University of Portland History Department

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University of Portland History Department

This page is dedicated to connecting current and former UP history majors to the History Department through our shared interest in studying the past.

Welcome to the Department of History! Studying the past is a fascinating window into the human experience. The History Major is designed to provide students with a well-rounded understanding of history from different times and places around the world. Many of our courses offer a global examination of a particular topic. Beyond more lecture-based courses, history majors take two discussion-oriented

seminars in which students are able to focus on more specific topics often in the field of a professor's expertise. Past seminars have examined, among other topics, the history of Portland, the history of the European family, women's health in post-World War II America, and issues in the French Revolution. In these seminars, students learn about challenges that historians face when interpreting past events, and students begin to research as historians themselves. Our capstone senior thesis course, required of all majors, is where students put to use the skills that they have acquired to write a paper based on their own original research. Recent topics have included the Chinese immigrant experience in late-19th-century Portland, a comparison of environmental policy in West and East Germany, and the exploration of the North Pole. Our faculty members are talented, personable, and student-oriented. Beyond sharing their love for history with students, our faculty prepares students for a future in any profession by helping them to develop independent research capabilities, oral and written communication skills, critical thinking skills, and a deep intellectual curiosity. Our graduates have gone on to such various professions as lawyers, professors, teachers, archivists, librarians, and foreign service officers. Graduates who have chosen to pursue graduate school have been accepted at institutions around the country and even abroad. Faculty members are also dedicated to giving students a taste of history outside of the classroom through leading students in activities such as presenting research at the regional conference of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honors society; publishing the department's student history journal, Northwest Passages; or visiting a local museum. We also strongly encourage our students to supplement the knowledge gained through their coursework with first-hand experience in other cultures by studying abroad. Often, the history faculty themselves teach courses abroad in the European summer programs. Through our courses, research projects, and extracurricular activities, both students and faculty members in the Department of History share our love of history and its relevance for today's world with each other and the greater campus community. We hope that you'll join us!

04/04/2023

The University of Portland’s Class of 2023 Valedictorian will be history major Marie Hashimoto! Congrats to Marie!

06/23/2021

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2021/6/19/mens-track-and-field-woody-kincaid-wins-10k-at-us-olympic-trials-secures-spot-on-olympic-team.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1fJZQ6eKsjIXD7dSXAdulYHYlqzjPxLfwPFTdD8iEtFwDaY4Vh729n9E0
Congratulations to UP alumnus and history major Woody Kincaid! Amazing last two minutes of this race! Join us in cheering for Woody this summer as he heads to Tokyo!

EUGENE, Ore. – University of Portland alumnus Woody Kincaid '15 punched his ticket to the Tokyo Olympics with a remarkable performance to win the 10,000-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Friday night at Hayward Field.

05/03/2020

Congratulations to our history majors on their graduation today! Please join me in celebrating Maddy McHugh, Athena Hills, Maya Tawatao, Matthew Bourgeois, Joey Griego, José Aguilar, and Maddy Nohr!

04/28/2020

We may be physically distanced, but the history department is nonetheless thrilled to award graduating senior Athena Hills with all three of our awards this year. Congratulations to Athena for winning the Rev. Erwin Orkiszewski C.S.C. Outstanding History Thesis Award, the James T. Covert Leadership award, and also the Rev. Joseph Powers C.S.C. Senior Prize in history. We wish we could celebrate you and your accomplishments in person Athena. Please feel free to leave your congratulatory messages for Athena in the comments!

01/24/2020

The history department at the University of Portland is hiring a one-year visiting instructor position in Asian or Pacific Islander history. Please share with your academic networks- thanks! https://www.higheredjobs.com/details.cfm?JobCode=177183900

08/27/2019

Our sweet friend and colleague in the department of Political Science, Fr. Claude Pomerleau, died this summer. Dr. Anne Santiago has created a beautiful memorial on the fourth floor of BC. If you're on campus, please stop by and share your favorite memories of Fr. Claude on the board. Memorial mass to be celebrated September 5th at 5:00pm.

05/08/2019

Hi there, UP history fans, Christi Hancock here, department chair and manager of this page. Just wanted to let you all know that the History department was honored last night at the Annual Faculty Gala when I won UP's teaching award! I'm grateful to my colleagues for the honor.

04/09/2019

It's Founders Day at UP! Congratulations to our History Department Award Winners: Acacia Welsford, Stephanie Rowan, and Emma Hunter!

12/07/2018

Congratulations to the Senior History majors who presented their Senior Thesis Capstone Projects to enthusiastic audiences over the past two nights!

05/06/2018

Congratulations to this terrific group of history majors! Happy graduation!

04/22/2018

It’s *possible* that these aren’t photos of their *actual* presentations, but they still provide some visual evidence of our students’ excellence at Phi Alpha Theta! Mary Sullivan Zoe Wattenberg Alex York and Stephanie Rowan

04/21/2018

Gearing up for the second day of conference panels with an amazing cup of hot chocolate is junior history major and Northwest Passages co-editor, Stephanie Rowan!

Address

5000 N. Willamette Boulevard
Portland, OR
97203

Website

https://college.up.edu/history/index.html

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