidmore College Department of History prepares
students to contextualize and address the moral and political quandaries of our contemporary
moment. Whether engaging with ancient civilizations or contemporary societies in the
United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, through the lens of
intellectual trends, imperialisms, nationalisms, social movements, or science and
technology, faculty in the History Department encourage students to develop the “historical
literacy” needed in order to think critically about and act productively in the world
in which they live.