UCL History is unusual both for the innovation of our work and for our chronological breadth. Members of the department specialize in periods from 3000 BCE through to the present, with distinctive geographical strengths in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, as well as Europe and Britain. We have shaped a wide variety of fields, from intellectual and cultural history, medieval history, early modern British history, to histories of the British Empire, transnational and comparative history, and material history. Our work has played major roles in debates about slavery and the British empire and public history, notably through the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery. We have also led work at UCL on the climate crisis through UCL Anthropocene.

The Department currently includes 37 permanent academic staff and 14 research fellows. Members of the department regularly hold major fellowships and grants for a wide variety of projects. In addition, UCL History has been a longstanding springboard for early career scholars holding research fellowships from the British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, European Research Council and elsewhere.