Dr. Susan Rabe wants to know her students well, see their development and success, and teach in an environment that values the development of the whole person.

Rabe is as passionate about the subject of history as she is about teaching and working with students. “First of all, history rocks! History provides the connective tissue and context that helps us understand the other things we are interested in,” she says.

Several history courses have a Chicago focus and include excursions to the Art Institute of Chicago, D’Arcy Gallery of Medieval and Renaissance Art, Newberry Library, and Chicago History Museum. “Given the nature of the discipline, it is rare that our courses do not in some way address the role and character of cities historically, and we usually do this in a comparative context with the city in which we now live,” she says. The curriculum is also structured to incorporate multicultural perspectives, with courses covering Africa and the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.