History Department Self Study for Academic Program Review
Chair’s Executive Summary
Hugh Hudson
The departmental self study reveals that the Department of History is a research
active unit with a strong commitment to excellence in instruction and professional service.
History is a book-based discipline in which the research, writing, and publication time of a
typical monograph averages seven years. From 2004 through 2006, tenure/tenure-track
faculty in the Department published seven books, 25 book chapters, and 28 peer-reviewed
articles. Counting the three books published in 2007, four of the six professors, three of the
eight associate professors, and three of the nine assistant professors have produced singleauthored books in the past four years. These works have been published by leading presses
in the United States and Europe on topics ranging from the foundations of modern
nationalism in the Caucasus, Europe, Egypt, Africa, and China, to economic development in
the United States, Latin America, and Russia. Faculty research demonstrates the world
context of European and United States history. The faculty’s emphasis in world,
interdisciplinary, and cultural history has brought fresh perspectives to the study of political
and intellectual history. In pursuit of this research, the departmental faculty have been
awarded highly competitive grants to support faculty research abroad, and they have also
attracted national, state, and local funding for public history and teacher education.
The Department takes pride in the fact that following the department’s own analysis
of its undergraduate program, the history major was one of the first in the University to
require majors to take a “gateway” course at the beginning of their studies within the major
and a “capstone” senior research seminar at the end. Since 2004 the Department has seen a
16% increase in its majors from 385 to 456, stability in its masters programs, and a 17%
increase in its Ph.D. program. At the undergraduate level, the two-year graduation rate for
junior history majors has increased significantly, from 35% to 68% indicating that history
majors are moving more quickly to completion of degree. The Department has expanded its
offerings of upper-division classes to respond to demand from the increasing number of
majors. In the past three years, core credit hour production has not only remained stable, but
has in fact increased 9.5% from 17,341 to 18,978, upper-division production has increased
5.3% from 5,540 to 5,836, and graduate production increased 12% from 3,173 to 3,545. The
Department has succeeded in placing undergraduate majors and MA students in top-tier
graduate history programs.
Although for Ph.D. students the progress to degree remains problematic, our doctoral
students who have completed their degree have succeed in being placed as ladder faculty in a
variety of local and regional two- and four-year institutions (Georgia Perimeter College,
Georgia Highlands College, Clark Atlanta, Middle Tennessee State University, as well as
within our own Department) or have applied their scholarly training to careers outside the
academy, gaining employment, for instance, in the Department of Defense. The students in
the MHP program, who receive a professional degree preparing them for positions in a
variety of public, private, and non-profit agencies and businesses, have accepted jobs in the
city, state, and region. On average, the ten graduates annually have been placed in such
agencies as the National Park Service, the General Services Administration, the Georgia
Department of Transportation, and in such firms as Lord, Aeck, Sargent Architecture, and
Moreland-Altobelli Engineering; and with non-profits like the Indiana Trust for Historic
Preservation, the Atlanta History Center, and the Marietta Museum of History.
The Department has a national reputation for its programs in world history and in
public history/historic preservation. The Department also continues to contribute to the
development of teachers through its contributions to the College of Education’s successful
TEEMS program.
The Department of History considers itself to be central to the programs of the
University. In pursuit of the dual goals of excellence and distinctiveness in the context of
liberal education the History Department’s mission is to help students acquire historical
perspectives and knowledge for intellectual satisfaction, learn how to analyze and interpret
information critically, enhance their understanding of the world around them, shape a
meaningful life, participate in a democratic society, and – if desired – prepare for a career in
history, including applied careers in public history/historic preservation. The Department’s
targeted programs in teacher education, world history, and public history/historic
preservation build on the competitive advantage of being in Atlanta and on “exposure to
multiple viewpoints and the free exchange of ideas, an appreciation for diversity among
peoples of the nation and around the globe.”
The University Strategic Plan demands that faculty throughout the University
develop or enhance “programs of distinction, both disciplinary and multi-disciplinary.” The
History Department supports a number of interdisciplinary programs. Students in teacher
education, international business, area studies, prelaw, media studies, and many other areas
require or recommend courses in history. The Department also shares its expertise with other
groups such as African American Studies, the Women’s Studies Institute, the Asian Studies
Center, the Middle East Institute, and the Center for Latin American Studies. The Department
has strongly supported the Writing Across the Curriculum initiative. The Department
promotes interdisplinary work among its students, and undergraduate history majors are
required to minor in another department. Pre-education track students pursue coursework in
allied fields that prepare them to teach social studies at the K – 12 level.
As established in the Department’s last self-study and action plan, the goals and
objectives of the Department of History at the beginning of the self study were to further
develop the graduate and undergraduate tracks in public history to complement the highly
successful Masters of Heritage Preservation degree program; to further develop the world
history program; further develop collaborative programs with the College of Education; and
to improve undergraduate and graduate programs. As documented in the self study, the
department has been exceptionally successful in addressing these goals. The primary goals
set forth in the new self study are to continue to improve the undergraduate and graduate
programs through addressing a number of specific objectives set forth in this report;
rationalize the faculty appointment structure in the Department relative to a large demand for
lower-division core classes and a more modest demand for upper-division and graduate
classes; find adequate space for the Department; increase the visibility of the Department on
the internet and provide the technical support needed for this; and deal with the challenges of
retaining and developing the faculty. The final goal has the largest impact on resource needs
for it requires that the department address the problem of faculty salary compression;
increase the number of GRA and GTA positions and amount of their stipends; increase the
stipends for adjunct faculty who provide valuable real-world teaching for the public
history/historic preservation program; increase the amount of funding available for
professional development; and increase the funding available for summer instruction.