Giving

History remains a vital part of a college education, especially in the face of today’s many challenges. Besides engaging our students’ curiosity about conditions and problems of the past, the study of History teaches critical thinking, persuasive analysis, the joys of digging deep into a question, and a broadened vision of the world. Michigan is proud to be one of the nation’s premier public institutions, and your continued support is critical as we pursue our mission.

This year’s special initiative at the Department of History has been revamping our undergraduate advising system. Now our concentrators sign up to work one-on-one with a faculty mentor, in addition to getting general program advising with staff. This means that each student gets to know and grow with one of our world-class scholars, whose expertise best matches the student’s interests. The History Club, now over 100 strong, has ramped up with a speaker series and trips to points of interest around campus and in the Detroit area.

Meanwhile, our faculty continues to earn major awards and contribute to a vibrant intellectual community. As you may have heard, Tiya Miles was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow, and her 2010 book The House on Diamond Hill was again recognized, this time by the American Society of Ethnohistory. Farina Mir has won the AHA’s John F. Richards Book Prize for her The Social Space of Language: Vernacular Culture in British Colonial Punjab. Paul N. Edwards’ A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming won the 2011 Computer History Museum Book Prize. This past December Juan Cole interviewed Nobel Peace Prize winner, Yemeni human rights activist Tawakkul Karman, on campus. And Thomas Trautmann was awarded a Mellon Emeritus Fellowship to continue his research on India.

Providing support for our students and retaining this distinguished faculty remains costly.  The department’s various funds are critical to helping us attract top scholars and mentor junior faculty and our talented graduate students. They also support undergraduate initiatives, outreach to our alums, and new course development.

Won’t you consider a gift that will help the department maintain and advance our mission of world-class education and research? Here’s how:

Make your gift online at www.lsa.umich.edu/alumni/giveonline or call 888.518.7888.