Welcome From Joanne Ferraro, Chair
Welcome to the History Department Web Site
We are among the largest departments in the university, serving over 5500 SDSU students every semester, including 300 majors and pre-majors and 70 M.A. students. History faculty also provide instruction to future teachers in both the Liberal Studies and the Social Science Programs. It is the new home of the Journal of the History of Sexuality.
The history faculty is devoted to teaching excellence and encourages a "community of scholars" atmosphere that includes graduates and undergraduates. In our efforts to encourage a life-long love of learning, we have had the joy of seeing both our undergraduates and M..A. students go on to PhD programs at Yale, Northwestern, UCLA, William and Mary, and the Universities of Pennsylvania and Virginia, some with full scholarships.
Over the last five years the History Department has led the nation by introducing an innovative pedagogy that is interdisciplinary, cross cultural, and transnational. In addition to area studies, we offer a number of thematic fields of concentration, including social and cultural history, the history of the family and childhood, global history, urban history, memory in history, and sex, gender, and the body in historical perspective.
Our international faculty have trained at first-rate academic institutions in both the US and abroad. Many have won awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Fulbright Association. They sit on the boards of professional associations and historical journals and write award-winning books.
I invite you to become acquainted with the History Department through our public events. Each spring we invite the community to the prestigious Andrew Bell Appleby Lecture and Reception. We also hold an annual History Student Awards Ceremony, and we have a history through film series that takes place once a month. Our bi-annual newsletter will keep you abreast of upcoming events as well as exciting news about the Department.
Sincere Regards,
Joanne Ferraro
Professor and Chair