Graffiti wall featuring Karl Marx, Berlin

History

Exploring the variety of human experience

Encountering other times and other cultures helps us understand change and see the world from different perspectives.

Established in 1891, the discipline of History at the University of Sydney is the oldest and largest in Australia. In recent years we’ve recruited a large number of exceptional lecturers trained at some of the world’s greatest universities. They complement a group of established scholars of international distinction.

We write and teach on a wide variety of eras and national or regional contexts, from medieval Spain to Renaissance Europe, to modern China, contemporary USA and Australia. Some of our people study culture and some politics; many of us work in the areas of international and transnational history that have energised and transformed the study of the past in recent times.

What unites us is a curiosity about ideas in action – that is, how ideas and ideals were developed, challenged and lived within particular historical contexts. How were concepts of freedom tested in practice by African-Americans in nineteenth-century U.S. cities? By diplomats and international lawyers? By Indigenous people navigating the judicial system? By artists? By hackers?

These examples are from courses we have taught in recent years. We offer a diverse array of courses each year and constantly review, renew, and expand our curriculum.

Many of our staff have won awards for their teaching as well as their research. We are committed to giving our students a worldclass education and a gateway to life beyond university.

Our study offering

History

The study of history equips you to understand change, to look at things from different perspectives, and to assess diverse kinds of information. It offers a variety of topics, from war to politics, culture and sexuality, the history of ideas and the history of food; and it spans the Middle Ages to the present, from Australia to China, the United States and Europe.

Undergraduate

*Available to all students studying the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Visual Arts, as well as all combined Bachelor of Advanced Studies degrees.  

Research

International and Global Studies

International and Global Studies gives you a rigorous understanding of the paradoxes and complex interconnections of globalisation. This degree will equip you with the ability to work in global society.

Undergraduate

International and Global Studies guide and planner

Our research

The History discipline, one of the largest and most dynamic in Australia, has developed long-standing expertise in teaching and research across a wide range of geographical areas, including Australia and the Pacific, Asia, Europe and the United States. The discipline also possesses a number of research strengths across burgeoning thematic and comparative fields such as global and Indigenous history, the history of race, science, medicine and public health and the history of ideas, as well as social, cultural, political, economic, labour and urban history. With over 50 postgraduate students currently enrolled and a large number of external grants awarded to members of the discipline, History is a research powerhouse.

Our people

Academic staff

Dr David Brophy
Dr Roberto Chauca
Associate Professor Frances M Clarke
Professor James Curran
Dr Marco Duranti
Dr James Findlay
Associate Professor John Gagne
Professor Stephen Garton
Professor Chris Hilliard
Professor Julia Horne
Dr Niro Kandasamy
Dr Sophie Loy-Wilson
Associate Professor Cindy McCreery
Professor Michael McDonnell
Professor Kirsten McKenzie
Dr Jessica Melvin
Dr Andres Rodriguez
Dr Hélène Sirantoine
Professor Glenda Sluga

Key academic contacts

Chair of Department
Professor Michael McDonnell
Undergraduate coordinator
Dr Roberto Chauca
Honours coordinator
Associate Professor John Gagne
Research Coordinator
Associate Professor Cindy McCreery Semester 1
Associate Professor Frances M Clarke Semester 2
Academic advisor
Dr Roberto Chauca
International and Global Studies Academic Advisor
Dr Marco Duranti
International and Global Studies Director
Dr Marco Duranti
International and Global Studies Honours Coordinator
Dr Niro Kandasamy

Affiliates

Dr Thomas Adams
Emeritus Professor Robert Aldrich
Professor David Armitage, FAHA
Professor Alan Atkinson
Dr Robert Austin Henry
Emeritus Professor Barbara Caine
Dr Robert Curry
Professor Ann Curthoys, FASSA, FAHA
Professor John Docker, FAHA
Professor Emerita Helen Dunstan
Associate Professor Nick Eckstein
Honorary Professor Andrew Fitzmaurice
Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick
Dr Jane Hardie
Dr Peter Hobbins
Dr Rohan Howitt
Dr Chin Jou
Associate Professor Judith Keene
Dr Kim Kemmis
Dr Roberta Kwan
Dr Addie Leah Lui-Chivizhe
Emeritus Professor Roy MacLeod FASSA, FAHA
Emeritus Professor Iain McCalman
Emeritus Professor Mark McKenna
Dr Andrew Mellas
Professor Anthony Moses
Dr Penelope Nash
Dr Briony Neilson
Dr Jacqueline Newling
Dr Lynette Olson
Associate Professor John Pryor
Dr Kathrine Reynolds
Professor Emerita Penny Russell
Dr Nicholas Sparks
Dr Toner Stevenson
Professor Richard Waterhouse FASSA, FAHA
Dr Paul Werskey
Associate Professor Richard White
Emeritus Professor Shane White
Associate Professor Christine Winter
Emeritus Professor John Wong FASSA, FAHA
Professor Jonathan Wooding

Our events

Seminar series

The Discipline of History is home to a number of lively seminar series. Details of our seminars can be found on the School of Humanities link on the University's What's On calendar.