History Department

The Hartwick history program is dedicated to teaching students to “do” history. As they progress through the major, our students develop the interpretive and expressive skills needed to understand the relationship between societies, ideas, and events of the past and those of the world we live in today.

We strive to ignite in all history majors the joys of historical discovery that starts with a meaningful question about the past – whether about one’s own family ties to Cuba or a general curiosity about the Reformation in Europe or the U.S. Civil Rights movement. Hartwick history majors develop five core skills that help them achieve meaningful answers to their questions. They learn to construct a clear, historical argument or that can be tested with evidence, and to analyze that evidence in its appropriate historical context. They learn to compare differing historical accounts of the past and evaluate what may have influenced historians to arrive at different conclusions about the same events. And because history is a communal activity that connects the individual researcher to many broader communities, students learn to communicate their ideas effectively in written and spoken forms.

Please note: Hartwick College focuses on offering fall, January, and spring term undergraduate courses in person, however circumstances may require us to offer a small number of courses in this department through distance education. In times of emergency, following regulatory guidelines, all classes may temporarily need to be delivered through distance education, including online. We also offer a slate of courses online in the summer to help our students make progress towards their degrees. With support from an academic advisor, students needing particular courses may have other online options as well. If you have questions about the way courses are delivered in your program, please contact your Department or Program Chair.