Welcome from the Chair

Timothy Gilfoyle, Department of History Chair

The History Department of Loyola University enjoys a long tradition of teaching and scholarly excellence.  Members of the department are actively engaged in research around the world, publishing many books and articles, and integrating that knowledge into their classrooms.   Since 1992, Loyola historians have published more than 50 books, many of which have won significant prizes and been reviewed in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and other national media.  Members of the department have won highly-competitive and prestigious fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities (6), the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (4), the National Humanities Center (2), the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (3), the American Council of Learned Societies (4), and the National Science Foundation.  In 2007, the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index recognized Loyola’s History Department as the sixth most productive in the nation, just behind Harvard and Yale.  In 2010, the National Research Council rankings placed the Loyola History Department in the top 35 of all departments in the United States. Members of the department have won or been nominated for the Sujack Award for Teaching Excellence and other Loyola teaching prizes more than 15 times; some have been nominated for national awards including the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars Faculty of the Year Award.  Three members of the department have been named Loyola Faculty Members of the Year or Graduate Faculty Members of the Year.

     Each semester the Department of History serves between 1,500 and 2,000 students in the Core Historical Knowledge Area and approximately 700 students in our upper division courses. In 2011, the History Department registered 305 majors and 61 minors.  Many history courses are interdisciplinary and enroll students majoring in other departments and programs, especially Asian Studies, Black World Studies, Catholic Studies, Environmental Studies, International Studies (HIST 299 is required of IS majors), Latin American Studies, Peace Studies, Polish Studies, Urban Studies, Women and Gender Studies, and the School of Education. Courses offered in interdisciplinary programs such as Asian Studies, Islamic World Studies, Latin American Studies, Peace Studies, Polish Studies, Urban Studies, and Women and Gender Studies are taught by History faculty.

     In the past five years, the History Department has developed a variety of new courses and programs to enhance the undergraduate major.  The Senior Colloquium was transformed into the Junior Colloquium in order to introduce history majors to more advanced forms of historical writing and to better prepare them for the graduate school application process.  An appealing capstone option is now available to all history majors.  Student internships now number between 10 to 15 each semester.  The honors program has been expanded to include more students.  The Department has successfully developed a workable assessment tool in the portfolio.  And with the addition of specialists in African and South Asian history, the department offers courses on 25-35% of the world’s population that was previously ignored.

     Approximateley 120 students are enrolled in History’s graduate program, which includes the only doctoral program in Public History in the Chicago area.  The Ph.D. and M.A. programs each currently enroll more than 50 students.  In 2011, the History Department’s graduate programs attracted 166 applicants.   Approximately 23 courses are offered each year at the graduate level, with an average enrollment of 11 students.  In addition, individual faculty members offer numerous directed studies, dissertation seminars, internships, and practicums.