The department’s faculty prides itself in being responsive to student concerns, and strongly urges students to contact or attend office hours of any professor with any question, large or small.
For undergraduates, the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Árpád von Klimó, is the first point of query for all questions relating to the history major, minor, and dual-degree or joint-degree programs. Beyond formal advising, history majors become well acquainted with multiple faculty, especially in smaller research seminars during junior and senior years that develop analytical skills. Students can be confident of receiving responsive mentoring from multiple faculty during their course of study in the department.
For M.A. students, the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Stephen West, is responsible for general advising relating to degree requirements, registration, and monitoring of progress to degree, and also advises newly admitted students leading up to their arrival on campus. Each section within the department also has its own section head, whom students should consult for course selection or any other issue specific to work in their particular areas of study. These are: for medieval Europe, Dr. Jennifer Davis; for modern Europe, Dr. Lawrence Poos; for US, Dr. Stephen West. A Ph.D. student’s primary advising relationship is with that student’s dissertation director, once that designation has taken place.
In addition to the advisers in each department, the staff of the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences are available to discuss students' goals and programs. We encourage students to use all available academic resources to obtain the maximum benefit from their undergraduate study at Catholic University.