History

The Middlebury History Department offers courses that aim at the broadest geographical and thematic diversity.

Whether you are interested in the drama of the American Civil War, women heretics in Medieval Europe, the environmental impact of colonialism in Africa, the rise of Islamic empires, the shaping of Brazilian culture, or the ideology of the Chinese Revolution, you will find it here. History is essential to all knowledge because everything has a past.

Rose Sanderson and other women's suffragists demonstrate in February, 1913.
Rose Sanderson and other women’s suffragists demonstrate in February 1913.

Open Faculty Position - Assistant Professor of Latin American History

For more information, please click here.

History majors at Middlebury learn to craft arguments and tell stories based on primary and secondary documents from geographical regions and peoples from across the globe. All majors take courses in a variety of fields and familiarize themselves with different ways of interpreting the past.

Cole Thomas The Consummation the Course of the Empire 1836

Why Major in History?

Are you curious about the world you live in and how it came to be? Do you wonder how the past informs and shapes the present? If you love written narratives and complex stories that unfold from a book, in a 19th-century diary, or on ancient parchment, and if you have a particular interest—in warfare, the environment, inequality, national identity, or politics—you will find all that and more here.

Our Faculty

Our faculty members combine a deep commitment to teaching with active scholarly research that keeps them up-to-date in their areas of specialization. They also specialize in different approaches to history, from social, political and intellectual to environmental, ethnic, and gender, including the history of science, medicine, and technology.  

Our Courses

Ancient painting depicting the Siege of Tripoli.

Our Courses

With the exception of upper-level 400-level courses, there are no prerequisites to courses in the History Department, and course numbers reflect fields of study, not degrees of difficulty. There are numerous opportunities to dig deeply into what interests you.

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HSMT Track

The History of Science, Medicine, and Technology track provides a broad understanding of the development of science and its contested role in society throughout history and around the world. In this track, students can examine how governments, societies, and individuals have shaped—and been shaped by—science, medicine, and technology. 

More about HSMT

After Middlebury

Our students graduate from the department having learned the basic skills of historical analysis and writing through a variety of lecture and seminar courses, as well as through extended research projects. History majors go on to careers in a wide variety of areas, from law and finance to teaching and international service, medicine, science, and the digital economy.

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Student Resources

Department of History

Axinn Center at Starr Library
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT 05753

Judy Mayer, Coordinator

Axinn Center at Starr Library 338

(802) 443-5124

jmayer@middlebury.edu

Rebecca Bennette, Department Chair

Axinn Center at Starr Library 333

(802) 443-5853

rbennett@middlebury.edu