In order to better know and support our members’ professional interests, as well as to collect data on trends in the discipline, we ask historians to provide us with information about their fields of study and teaching when they join or renew.
Below is the member taxonomy, developed in 2014 by AHA president Jan Goldstein and a small subcommittee of Council members after consultation with colleagues in a wide range of fields. The taxonomy includes Temporal/Geographic and Thematic categories.
Temporal/Geographic Categories
| Ancient Near East (West Asia) | Korea |
| Central Asia | Ancient Korea to the Rise of Koryo |
| Early Central Asia to c. 750 CE | Medieval Korea, Koryo to c. 1700 |
| Precolonial Central Asia, c. 750-1750 | Early Modern Korea, c. 1700-1876 |
| Modern Central Asia since 1750 | Modern Korea, 1876-1945 |
| China | Contemporary Korea since 1945 |
| Ancient China | South Asia |
| Early Imperial China, Qin-Han | Ancient India to c. 600 CE |
| Period of Division and Early Tang China, 220-755 | Medieval India, c. 600-1500 |
| Middle Imperial China, 755-1368 | Early Modern South Asian Empires and Global Economy, c. 1500-c. 1800 |
| Late Imperial China, 1368-1912 | Modern South Asia since c. 1700 |
| Republic of China, 1912-49 | Modern India |
| People's Republic of China since 1949 | Sri Lanka |
| Hong Kong, Macao, and/or Taiwan | Pakistan and/or Bangladesh |
| Japan | Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and/or Maldives |
| Premodern Japan to c. 1600 | Southeast Asia |
| Early Modern Japan, c. 1600-1868 | Early Southeast Asia to c. 1300 |
| Modern Japan since 1868 | Middle Period Southeast Asia, c. 1300-c. 1800 |
| Meiji Japan, 1868-1912 | Southeast Asia since 1800 |
| Imperial Japan, 1905-45 | Burma |
| Postwar Japan, 1945-89 | Thailand |
| Contemporary Japan since 1990s | Vietnam, Cambodia, and/or Laos |
| Malaysia, Singapore, and/or Brunei | |
| Indonesia and/or Timor Leste | |
| Philippines | |
| Australia | Pacific Islands |
| New Zealand | Antarctica |
| Middle East (West Asia)/North Africa, 600-1300 | Arabian Peninsula |
| Middle East (West Asia)/North Africa, 1300-1800 | Ottoman Empire |
| Middle East (West Asia)/North Africa since 1800 | Turkey |
| Maghreb (North Africa) | Iran |
| Mashreq (Arab East) | Egypt/Sudan |
| Israel/Palestine | |
| Africa to 1500 | North Africa (Maghreb) |
| Africa, 1500-1850 | Northeast Africa |
| Africa since 1850 | Southern Africa |
| East Africa | Trans-Saharan Africa |
| Equatorial Africa | West Africa |
| Mediterranean Prehistory | Modern Europe, 1750-1914 |
| Greece and Mediterranean to 323 BCE | Britain and Ireland, 1750-1914 |
| Hellenistic and Imperial Greek World | France, 1750-1914 |
| Rome and Italy to 31 BCE | Low Countries, 1750-1914 |
| Roman Empire | Spain and Portugal, 1750-1914 |
| Late Antiquity | Italy, 1750-1914 |
| Byzantium | German-speaking Central Europe, 1750-1914 |
| Early Middle Ages, 400-1000 | Scandinavia, 1750-1914 |
| British Isles, 400-1000 | Eastern Europe, 1750-1914 |
| Gaul and Francia, 400-1000 | Balkans, 1750-1914 |
| Central and Eastern Europe, 400-1000 | Russia, 1750-1914 |
| Scandinavia, 400-1000 | Europe in the Era of the Two World Wars, 1914-45 |
| Iberian Peninsula, 400-1000 | Britain and Ireland, 1914-45 |
| Italy, 400-1000 | France, 1914-45 |
| Balkans, 400-1000 | Low Countries, 1914-45 |
| Later Middle Ages, 1000-1500 | Spain and Portugal, 1914-45 |
| British Isles, 1000-1500 | Italy, 1914-45 |
| France, 1000-1500 | German-speaking Central Europe, 1914-45 |
| Low Countries, 1000-1500 | Scandinavia, 1914-45 |
| Central and Eastern Europe, 1000-1500 | Eastern Europe, 1914-45 |
| Scandinavia, 1000-1500 | Balkans, 1914-45 |
| German Lands, 1000-1500 | Soviet Union, 1914-45 |
| Iberian Peninsula, 1000-1500 | Contemporary Europe since 1945 |
| Italy, 1000-1500 | Britain and Ireland since 1945 |
| Balkans, 1000-1500 | France since 1945 |
| Renaissance | Low Countries since 1945 |
| Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800 | Spain and Portugal since 1945 |
| British Isles, 1500-1800 | Italy since 1945 |
| France, 1500-1800 | German-speaking Central Europe since 1945 |
| Low Countries, 1500-1800 | Scandinavia since 1945 |
| Spain and Portugal, 1500-1800 | Eastern Europe since 1945 |
| Italian States, 1500-1800 | Balkans since 1945 |
| German Lands, 1500-1800 | Soviet Union and Russia since 1945 |
| Scandinavia, 1500-1800 | Post-Soviet Nationalities since 1945 |
| Eastern Europe, 1500-1800 | European Union |
| Balkans, 1500-1800 | |
| Russia, 1500-1800 | |
| Native American/Indigenous | Early and Colonial North America |
| Precontact Native American/Indigenous | Precontact/Indigenous North America |
| Colonial Period Native American/Indigenous | European Discovery and Exploration of North America |
| 19th-Century Native American/Indigenous | British Politics and Administration of North America |
| Native American since 1900 | Colonial North America |
| Latin America | Colonial New England |
| Precontact/Indigenous Latin America | Middle Colonies |
| South American Conquest and Early European Settlement | Colonial Chesapeake |
| Spanish America, 1680-1760 | Colonial Lower South |
| Reform and Expansion in Spanish America, 1760-1800 | French and Dutch Colonies |
| 19th-Century Latin America | Colonial Spanish Borderlands |
| Latin America since 1900 | Canada |
| Brazil | Exploration and Settlement to 1763 |
| Precontact/Indigenous Brazil | Colonial Period, 1760-1870 |
| Colonial Brazil | Dominion Period, 1870-1921 |
| Imperial Brazil, 1822-89 | Canada since 1921 |
| Republican Brazil since 1889 | French and British Canada |
| Mexico | Atlantic Canada |
| Precontact/Indigenous Mexico | Prairie Provinces |
| Colonial Mexico | British Columbia |
| National Mexico | Quebec |
| Central America | United States |
| Precontact/Indigenous Central America | American Revolution, 1756-83 |
| Colonial Central America | United States, 1783-1815 |
| National Central America | United States, 1815-50 |
| Andes | United States, 1850-77 |
| Southern Cone | United States, 1877-1920 |
| Caribbean | United States, 1920-45 |
| Precontact/Indigenous Caribbean | United States, 1945-75 |
| Early Colonial Caribbean | United States since 1975 |
| Slavery and Aftermath Caribbean | US Northeast |
| National Caribbean | US South |
| US Great Plains and Borderlands | |
| US Midwest | |
| US West | |
Thematic Categories
Note: The slash symbol (/) means and/or
| African American | Indigenous |
| Agrarian/Rural | Intellectual |
| Animals | Jewish |
| Archaeology | Labor |
| Art/Architecture/Design | Legal |
| Asian American | LGBTQ |
| Atlantic World | Local |
| Biography | Maritime |
| Borderlands | Material Culture |
| Capitalism | Medicine/Disease/Public Health |
| Cartography | Mediterranean World |
| Chicano(a)/Latino(a) | Memory Studies |
| Childhood and Youth | Migration/Immigration |
| Citizenship/National Identity/Nationalism | Military |
| Comparative | Music |
| Cultural | Oral |
| Demography | Pacific World |
| Diasporas | Peace and Conflict |
| Digital Methods | Political |
| Diplomatic/International | Popular Culture |
| Disability | Postcolonial |
| Economic/Business | Print Culture/History of the Book |
| Education | Public |
| Emotions/Senses | Quantitative Methods |
| Empire | Race and Ethnicity |
| Environmental | Religion |
| Ethnohistory | Science |
| Family | Sexuality |
| Film/Media/Photography | Slavery |
| Food and Foodways | Social |
| Gender | Social Movements |
| Genocide | Sports |
| Historiography/Historical Theory and Method | Technology |
| History Teaching and Learning | Transnational |
| Iberian World | Urban |
| Indian Ocean World | Women |
| World/Global |