Academics

The past is not behind us; in fact it isn’t even “past”.

Although most people at MIT look to the future, we can’t tell where we’re going without knowing where we’ve been. MIT’s historians examine nearly the entire range of human experience in order to provide perspective on the present.

Historians at MIT

Historians at MIT do work at the cutting edge of their fields. We are specialists in various times and places, as well as pioneers in the increasingly important comparative studies of past societies and cultures. We have taken leadership roles in developing new ways of analyzing the past. Whether studying ancient Rome or modern America, we bring our individual expertise to bear on “big questions” of social analysis: citizenship and politics in a changing world; environment and economy; culture and identity; and the measurement of social welfare.

Our work has been supported by a wide range of prestigious foundations and centers, including the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Getty Foundation, the Luce Foundation, the US Department of Education, the Charles Warren Center, the National Humanities Center, the International Institute of Social History, the Stanford Humanities Center, the Radcliffe Institute, the SSRC and the Max Plank Institute. History scholarship has also merited numerous prizes, both within the various academic specialties and at the national level. Most notably these include the Bancroft Prize in American History, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the George Washington Book Prize. MIT historians serve in leadership positions in a wide variety of professional societies and serve on numerous editorial boards of leading journals. Seven current and emeritus members of the faculty are Fellows of the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences. At MIT, historians have been recognized as Margaret MacVicar Fellows, and have won the Wade Prize, the Arthur C. Smith Award, the Levitan Award and the Edgerton Award. Finally, Pauline Maier and John Dower have been recognized with the James R. Killian Faculty Achievement Award, MIT’s top recognition for lifetime professional accomplishment.

Undergraduate Studies

You can explore a wide range of subjects in small classes featuring close interaction with outstanding scholars and teachers.

Transfer Credit

History Transfer Credit Examiner for the current academic year is Professor Caley Horan.

Interdisciplinary Program in Ancient and Medieval Studies (AMS)

Interdisciplinary Program in Ancient and Medieval Studies Through a wide variety of subjects drawn from a number of disciplines, this program provides a curricular framework for exploring topics in ancient and medieval studies which range from the history of ideas and institutions to that of material artifacts, literature, and certain of the original languages. The program spans the 6,500 years between 5000 B.C. and 1500 A.D.

History Undergraduate Writing Prize

Each Spring, the History Faculty solicits nominations for the History Undergraduate Writing Prizes, honoring excellence in historical research and writing. The three awards of $300 each honor MIT historians John W. Dower, Pauline Maier, and Bruce Mazlish.

Graduate Studies

(IAP) Independent Activities Period in Ancient Greece and Italy

Building on the success of prior seasons of the IAP in Ancient Italy/Greece program, the MIT History Faculty and MIT Concourse will continue to offer between 10 and 20 MIT undergraduates first–hand experiences in Italy and Greece.

Research & UROP

Members of the MIT History faculty offer students the opportunity to assist them in their research. Knowledge of a foreign language is occasionally helpful as are web skills. The most important qualities for a successful UROP student in History are the curiosity about the past and enthusiasm for original research.