old letters and postcards

The Department of History

Why study history?

The world around us right now is the product of history.

Tracing the turning points and individual actions that built the present helps make sense of the world around us and points to ways that we can make a difference in the future.

History students develop practical, marketable skills that transfer into a wide range of workplaces. 

Our classes focus on how to:

  • find and make sense of data ;
  • apply critical thinking to that information;
  • and effectively communicate an analysis to a broad audience.

Research, analysis and communication are in-demand skills.

Your history degree applies to a career in education, business, journalism, government, law and the non-profit sector.

For more information about career opportunities, see: What Can I Do with My History Degree? and our Alumni page.


Featured news

Celebrating 2025 Killam Award recipients in the Faculty of Arts

Advancing knowledge and leadership through distinguished scholarship

2025 Killam Awards celebrate a tradition of scholarship

Celebrating the Killams’ vision, the awards honoured excellence across UCalgary’s disciplines

Britain's Cultural Cachet in Russia

New publication by Alexander Hill

In the media

Featured events


Munnings - The War Years

Munnings - The War Years

Munnings – The War Years the exhibition is on until Dec. 6, 2025.  Renowned today as one of England’s finest painters of horses, Sir Alfred Munnings also created more than 40 works of art as part of the Canadian War Memorials Fund.

Exhibition details

Connect with us

Please reach us at hist@ucalgary.ca