Department of History

The Department of History is passionate about history and culture, and that passion drives our activities in the classroom and in our scholarship.  Our talented faculty are versed in a variety of topics, teaching styles, and educational environments, and we take seriously our role in undergraduate education at Roger Williams University.  From ancient Assyria or Chiapas land rights, to the American home or steampunk comic-book culture, we are ready to enhance your academic experience.

Students majoring in History are encouraged to participate in community engagement and experiential learning opportunities including internships, study abroad, and off-campus programs. On our Bristol campus, we are involved with the Community Partnership Center (CPC) where local organizations work with Roger Williams University to submit requests for assistance to advance their needs. Our students have been an integral part of numerous CPC projects including working numerous museums, foundations and societies on a wide range of initiatives. History students are also involved with the Foundation for the International Medical Relief for Children (FIRMC), an organization that offers free medical care to children and mothers.

Black Lives Matter.

Faculty in the Department of History support people's right to protest against oppressive systems, to find ways to make their voices heard when they are ignored, silenced, or erased by those who hold power. As faculty who study the past and its ramifications for our present, we know that effective protests have not always been peaceful, and that "civility" is often a word deployed as a tactic to control people's behaviors. In "More Devoted to Order Than to Justice," Ibram X. Kendi wrote: "If my ideological ancestors did not harass their political opponents, I would still be enslaved. I would still be segregated by law. I would still be one traffic stop away from death without any sustained movement insisting that my black life matters...Constructive confrontation is love."

As educators, our front line is the classroom, and our tool is knowledge. In our classes, students will learn about oppression, power, and privilege in history and in our present, in order to have a critical understanding of the origins of systemic and institutional racism in the U.S. and the world, and the mechanisms by which they are enabled and maintained.

Dismantling oppression and doing anti-racism work requires us to reflect on ourselves, listen to the experience of others, and know history so that we do not continue to repeat it. In that spirit, we are providing resources to foster awareness, understanding, growth, and action:

Black Lives Matter and Anti-Racism Resources