The Department

Welcome to the Department of History at Stanford University!

Home to a world-renowned faculty, the Department of History offers programs of study for undergraduate and graduate students. Through a diverse array of courses spanning the globe and ranging from the ancient world to the modern era, students can prepare for variety of fascinating careers and for citizenship in a globalized world.

Undergraduates join a vibrant community of intellectually curious and dynamic students. They can choose a Major or Minor in History, selecting from a variety of tracks. The historical journal Herodotus is entirely produced by undergraduate majors. Peer advisors help their fellow students navigate the major and minor, and our weekly Coffee & Donuts gives our majors (and prospective majors) a friendly home community. We encourage undergraduates to begin independent research in history as early as their freshman year: summer funding supports students who want to extend their Stanford history research beyond the classroom. Seniors can write a thesis under close supervision of a faculty member. A Coterminal Master’s program admits a limited number of undergraduates for a co-terminal BA/MA degree.

The Graduate program trains students for careers as scholars, teachers, and a variety of rewarding careers in law, government, diplomacy, business, the arts, and administration. Admission to the graduate program is highly selective, and small cohort sizes of roughly 10 to 15 entering students each year allow for close individual work between faculty and students. Students can choose from 14 major fields to satisfy the PhD. We also offer a joint degree in Law and History, including JD/PhD and JD/MA. A terminal MA also exists.

Faculty and Lecturers in the Department are among the leaders in their fields of scholarship, publishing numerous books each year, winning prestigious fellowships and awards, and shaping the public conversation with op-eds, media interviews, and public-facing events. Their approaches to history and fields of chronological and geographical expertise range widely, from Africa and Asia to the United States, from intellectual history to social and transnational approaches, and from gender to digital history. 

We are in Lane History Corner (Building 200) on the main Stanford campus. Read this building’s storied history and browse oral history interviews with some of our faculty. Or just stop by the main office to learn more!

Caroline Winterer

Caroline Winterer

Department Chair

Photo of Jun Uchida

Jun Uchida

Department Vice-Chair

Amir Weiner

Amir Weiner

Director of Graduate Studies

Jonathan Gienapp

Jonathan Gienapp

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Zephyr Frank

Director of Graduate Teaching

Nancy Kollmann

Nancy Kollmann

Director of Graduate Admissions

James Daughton

Director of Honors and Research

Mariana Calvo

Burcak Keskin Kozat

Director of Finance & Operations