History at Illinois

History at Illinois Welcome to the official page of the History Department at the University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences!
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Visit our website https://history.illinois.edu/ and contact us at [email protected]. Welcome to History at the University of Illinois, where students nourish their minds and launch their careers.

Professor Rosalyn LaPier (Blackfeet and Métis) spoke with Smithsonian magazine about the cultural significance of bison ...
05/26/2026

Professor Rosalyn LaPier (Blackfeet and Métis) spoke with Smithsonian magazine about the cultural significance of bison in Indigenous communities and the new exhibit "Bison Standing Strong."

The National Museum of Natural History worked with Indigenous experts to spotlight the enduring cultural significance of buffalo in the exhibition “Bison: Standing Strong”

Professor Marc Hertzman teaches one of the department's most popular courses on the history of Black music. He's a passi...
05/21/2026

Professor Marc Hertzman teaches one of the department's most popular courses on the history of Black music.

He's a passionate teacher and was recognized for it this year with the 2026 LAS Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the campus 2026 Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.

One of the fundamental things he tries to teach his students is empathy, which he sees as crucial to understanding history.

“Empathy to me is one of the key things that we do as historians. Because to understand how people who we've never met, travel through this world, we need empathy,” said Hertzman.

Learn more about his teaching. ⬇️

How professor Marc Hertzman helps students connect the past with the present

Professor Yuridia Ramírez has been named a Lincoln Excellence for Assistant Professor Scholar by College of LAS! The awa...
05/19/2026

Professor Yuridia Ramírez has been named a Lincoln Excellence for Assistant Professor Scholar by College of LAS! The award recognizes her scholarly productivity and contributions to the college's educational mission. Congratulations!

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Professor Rosalyn LaPier was awarded a Mellon New Directions Fellowship to study Indigenous star navigation and landsca...
05/13/2026

Professor Rosalyn LaPier was awarded a Mellon New Directions Fellowship to study Indigenous star navigation and landscape management practices. Congratulations!

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Professor Marc Hertzman received the 2026 Roberto Reis Prize for Senior Scholars from the Brazilian Studies Association ...
05/11/2026

Professor Marc Hertzman received the 2026 Roberto Reis Prize for Senior Scholars from the Brazilian Studies Association for his book "After Palmares: Diaspora, Inheritance, and the Afterlives of Zumbi."
Congratulations!

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Professor Rosalyn LaPier helped create the "Bison Standing Strong" exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in ...
05/07/2026

Professor Rosalyn LaPier helped create the "Bison Standing Strong" exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in honor of the 250th anniversary of the nation and the 10th anniversary of the naming of the bison as our national mammal.

Learn more about the new exhibit ⬇️

History professor Rosalyn LaPier helps create bison exhibit at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History May 6, 2026 11:24 am by Jodi Heckel Arts and Humanities Editor Humanities Share on Facebook Share on X Share via email Two enormous bronze bison statues were installed at the Smithsonian...

For graduate student Ruth Veida Mandala, history is a collaboration, whether that's between a teacher and students or a ...
05/04/2026

For graduate student Ruth Veida Mandala, history is a collaboration, whether that's between a teacher and students or a historian with the public. Through her page Tales & Tunes, she shares music, photographs and storytelling as historical sources related to Malawi history and invites the community to actively contribute.

Learn more about her teaching and research ⬇️
https://history.illinois.edu/news/2026-04-27/born-teac

Ruth Veida Mandala’s collaborative approach to history

History wasn’t alumna Mikki Kendall’s favorite subject in high school. She thought, like many students, that it was all ...
04/28/2026

History wasn’t alumna Mikki Kendall’s favorite subject in high school. She thought, like many students, that it was all about memorizing facts and dates.

Little did Kendall know it then, but history would go on to become the foundation of her career as a diversity consultant, public speaker, and bestselling-author of "Hood Feminism." In 2026, Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois honored her with the Alumni Achievement award.

Learn more about Kendall's career ⬇️
https://history.illinois.edu/news/2026-04-24/finding-her-home-history

Mikki Kendall’s journey from history major to best-selling author

Congratulations to the recipients of our 2025-2026 awards! These awards celebrate our faculty, staff, undergraduate, an...
04/27/2026

Congratulations to the recipients of our 2025-2026 awards!

These awards celebrate our faculty, staff, undergraduate, and graduate students to thank them for their dedicated service to our department. They also provide funding and scholarships for their research and education and honor the excellence of their work.

We are grateful to the support of our donors for making these awards possible.

The Department of History is pleased to announce the winners of our 2025-2026 annual awards. These awards celebrate our faculty, staff, undergraduate, and graduate students to thank them for their dedicated service to our department.

For history alumna Jensen Rehn, her degree in history was the foundation for her legal career. A litigation associate a...
04/23/2026

For history alumna Jensen Rehn, her degree in history was the foundation for her legal career. A litigation associate at Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres, she credits her history degree with teaching her critical thinking, reading, and research skills that prepared her for law school and her career.

Read a Q&A with Rehn to learn more about her path. ⬇️

Q&A with history alumna Jensen Rehn

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