The Department of History maintains high standards for hiring, tenure and promotion that center on extremely strong research and publication. Research on the histories of science, technology and environment and transnational histories transcending state and regional boundaries have been well represented by Drexel’s history program for many years, with important contributions to each sub-field dating back to the 1970s.

Our research subjects are wide-ranging: Among the history faculty who have engaged with the historical commitments of science and technology, we include scholars of early modern and modern periods; multiple regions of the globe; and such subjects as urban, infrastructural, medical, agricultural, military and industrial science and technology. In our work, we draw on historical cases of great relevance to contemporary societal concerns, resonant in many instances with other research strengths of Drexel. Such topics include disaster readiness and response; STEM education; museums in society; food science and security; nanoscience and nano–technology; life in war and peace; land use and infrastructure in developing economies; and public understandings of science, technology and medicine over time.

A similar agility and complexity animates our faculty research centered on transnational and global topics. We characterize our transnational studies as moving resolutely beyond models derived from International Relations that have shaped many global history units, and as stepping beyond older conceptions of comparative history that may deploy uncritical periodizations, population boundaries, and geographic boundaries. Our faculty work in this area is driven by the articulation of historical formulations around identity, statehood, space and power.

Research in the department is not confined to work done by our faculty - history students have a required sequence of courses that prepare them for research in the field, and the program concludes with a two-term senior research project. In addition to research in the core requirements of the major, many students have the opportunity to participate in research opportunities such as the STAR Scholars Program, the Humanities Fellowship program, research co-ops and assisting faculty with their research through paid research assistant positions and independent study courses.