Why Study History at Butler?

At Butler, our history program highlights the complexities of human experiences. Students freely explore and connect with the past while preparing for meaningful careers in their future.

Our students don’t just read about history, they delve into experiential learning opportunities – working directly with professors through the Butler Summer Institute, securing internships at local museums and archives, participating in public and digital history projects, and studying in a variety of locations around the world. Hands-on experiences in the Indianapolis community include researching our own campus to behind-the-scenes tours at the Indiana State Museum and Crown Hill Cemetery. Students have interned at local community institutions, including the Eiteljorg Museum, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana State Archives, and the Indiana State House. Recent destinations abroad with our faculty include the Rome Among the Ruins Summer Program and the Semester in Rome Program.

Closer to home, you will study a variety of time periods and places with faculty expertise in Europe, East Asia, Latin America, Africa, the United States, and more. Students learn critical thinking skills by analyzing history and how to conduct historical research in libraries and archives, creating better historians and thinkers in the process.

The History program also works directly with the Anthropology and Classics programs as well as with the Political Science Department for combined majors, where students study two areas in one major. We also house the Geography & Global Studies, Museum Studies, and Asian Studies minors in our Department.