Welcome from the Leadership

I am delighted to welcome you to the Department of History at West Virginia University. The History Department is staffed by leading scholars and teachers, who engage in award-winning research and teaching, who collaborate with community partners, and who guide research opportunities for students.

Our faculty are tremendously productive and have received fellowships and grants from prominent foundations and government agencies including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Scholars Program, the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program, and the American Council of Learned Societies. WVU History faculty offer a variety of courses to WVU students, encouraging them to read carefully, think critically, and communicate effectively, preparing students for their coursework and for life beyond the classroom. Our faculty have had their teaching recognized at the college, university, and state levels.

We have thriving undergraduate and graduate programs, offering a BA in History, a BA in Social Studies Secondary Education, a Masters in History, a Masters in Public History, and a Ph.D. in History. The interaction of undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty make the WVU History Department an exciting place for learning. While WVU is a large university, the Department prides itself in its efforts to create a sense of community. For undergraduates, the History Club and Phi Alpha Theta help bring together students and faculty at events “Pizza with a Prof,” “History at the Movies,” and field trips to historic sites. Graduate students coordinate an annual research conference, that includes graduate and undergraduate students, and organize other events as a part of the History Graduate Student Association. Our students excel in a broad range of careers and professional opportunities after graduation: education, museums, state and federal government, law, graduate school, business, marketing, human resources, sales, intelligence and security analysis, and much more.

Please take a moment to explore the contents of this site for information on our undergraduate and graduate programs. If you have any questions, I hope you will feel free to contact me or any of the members of the Department. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Kate Kelsey Staples
Department Chair, Associate Professor