History Department, Michigan State University

01/20/2026

It's time to make !

Submissions are now open for our 2026 Student Photo Contest. Winning photos will be featured in our printed newsletter and shared on social media. Plus, the top three winners get to choose from a variety of department merchandise!

Show your historical creativity and Spartan pride—submit your photos below 👇

📷: Daniel Mugg; golden hour in Florence's southern historical neighborhood.

01/19/2026

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we take time to reflect on his legacy and contributions within the longer history of the United States—and how historical understanding helps shape how we remember the past and interpret its relevance today.

Thank you for taking a moment to reflect with us as part of our shared commitment to learning and understanding. 💚🤍

01/16/2026

While campus is gray, your summer doesn’t have to be! ☀️ Now’s the time to start thinking about a summer internship.

With an internship, you can turn your love of the past into hands-on experience. Our students have interned at places like the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, On the Banks of the Red Cedar, MSU’s Beal Botanical Garden, Meridian Historical Village, and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.

🗓️ Apply by March 1
👇 See steps to apply

01/13/2026

Attention recent history grads!

The Michigan History Center has a two-year, limited-term position open for a History Specialist—perfect for alums with a BA in History or related fields.

You’ll help bring Michigan’s stories to life through the Preserving Nuestra Historia program, working on oral history interviews, archival preservation, and original research on Latino history. This is a chance to make an impact and build professional experience in public history. Plus, you might get to work with the amazing Delia Fernández-Jones, Ph.D., who is also involved in the project! 🤩

Learn more and apply here:

This two-year, limited term position completes a variety of professional assignments involving the interpretation and presentation of Michigan history and historical artifacts to build Michiganders’ appreciation of aspects of Michigan history. Specifically, the position will support the final deve...

01/09/2026

Professor Peter Alegi discusses the backlash surrounding FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and the “FIFA Peace Award” for President Trump.

Dr. Alegi offers important historical insight on the relationship between World Cup soccer and international politics.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been slammed for inserting FIFA into politics with his unilateral decision to present the so-called FIFA Peace Award to US president Donald Trump. But Peter Alegi, professor of African history and Global Soccer studies at Michigan State University tells TT, that F...

01/08/2026

In the fall, we hosted an open house for all current and prospective students interested in studying history at Michigan State University. We loved connecting and answering questions about courses, careers, and what makes history such an awesome major.

If you’re ready to explore how your passion for the past can shape your future, reach out to an advisor today!

01/07/2026

Another Spring 2026 class you won't want to miss...

HST 453: The United States, Latin America and Authoritarianism and Immigration with Professor Edward Murphy

Fears and debates about authoritarianism and immigration are of central importance in the United States today. Each of these themes, however, has a long trajectory in relations between the United States and Latin America.

This course analyzes this trajectory, focusing first on the rise of authoritarianism in Latin America from the 1950s to the 1980s, in which the United States played a significant role. This authoritarianism, the course develops, helped to spur immigration to the United States. The course then examines this immigration and the reactions to it in the United States, underscoring not only how deeply they have impacted the United States, but also Latin America.

📆 Mondays/Wednesdays
⏲️ 10:20-11:40 a.m.

*While offered as a senior level elective, the course is accessible for all undergraduates.

Don't wait, register now!

01/06/2026

Looking for an interesting class this spring? Check out ISS 210 (sections 013 and 014) with wonderful Professor John Waller.

His course, Plagues and Peoples: How Disease Has Shaped Human History, focuses on the impacts of pandemic and epidemic disease over the past several thousand years and humankind's attempts, only sometimes successful, to keep infectious illness at bay.

We’ll see how pandemics and epidemics have played a central role in the spread of agriculture, the rise and fall of empires, the relative power of elites and masses, the ways in which the globe’s peoples have interacted, the eventual rise of modern medical science, and the politicization of medicine and public health. We’ll conclude by looking ahead to possible pandemics of the future and how effectively we might respond to them.

Register now!

12/29/2025

December Word of the Month: Reconstruction

Reconstruction is both a historical era and a process — of rebuilding after conflict, collapse, or trauma.

In U.S. history, it refers to the post-Civil War period (1865–1877), but globally, reconstruction happens again and again.

Stay tuned for more definitions that bring the discipline of history to life, one word at a time! 📖

12/19/2025

Check out Michigan State University's latest Ask the Expert feature, where Professor Louis Moore discusses the history of the college football postseason and the changes NIL and the transfer portal have brought to the sport.

Louis Moore, professor at MSU's Department of History, discusses what makes a college football team great.

12/18/2025

Congratulations to recent History graduate Mollie J. Croskey for earning a distinction few achieve — a perfect 4.0 GPA! 👏

Mollie and 85 other Michigan State University students were honored at the Dec. 12 Board of Trustees’ meeting, recognizing their exceptional academic performance.

MSU Historians are so proud of you, Mollie!

12/18/2025

History repeats itself… especially when you forget to shop early! 🙈 Grab some merch and make your last-minute gift look timeless.

Selection varies but visit the Spartan Spirit Shop in the MSU Union Michigan State University to complete your holiday shopping.