Cool Classes

The Evil Class
Why study heroes when you can focus on villains? This popular class examines evil through time.
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Study Abroad

Choose from Seven Continents!

A term or a year spent in another country can make a world of difference to you.

Our History

'Nothing Short of Excellence'

That was the goal of H. Richard Niebuhr, who transformed a rural seminary into Elmhurst College. Here's the story.

The study of history is the most basic and relevant of all the liberal arts. Studying the past helps build the skills required to understand and analyze trends, personalities and movement—not only those that have shaped past events, but those that affect the present and the future. Students of history at Elmhurst don’t just learn who won which battles; they learn to evaluate information, research and write compellingly, and assess competing arguments.

A history major from Elmhurst can open doors to a variety of rewarding careers, including jobs in teaching, museum work, media and research. The major consists of at least seven history courses, including a senior thesis. History majors can, and should, chose courses from a wide variety of historical periods and areas.

The teachers at Elmhurst are top-notch professionals with wide-ranging areas of expertise, representing an excellent cross-section of diverse fields of study. Our varied faculty includes specialists on America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. A professor, never a teaching assistant, teaches every class here. With a student-faculty ratio of 13 to1, you can be assured that you will develop close relationships with these professors. In small classes, you’ll work face to face with faculty who are at Elmhurst because they love to teach.