History Department     

Department Mission

The mission of the history department is to serve the academic needs of majors and non-majors alike by acquainting them with a knowledge of the past and providing them with the skills to understand and analyze trends, personalities, and movements which have shaped events. As Jefferson so aptly put it: "History by apprising them of the past will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views."

Goals of the Department of History

• To allow students to develop a sense of history;

• To encourage critical thinking and the understanding of cause and effect relationships;

• To urge the development of clear and persuasive use of oral and written expression;

• To become aware of the diversity and commonality of peoples through history;

• To appreciate the profound story of our collective past in a variety of national arenas and eras;

• To enjoy the pleasure of viewing life in its previous struggles and triumphs;

• To learn to love the life of the mind and the production of ideas.

History has always been the linchpin of academe to the tradition of humankind and as a discipline is among the most revered and obvious of the liberal arts. All knowledge has a history and the study of history is the beginning of the varieties of knowledge.

Courses offered by the History department may be counted toward some general education requirements or a major or minor in history. History majors planning to continue their education in graduate school, should plan to study German or French while at Elmhurst College (particularly if working toward a Ph.D.)

History majors planning to attend law school upon completion of their degree at Elmhurst College are encouraged to pursue a balanced program between American and English history. POL 412 Constitutional Law is also recommended.

Calendar year 2009 was the History Department's Second Annual Best Research Paper competition.  The nominated papers were: Kelsey Day, The Contradictory Virgin of Guadalupe; Thomas Piorkowski, The U.S.-Mexican War; Jason Ryder, Conveying the Glory of France to Indochina; Kyle Roble, An Apparition in Japanese Imperialism: Distance and Wartime Technologies.

Congratulations to all four nominated papers, and the winner of the 2009 Best Research Paper goes to Kyle Roble for his paper about how the Japanese mass mind and mass media contributed to the brutalization of China in the 1930s and the 1940s.

If you have questions about the the department and/or its curriculum or would like additional information, please contact the department chair, Dr. Rob Butler.

Department of History
Elmhurst College
190 Prospect Avenue
Elmhurst, IL 60126–3296
(630) 617-3073