The History Department updated its curriculum in 2016-2017 in order to better reflect discipline standards, department strengths during a major personnel shift, and updated student needs. We will need to monitor the implementation and success of this revision, and review any further updates required.

New York City has abundant resources for students of history. For four years, our faculty have explored ways to use these resources to enhance the learning experience of our students, as well as to encourage students to look to the city for internships and career opportunities. This has become even more important since the arrival of our new historian Adam Arenson, the new Director of the Urban Studies Program.

History pedagogy encourages students to get "hands on" with learning about the past, either through engagement with archives, museum and city walking tours, public outreach, or role-playing immersion learning. Several members have included this sort of learning in classes, but not as an organized component of the curriculum. This goal will bring experiential learning into the curriculum more thoughtfully and programmatically.

A significant portion of History majors pursue internship experiences. We hope to better connect their experiences with the curriculum, expand the range and number of opportunities available to our students, and to more clearly connect their internships with their career and post-graduate educational plans.

This is a Mission-focused goal of interacting with a variety of diverse communities at the College, in the community, and around the world.

History majors and concentrators frequently go on to further study in graduate, law, or professional schools. Many history majors go directly into the workforce, with specific interests in government service, social justice, and public history. We will continue our efforts to prepare students and place them in these programs.

Our numbers declined sharply during the recent financial crisis, which had a particularly devastating effect on the number of students from Education concentrating in Social Studies. We hope to increase the number of History majors, minors, and Education concentrators, as well as the number of non-majors selecting History courses.

The History department has a long history of collaborating with other areas for interdisciplinary teaching, scholarship, and service initiatives. We hope to continue this strength and seek new opportunities.

We are committed to fostering rigorous standards for teaching and scholarship within the department, and mentoring our colleagues in these areas.

The Department has a strong record of leadership and service, in the College, the profession, and the community. Our goal is to maintain this strength and seek new ways to foster both traditions.

Julie Pycior began phased retirement in the 2016-2017 academic year, and is only be teaching in the fall semester for 2016-2018. We need a full-time position to make up for the loss of her US history courses in the Spring 2018 semester.

     

      This is especially necessary since our only full-time Americanist, Adam Arenson, is on a reduced teaching load as Director of Urban Studies, and his limited course load must also include the Urban Studies core course, which reduces further the number of US History courses he can offer. US History is a critical recruiting area for majors and minors.

Julie Pycior has entered phased retirement, which she will complete in Fall 2018. We need to search for her replacement in 2017-2018 to have the new hire on campus the year Julie retires. Ideally, the new person will begin in Fall 2018, which will prevent the need for a VAP in Spring 2019 and ensure a smooth transition within the department. Claire Nolte will complete her phased retirement in 2017-2018, which will free up funds for the brief overlap between the new hire and Julie Pycior.

     

      US History is traditionally the largest draw for a department of History but with major personnel shifts in this field (the retirement of George Kirsch, phased retirement of Julie Pycior, delayed arrival of Adam Arenson and his administrative reduction as PD of Urban Studies) recruitment in this area has been significantly compromised in recent years. We hope that a fully staffed US History program will stabilize and improve our numbers.