The Department of World History was established in the 1930s. The first generation of world historians, such as Fang Zhenzhong, Yan Xiuxi, Zhang Shaoliang, and Song Zesheng, once taught here. After the reform and opening up in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Professor Han Chengwen set up the teaching and research section of European and American History ,and Professor Wang Jilin and Professor Yi Wencheng founded the section for Japan Studies, both of which laid an important foundation for the development of the Department. At present, The Department of World History has 19 teachers, including 6 professors, 7 associate professors. It holds the Filing Center for Individual Countries and Region Studies under  the Ministry of Education, the Center for Israel Studies which is a key research base of  humanities and social sciences in Henan universities, the Institute for  World History which is an open center of  humanities and social sciences in Henan Province, the Institute of the Histories of Regions and Individual Countries which is a key institution of Henan University., and the Institute of Historical Theory and Historiography at Henan University. The department has now oriented its research directions of history of  Europe and America, history of Jewish-Middle East, history of Japan, historical theory and historiography,. history of South Asia.

        The World History  has a first-level discipline doctoral degree program and a master's degree program, with four distinct features and a clear training-research direction including the modern world history, the general world history and specialized history, the world history of regions and individual countries, and the historical theory and historiography. The professional teaching staff of the degree programs are well-trained with 6 doctoral supervisors and 14 master advisors. The conferees of the degrees are those from both Henan Province and all over China, to be trained to become the high-level specialized personnel in the field of world history. The discipline of the world history with degree programs has extensively conducted  international academic exchanges. It  has signed a number of joint training agreements with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of Israel, Tel Aviv University, National University of Belarus and other universities and research institutes at home and abroad to regularly select the outstanding students to the institutions for further study, striving for the improvement of the quality of postgraduates and Ph.D. candidates.