Department Of History, Archeology & Political Studies

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The department of History Archaeology and Political Studies is one of the oldest academic departments at K U. It was established to offer a blend of Historical, archaeological and political studies units as driven by academic and market forces.
Over the years, the department has incubated and led to the establishment of other disciplines and departments within K.U, including: Public Policy, Peace and Conflict Studies and International Resources. The department currently has over 2000 undergraduate and post- graduate students in the three fields, interested in diverse areas of research in the three sub- disciplines.
The department takes pride in being a source of academic knowledge and the training ground for a large cohort of contemporary historians working in Kenya, African and other universities all over the world. We are committed in nurturing talent and molding students irrespective of students’ background.
Professional rankings of History Departments in Kenya, rank KU History department highly as one of the only departments that offer both traditional and modern historical and archaeological units in the country. Our faculty is engaged in research in the above fields of interest in the country and within the region.

Academic Staff and Specializations
The department has 18 well-trained and qualified teaching staff at all three sub-disciplines.  These lecturers include Professors, Ph.D holders and Masters Degree holders at advanced level of PhD qualification. The faculty has a rich teaching, research and publication profile that suits the specific specialization areas in the department. Prospective students will have an enjoyable learning environment through interaction with faculty members through lectures, seminars, tutorials, fieldwork and other practical sessions. Our faculty have a strong international research networks in various fields that are important in linking students to international research world.

Specialty and Branding
Our department offers courses in three unique areas of History, Archeology and Political studies. This has  enabled our students to fit into the labour market  as administrators, educators, museum and culture personnel, company executives, journalists, programme officers, research scientists, political consultants and NGO personnel among others. As a department of Choice, we are driven by the desire to inculcate into our students the historical and social consciousness which are critical for development.We ttrain and nurture critical, responsible and resourceful human power in various sectors for national development. By choosing our program, you will not only come out as an all rounded and marketable person.But more  importantly you will be nurtured into a nationalistic, critical and  patriotic citizen.

Undergraduate Students
Students studying for B.A and B.ED are given the opportunity to study all the courses in the three areas of history, Archeology and political studies during the first and second year of study. This gives them the opportunity to be introduced and interact with the interrelated facets of the three areas .Ample space to interract with the specific areas of specialization is captured  in their third and fourth years of study. The flexibility of the programme allows students to combine our courses with those offered in other sister departments and also benefit from the University Common Units. Students also have the opportunity to finish their courses in three years if they opt for the trimester programme.

Postgraduate Students
Over two hundred students are currently enrolled for the Masters and Ph.D programs in our department. The postgraduate students specialize in the five areas of History, Archeology, Political studies, on offer in the Department. Their mode of study includes full time regular students, Institutional Based, and Open Learning programs. The mode of instruction for the post-graduate programs is through seminars and seminar presentations. Each of the postgraduate students is given an opportunity to share his/her work through the post graduate defense presentations. There are also departmental seminars through which works are presented and discussed in an academic fora either as work-in progress with the intention of critique before it is presented at higher levels, publication and competition for research funding. Each postgraduate student is assisted in polishing his/her work to meet international standards in order to apply and attract research funding. Our students have won numerous research grants and participated in several international workshops and conferences.

Resources
The department has a resource center which also acts as a seminar room. Our students can be able to access some of the most current and rare books which are in stock. Most of these books are obtained through purchase, donations from partner institutions and friends from within and outside the country. In terms of human resource our seminar series ensures that specialists from other disciplines come and share their expertise with our students and staff. Through collaboration with other departments some of our students, both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, get the opportunity to be taught and supervised by specialists from other departments. This enhances the multidisciplinary nature of focus reflected in most of our courses.

Student Profiles and Destinations
One of the main objectives of our department is to produce a community of scholars with a strong critical historical thinking capable of enhancing debates, analyses and reflections in their specific areas of specialisation. In this regard, we have produced a cadre of competent and independent educators, politically conscious administrators and managers who have been on the forefront in facilitating and enriching the policy making processes in the country and  on internationally scene.