Faculty
Michael Barnhart, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Ph.D., Harvard University: U.S. foreign policy; 20th-century U.S. and modern Japan. Recipient of the State University Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1985, and the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1985.
Karl S. Bottigheimer, Professor, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley: England and Ireland.
David B. Burner, Professor, Ph.D., Columbia University: 20th-century U.S. political and social.
Floris Cash, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook: Joint appointment with Africana Studies; U.S. social and political history; African-American history; Latin American history.
Alix Cooper, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Harvard University: Early modern Europe; history of science; environment.
Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Professor, Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University: History of biology and technology; women in modern society.
Michael Davis, Professor, University of California at Los Angeles: Urban and environmental history.
Elizabeth Garber, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University: History of physics and thermodynamics; European intellectual and social.
Robert Goldenberg, Professor, Ph.D., Brown University: History of religion; history of Judaism; Talmudic literature; ancient history. Recipient of the State University of New York Chancellor’s or Excellence in Teaching, 1995, and the President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching, 1995.
Paul Gootenberg, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Chicago: 19th-century Latin America; Andean; Mexican; economic.
Young Sun Hong, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: Modern Germany.
Thomas Klubock, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Yale University: Modern Latin America; labor; gender; environment.
Richard F. Kuisel, Professor Emeritus, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley: Modern Europe; France.
Ned Landsman, Professor, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania: Colonial U.S. history.
Brooke Larson, Professor, Ph.D., Columbia University: Latin America; social history; mining; agrarian change.
Herman E. Lebovics, Professor, Ph.D., Yale University: Modern European intellectual and social history.
Helen Rodnite Lemay, Professor, Ph.D., Columbia University: Medieval and Renaissance intellectual; paleography. Recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1984.
Shirley Lim, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles: Asian-American immigration, women and culture, film.
Sara Lipton, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Yale University: Medieval Europe; gender; religion; culture.
William McAdoo, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Michigan: Joint appointment with Africana Studies; U.S. urban, social, and institutional history; immigration historiography; labor history; African-American history.
Iona Man-cheong, Associate Professor, Ph.D, Yale University: Modern China and Japan; modern Chinese women.
Gary Marker, Professor, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley: 18th- and 19th-century Russian social.
April Masten, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Rutgers University: Art, economics, and politics in the nineteenth century.
Janis Mimura, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley: Political, economic, intellectual history of modern Japan.
Wilbur R. Miller, Professor, Ph.D., Columbia University: 19th-century U.S.; Civil War and Reconstruction; crime and police.
Donna J. Rilling, Professor, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania: U.S. early national; legal; economic; urban; labor.
Joel T. Rosenthal, Professor, Ph.D., University of Chicago: Medieval Europe; England.
Ian Roxborough, Professor, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison: Joint Appointment with Sociology; Comparative social structures; development; Latin American politics; social change; Latin American labor movements.
Warren Sanderson, Professor, Ph.D., Stanford University: Joint appointment with Economics; Economic history; economic demography.
Wolf Schafer, Professor, Ph.D., University of Bremen: Social history of the sciences and science policy.
Christopher Sellers, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Yale University: Medical history; environmental history; science and technology.
Nancy Tomes, Professor, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania: U.S. social, medical, and women’s history.
Olufemi Vaughan, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Oxford: Joint appointment with Africana Studies; African politics and history; international relations.
Fred Weinstein, Professor Emeritus, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley: Psychohistory; Russia.
John A. Williams, Associate Professor, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison: British Empire; Africa; the Commonwealth; expansion of Europe.
Kathleen Wilson, Associate Professor Emerita, Ph.D., Yale University: Modern British social and intellectual history.
Judith Wishnia, Associate Professor, Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook: Joint appointment with Interdisciplinary Program in Social Sciences; Women’s history; labor history; European history.
Affiliated Faculty
Leslie H. Owens, Africana Studies
Eli Seifman, Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Adjunct Faculty
Estimated number: 3
Teaching Assistants
Estimated number: 20
Major and Minor in
History
Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences
Chairperson: Ned Landsman
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Robert Goldenberg
Staff Assistant: Susan Grumet
Office: S-301 Social and Behavioral Sciences
Phone: (631) 632-7500
Web Address: http://www.sunysb.edu/history
Minors of particular interest to students majoring in history: Africana studies (AFS), international studies (LIS), political science (POL), women’s studies (WST), foreign languages
History is the systematic study of peoples, states, and societies from antiquity to our current times. Using both written records and material artifacts, historians attempt to reconstruct and interpret change over time in every facet of human experience, from political and economic systems to family life and gender roles, to name a few. The study of history is not only intrinsically interesting, but also contributes useful insights into the contemporary world and its problems.
History majors develop an in-depth knowledge of a specific region of the world, including its history, geography, and culture. In the process, they also learn how to conduct historical research, and to develop convincing arguments based on the evidence they uncover. Effective oral and written communication skills are strongly emphasized in all history courses.
Many history majors choose careers in law, teaching, archival or library science, or museum work. Because it emphasizes research and writing, history is also excellent preparation for many fields, including journalism, diplomacy, and international business. Combined with a concentration in science, the history major is also a good background for medicine or other health science professions.
The department’s offerings range over many eras, regions, and topics, concentrating on the United States, Europe, Latin America, East Asia, the history of science, and women’s history. Surveys of these fields are offered at the 100 level for the United States and Europe and the 200 level for other areas. Students interested in the study of history should take these survey courses first, as prerequisites for more advanced coursework. American and European courses at the 200 level customarily examine a specific period, while 300-level courses typically examine specific topics (such as social or political history) or countries (such as Germany, Brazil, or China). History colloquia at the 400 level are small classes offering intensive reading and discussion on closely focused themes. The study of history emphasizes the mastery of large amounts of information and the ability to demonstrate that mastery through skillful writing.
Each semester the department issues a booklet with detailed descriptions of its offerings. Students interested in history, whether as a major, a minor, a social science course related to their major, or for general liberal arts purposes, are invited to read this booklet and to seek advice from the department’s director of undergraduate studies and other faculty members.
Requirements for the Major in History (HIS)
The major in history leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. All courses taken to meet requirements A and B must be taken for a letter grade. No grade lower than C may be applied toward requirement A. At least 12 credits in requirement A must be taken within the department of history at Stony Brook.
Completion of the major requires 36 credits.
- Study within the Area of the Major
- Two courses at the 100 level
- A primary field of five courses to be selected from one of the following: United States, European, Latin American, ancient and medieval, or non-Western history. Primary fields developed along topical or thematic lines may be selected with approval of the department’s undergraduate committee. The primary field, to be selected and filed with the department no later than the end of the first full semester after declaring the major, shall be distributed as follows:
- Two courses at the 200 level
- Two courses at the 300 level
- One course at the 400 level, excluding HIS 447, 487, 488
- Three courses selected from outside the primary field and above the 100 level, with at least one of these courses at the 300 or 400 level.
- Courses in a Related Discipline
- Upper-Division Writing Requirement
- No transferred course with a grade lower than C may be applied toward requirement A.
- No more than six credits of HIS 447, 487, 488 may be applied toward requirement A.
A minimum of ten courses (30 credits) distributed as follows:
Two upper-division courses in one discipline, the discipline to be selected with department approval no later than the end of the first semester after declaring the major. Courses that are crosslisted with a history course do not satisfy this requirement.
Students are required to complete one upper-division course from Group A (study within the area of the major) by the end of their junior year. They must inform the instructor of the course in advance of their plan to use the term paper (or papers) in fulfillment of the writing requirement for the major. In addition to the grade for the course, the instructor makes a second evaluation of writing competency in the field of history. If the second evaluation is favorable, the student will have fulfilled this requirement.
Notes:
The Honors Program in History
Departmental majors with a minimum g.p.a. of 3.00 in history courses and related disciplines as specified in the major requirements are eligible to enroll in the history honors program at the beginning of their senior year.
The student, after asking a faculty member to be a sponsor, must submit a proposal to the department indicating the merit of the planned research. The supervising faculty member must also submit a statement supporting the student’s proposal. This must be done in the semester prior to the beginning of the project.
The honors paper resulting from a student’s research is read by two historians and a member of another department, as arranged by the director of undergraduate studies. If the paper is judged to be of unusual merit and the student’s record warrants such a determination, the department recommends honors.
The Minor in History (HIS)
The minor is organized around the student’s interest in a particular area of history, defined either by geography (e.g., United States, Latin America) or topic (e.g., imperialism, social change). Courses offered for the minor must be taken for a letter grade. Upper-division courses offered for the minor must be passed with a grade of C or higher.
Completion of the minor requires 18 credits. At least nine of the 18 credits must be taken at Stony Brook, with three of the courses at the upper-division level. The specific distribution of the credits should be determined in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies. An example of an acceptable distribution would be the following:
- One two-semester survey course in the period of the student’s interest (100- or 200-level)
- One (additional) course at the 200 level
- Three courses at the 300 or 400 level, at least one of which must be at the 400 level
Note: HIS 447, 487, 488 may not be used to satisfy minor requirements.
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