"What Is (and Is Not) Racist in Our Healthcare System"

Ian Peebles (Philosophy, Arizona State University) will present a talk entitled "What Is (and Is Not) Racist in Our Healthcare System." 

Abstract: The past decade has brought with it increased attention to racial health disparities (RHDs) and the ways in which racism is implicated in these disparities. Contemporary work in philosophy and bioethics presupposes racism to be essentially structural or polysemous. While racism does manifest itself in various ways and at various levels (one of which is structural), I believe the current theories of racism predominant in the literature have limitations in the context of clinical care and research. In this talk, I will discuss what those limitations are, then offer a novel theory of racism – a virtue-based account of racism – as an alternative that is able to overcome these limitations while still highlighting the features most important in research related to RHDs and racism’s role in RHDs.  

Sponsored by the Redefining Doctoral Education in the Humanities Initiative, the Medical Humanities program, and the Department of African and African-American Studies. 

CCHP Speaker Series and Public Forum

Sandra Ley, Distinguished Professor at the School of Social Science and Government in Tecnológico de Monterrey, Santa Fe, Mexico City

CCHP, aka "chip," is an acronym for Crisis & Conflict in Historical Perspective, and serves undergraduates considering careers in policy who are seeking historically informed discussion about global events.

Forums are open to all in the Washington University and Greater St. Louis Community; light refreshments will be available.

We're Making History!

• Induction of new Phi Alpha Theta members
• Awarding of the Wallace, Konig, and Izenberg Prizes
• Induction of senior honors thesis writers into the Roland Berthoff Society
• Awarding of the Goldstein Prize for best senior honors thesis
• Presentation of the Living History Projects

Please RSVP to this event by 3:00pm on April 21, 2025.

Light refreshments will be served.

Colloquium with Connor Mills

Join us as Connor Mills, Courtesy Assistant Professor of History at University of Oregon, presents a lecture as part of the Department of History Colloquium series.

This event is sponsored by the Department of History and Global Studies.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Department of History Commencement Celebration

Join us as we honor the accomplishments of our graduating history students from Washington University. 

From 2:00pm until 4:00pm we will gather to celebrate and enjoy light refreshments in the Orchid Room (Danforth University Center). 

Kim Stanley Robinson on The Ministry for the Future

The Material World of Modern Segregation symposium

The symposium welcomes nearly two dozen speakers from around the country to explore the urban experience of race and segregation in St. Louis, expanding on a research project led by Kolk and Bernstein in 2017.

History Department Senior Honors Thesis Symposium

You are invited to join other members of WashU's history community in celebrating the achievements of this year's senior honors thesis writers at the Symposium, Monday, April 28, from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Bear Beginnings Open House: Fall 2025

To celebrate the beginning of your academic future, stop by Olin Library, room 142 between 10am-11:30am to meet with History and Medical Humanities faculty. Learn all about the department and the major/minor!

Colloquium with Suman Seth

Suman Seth, Chair and Marie Underhill Noll Professor of the History of Science, Cornell University

Herodotus and the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ in the Nineteenth Century

Recent discussions about the great battles of the Persian Wars presume that the idea that ‘despotic’ Eastern and ‘free’ Western civilization are destined to clash was born 2500 years ago, in Herodotus’ Histories.  This paper rejects any such claims to continuity in European thinking about these Wars, and shows that for centuries, readers of The Histories were quite unconcerned with this line of thought.  Even in the nineteenth century, when a ‘Whiggish’ reading of the Wars came to the fore, many continued to find other aspects of Herodotus’ work more interesting, and conte

Colloquium Series: Writing a Counter Narrative for Modern Korea: Borders, Borderlands, and Diasporas

This talk explores the possibilities of writing a counter narrative for Korea’s modern history—through borders, borderlands, and diasporas.  Korea’s history has often been told as a story of colonization/victimization on the one hand and freedom fighters/revolutionaries on the other, both perspectives emphasizing the power and gaze of an outside empire.  How do we invert this narrative to center native actors and the transregional dynamics in which they were situated?  I ruminate about reading against and with multiple imperial archives and the conundrum, for a time, of the lack of a Korean

We're Making History!

• Induction of new Phi Alpha Theta members
• Awarding of the Wallace, Konig, and Izenberg Prizes
• Induction of senior honors thesis writers into the Roland Berthoff Society
• Awarding of the Goldstein Prize for best senior honors thesis
• Presentation of the Living History Projects

Umrath Lounge, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

CCHP Speaker Series and Public Forum

A Book Talk with Elizabeth Hinton (featuring Douglas Flowe)

Professor 

WashU History Major-Minor Fair

Meet fellow students, learn about our major or minor, and discover all that History has to offer!

Learn about: 

History Major

History Minor

Study Abroad

Phi Altha Theta

And more!

Cookie Break: Learn About the Living History Scholars Initiative

Come grab a cookie and learn about the Living History Scholars Initiative.

Critical Race Theory at the Bottom of the Well: Derrick Bell’s ‘Grandchildren’ Reflect on the Future of CRT

“Critical Race Theory at the Bottom of the Well: Derrick Bell’s ‘Grandchildren’ Reflect on the Future of CRT” Roundtable with Robert Chang, UC Irvine School of Law; Adrienne Davis, WashU Law; and Anthony Farley, Albany Law School.

Sponsored by the Public Interest Law & Policy Speaker Series.

MO MCLE 1.0

Fall 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium

Presenters will participate in one of several sessions between 10 am - 2 pm on Friday, November 7, in Frick Forum (1st Floor) and other locations in Bauer/Knight Halls. Any WashU student is welcome to present their project, including works in progress.

Included in the list of presenters are several history students -

Calvin Crossland – Junior, History (Poster Session B: 11:30am-12:30pm)

Lulu Ingham – Senior, History/French (Lightning Talk 3: 1:00pm-2:00pm)

Zach Nowacek – Junior, History/Data Science (Poster Session A: 10:00am-11:00am)

Health as Performance: Hygienic Theater in Interwar Germany

Joanna Dee Das - Faith, Family, and Flag

Joanna Dee Das - Faith, Family, and Flag: Branson Entertainment and the Idea of America

Presented by Left Bank Books & Left Bank Books Foundation

Join us as we welcome Joanna Dee Das, award-winning author and associate professor of performing arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Meet the Grad Students!

Interested?

2025 Global Research Excellence Showcase

Featured presenters are recipients of Global Incubator Seed Grants, which harness the power of our international partnerships to advance innovative research in areas aligned with the university’s strategic plan. The program culminates with awards and recognitions celebrating research excellence at WashU.

Refusing Sustainability - Race, Health, and Environmentalism

Event generously sponsored by the Transatlantic Forum, the Department of Anthropology, the Center for the Study of Race, Ethncity, and Equity CRE2, and the Department of History.

This event will take place in McMillan Hall (Room G052) at 4:00pm on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.

Ancient Historian Panel

WashU's two ancient historians, William Bubelis, Associate Professor of Classics, and Chris Erdman, Assistant Professor of Classics, will facilitate a discussion with this panel of visiting ancient historians.

CCHP Speaker Series: "Causes and Consequences of the Russia-Ukraine War"

CCHP: Trump, Venezuela, and the Return of the Monroe Doctrine

"Trump, Venezuela, and the Return of the Monroe Doctrine"

Americans were shocked by the Jan. 3 raid on Venezuela and by the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. But the incident represents the return of something very old to U.S. foreign policy. Read more: "The Return of the Monroe Doctrine"

This lecture is free and open to the public; light refreshments will be provided. More information to come!

History Department Senior Honors Thesis Symposium

Faculty, students, staff, and family are invited to join members of WashU's history community in celebrating the achievements of this year's senior honors thesis writers at the Symposium, Monday, April 27, from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. in Umrath Lounge.

Coffee and pastries will be provided at 9:30 a.m.

We're Making History takes place in the same space (Umrath Lounge) that afternoon - please join us! Light refreshments will also be provided at this event.

David T Konig Lecture: "What Would the Constitution's Framers Think About Today's Supreme Court?"

Join us as Stuart Banner, Norman Abrams Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA, presents a lecture as part of the Konig Lecture Series. 

The 1776–1789 Connection: Transatlantic Revolutions and the Birth of Human Rights

Our French Connexions Center of Excellence will host an exceptional afternoon of programming in the presence of His Excellency Laurent Bili, Ambassador of France to the United States, and a delegation from the Consulat de France in Chicago

Sumers Welcome Center

4:00 PM: Opening and introductions
Opening remarks by Lionel Cuillé, Director, French Connexions Center, introducing His Excellency Laurent Bili, Ambassador of France to the United States, and the Consulat de France delegation.

History Major Welcome Session

Welcome to the History Major!

Join us to meet with:

• Fellow History Majors and Minors
• The Director of Undergraduate Studies
• The Director of the History Minor
• Study Abroad Advisor (Mark Pegg)

Also...

• Learn about the Gateway Journal and Phi Alpha Theta (Dalen Wakeley-Smith)

Enjoy hot cocoa and donuts, too!

Please note: location will be in Busch 18 (lower level of Busch Hall!)

Annual Stanley Spector Lecture: Democratizing Railroads and the Cultivation of a New Postwar Japan

Annual Stanley Spector Lecture: Democratizing Railroads and the Cultivation of a New Postwar Japan

Democracy was not the inevitable outcome for Japan after World War II. The new constitution set up a legal framework for a democratic system, but after years of authoritarian rule, changing people's attitudes and daily practices to match legal transformations was a major challenge for the builders of democracy in 1945.

A Fireside Chat with Mary Bruce, AB '05, Chief White House Correspondent for ABC News

Fireside Chat with Mary Bruce

Register for the Event

CCHP: Assessing the War in Iran

The war in Iran is already having immense impact on the US, Israel, Iran, the Gulf States and the wider Middle East.  As the conflict continues to evolve and reshape the geopolitical landscape, this talk will assess the origins, stakes, and potential consequences of the unfolding war.  In particular, it will explore the historical context behind the current conflict, the strategic interests driving events on the ground, and the implications for regional stability and U.S. foreign policy going forward. 

Medical Humanities Film Screening: Nino

Join us for this free screening of the film, "Nino", by Pauline Loquès, William Lebghil, and Salomé Dewaels, with the participation of Jeanne Balibar.