History constitutes an intellectual challenge because of its special responsibility: the search for reality in the past.

History courses integrate many branches of knowledge, cutting across the lines of the social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences.

Identifying forces of stability and processes of change, history students develop research, writing and analytical skills, which serve them well beyond their university years. 

The special responsibility of historical studies is to help individuals and communities understand the past. The study of history builds confidence for making judgments in many fields of human endeavor and provides insight into current social, political, economic and cultural issues.

The History Department's Mission 

The History Department encourages engagement with the past by supporting students in their studies, faculty in their research, and the public in its curiosity. The subjects we teach inform effective policy, and the skills we foster—judicious reading, clear writing, and persuasive speaking—remain perpetually in demand. The study of history offers practice in research and the interpretation of data, argument, and rhetoric. But most important, history reminds us of other times and places. Making sense of the world is impossible without memory and perspective. 

Our History 

"The University of Colorado Denver became an independent institution in 1973, after more than 60 years as an extension of CU Boulder. The road to independence was a long one, and in many ways it stretched far beyond 1973. Those were times of rapid, tumultuous change in higher education—in Denver, Colorado, and the nation. When they had passed, the old Denver Center extension was no more, and a new, distinct institution took its first tenuous steps into the future." Read more 
- Jarett Zuboy (CU Denver Alumni), The Road to Independence and Beyond: Commemorating the University’s 40th Anniversary.