Department of History

We have two new Alumni Awards, and we are accepting nominations. Nominate a fellow alum or yourself today. Submissions are due June 1. 

John and Nancy Jackson's support of Baylor University's engagement with the Latin American community—both within the U.S. and abroad—led them to establish the Jackson Family Chair for Baylor in Latin America. Their endowment supports a vision for greater engagement, where academic excellence brings attention to critical issues and fosters meaningful connections. This endowed chair empowers chairholder Felipe Hinojosa, Ph.D., to engage faculty across the University in deeper research, expand understanding, and further Baylor's mission across borders and generations.

Three preeminent scholar/teachers from United States universities have been selected as finalists for Baylor University’s 2026 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, the only national teaching award – with the single largest monetary reward of $250,000 – presented by a college or university to an individual for exceptional teaching.

Baylor University students continue to be awarded the most prestigious – and highly competitive – scholarships and fellowships at the national and international level for critical language study and cultural exploration.

Baylor University faculty members Elesha J. Coffman, Ph.D., professor of history, and T. Philip Nichols, Ph.D., associate professor of English education, have been selected to receive the 2025 Centennial Professor Awards for summer research projects.

Krystal Tan’s paper for Dr. Dan Watkins’s Capstone Seminar in European History, “Thibaudeau’s Paradox: A Revolutionary’s Complicity in Napoleon’s Empire,” was published in the Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History.

The university’s history department will host a worship and presentation event about senior history majors’ research on African American history at Toliver Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Waco on Wednesday. The Toliver Chapel Student Showcase, which will shed light on the volume of topics found in the study of African American history, seeks to expose presenting undergraduates and attendees alike to the kind of work commonly found in the academic world.

We are now accepting submissions for our annual Guittard Book Award for Historical Scholarship. Baylor history alum and faculty are welcome to submit their book's that were published in 2024.  Submission are due April 21.