European History

Rich and varied insights into the cultural, economic, environmental, intellectual, religious, social, and scientific history of Europe from Antiquity to the present day are offered by the history faculty. Historians tenured in other WMU departments supplement this with additional offerings in ethnohistory, medieval art history, music, and material analysis.

Specializations

Graduate students at WMU can choose from a wide range of areas of specialization by selecting course offerings on subjects covering chronological periods extending from the ancient world to the contemporary era and geographical areas from the Atlantic coasts to the steppes of Central Asia and from the Baltic Sea to Mediterranean islands. They also benefit from unique training opportunities in classroom teaching, internships, manuscript and document analysis, and access each May to over three thousand scholars and graduate students at the world’s largest gathering of medievalists, the annual International Medieval Studies Congress. In addition, on-campus lecture series during the academic year bring to Kalamazoo outstanding historians in a variety of fields. Students will find a challenging educational opportunity and learn skills which lay a solid foundation for diverse professional careers.

Graduate Faculty in European History

Faculty members in the department have contributed to scholarly knowledge through publications in books and such professional journals as the History Workshop Journal, Past and PresentIsisThe Sixteenth-Century JournalRecherches de théologie ancienne et médiévaleViatorCentral European History and the Journal of Design History. On-going faculty research has been supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, IREX, the Humboldt Foundation, and the British Academy.  Faculty members have also served on the editorial boards of such publications as the History of Science and the Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, as consultants to the NEH and the Michigan Humanities Council, and in leadership positions in the World History Association.

  • Robert Berkhofer—medieval social history of France and England
  • Luigi Andrea Berto—early medieval Italy and the Mediterranean
  • Marion Gray—modern German agricultural, environmental and gender history
  • James Murray—medieval urban and economic history of the Low Countries
  • James Palmitessa—Central European social, religious and urban history c. 1400-1800
  • Lewis Pyenson—history and philosophy of science, 19th and 20th centuries
  • Eli Rubin—modern German and European history
  • Larry Simon—medieval Spain, Italy and the Mediterranean, Islamic and Jewish history
  • Anise Strong—Ancient Roman social history, gender and sexuality

Questions?

Contact:
Dr. Sally Hadden, Director of Graduate Studies