Research Active Professors
The history department is first and foremost a community of scholars who love to share their expertise with students. We not only regularly publish books and articles, our faculty also win major international grants and hold regular conferences on campus.
Global Engagement
Nearly half of our faculty are experts in parts of the world that are NOT the United States. Our curriculum reflects an approach to history that is global. We have faculty from a half-dozen countries, and we are fluent (collectively) in more than a dozen languages.
Service to University Studies and UNCW's Core Curriculum
By department policy and practice, 2/3rds of our teaching is in this area. Our courses are featured in two other majors, twelve interdisciplinary minors and 7 of 17 "clusters."
Innovative Teaching Methods
In our teaching, we have developed challenging courses that develop and hone critical skills in research and writing. We also prioritize rich opportunities for students to engage in one-on-one research with faculty, work with community partners of important and lasting projects, study abroad, experience an internship, or otherwise explore areas of particular interest.
In the classroom, we are committed to finding exciting ways to engage students. Our courses teach our students interactive ways to learn and produce rigorously researched histories. In addition to exciting and original essays, our students may
- Use and creating interactive timelines
- Make and listen to podcasts,
- Create exhibits for public and university display
- Use Storymapping and other digital programs
We are proud of the team-teaching our faculty engages in, the applied learning opportunities we provide, and the attention we give to each student through the following experiences
- Nationally unique online MA for working teachers launched in 2014
- Implemented in 2013 a comprehensive undergraduate internship program
- History faculty are currently heavily involved in honors teaching, learning community teaching, "linked" university studies courses, and interdisciplinary co-teaching.
- Six different faculty members have had Applied Learning initiatives; two have served as "Applied Learning Teaching Community Fellows."
A Tradition of Leadership in University-Level Service
In the past 5 years, History department faculty have served as: Faculty Senate president, chair of the University Studies Advisory Committee, chair of the Faculty Senate Research Committee, associate dean in CAS, and as director of the Applied Learning Teaching Community. We are committed to the vibrancy of UNCW, and to supporting its leaders.
A Tradition of Fundraising and Community Engagement
- We have three separate heavily-endowed programs that the department has built though our strong relations with the community. The Sherman Lecture Series, a University-wide talk and associated week-long programming every October, offered by an "emerging scholar" and aimed at the general public. The Block Endowed Professorship in Jewish History, together with the Rhine Endowment for programming, held by Dr. Jarrod Tanny. The Neal-McCaffray Research Fund, used to sponsor student research and travel to archives.
- History faculty offered or sponsored some 70 public talks all over Eastern North Carolina last year. An estimated 4-5000 attended, including 300 at one talk on Irish History, 300 at another talk on the Battle of Fort Fisher, and some 300 at the Sherman Lecture on Slavery in the Atlantic World
- In our Public History Graduate Program, students have the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with community partners. They participate in in-depth practica learning experiences with these partners, and help create diverse history projects displayed and used throughout the community. History Graduate and undergraduate students interned or worked with a dozen different regional historic sites and institutions last year, including Fort Fisher, The Bellamy Mansion, the Burgwin-Wright House, Wilmington Railroad Museum, The Latimer House, and Moore's Creek National Battlefield.
