History
Our October 11th colloquium featured Dr. Frances Hasso, who addressed the topic of "Researching Non-Archival and Rarely Asked Questions in Palestine" in relation to her book, Buried in the Red Dirt: Race, Reproduction, and Death in Modern Palestine. Given recent events, Dr. Hasso read an excerpt from the coda to her book by way of introduction. Discussion featured topics such as how to conduct oral history and the importance of engaging with knowledge passed down through generations, finding alternative archives as… read more about "Buried in the Red Dirt" with Dr. Frances Hasso »
On October 9th, a group of panelists gathered for an informal discussion of Adam Mestyan’s new book Modern Arab Kingship: Remaking the Ottoman Political Order in the Interwar Middle East (PUP, 2023). After some introductory notes by the author, including a recognition of the ongoing violence in Palestine-Israel, the discussion’s chair, Dina Khoury (GWU) and each of the panelists presented their impressions of the work and how it has contributed to thinking about their own research. Topics of discussion… read more about Book Talk! Panel discusses Adam Mestyan's Modern Arab Kingship »
In November 2020, Heather, a Black student enrolled at N.C. Central, was excited about the chance to cast her first vote in a presidential election. Instead, she spent the day in a nightmarish tour of polling sites across two counties. Heather had registered to vote as a student in Durham, but because of COVID housing restrictions, she had moved back home to Raleigh. Her first stop was her home polling site in Raleigh, but was told she had to go to Durham, where she was registered. At her registered Durham site, she was… read more about How a ‘Failsafe’ Protection for Voting Fails Students »
Cecilia Márquez, profesora auxiliar de Hunt Family en el Departamento de Historia. (John West/Trinity Communications) Click here to read this story in English “En muchos sentidos, esta es una historia extraña y, en cierto punto, inesperada”, afirma Cecilia Márquez, profesora auxiliar de Hunt Family en el Departamento de Historia, sobre su nuevo libro “Making the Latino South: A History of Racial Formation (Configuración del sur latino: una historia de la formación… read more about De la Cálida Bienvenida al Deseo de Expulsión: La Historiadora Cecilia Márquez Analiza en su Nuevo Libro el Proceso de Racialización de Personas Latinas en el Sur de los Estados Unidos »
Cecilia Márquez, Hunt Family Assistant Professor of History. (John West/Trinity Communications) Para leer este artículo en español, haga clic aquí. “In a lot of ways this is a weird story, and sort of unexpected,” says Cecilia Márquez, Hunt Family Assistant Professor of History, about her new book, “Making the Latino South: A History of Racial Formation.” The book's trajectory examines the racialization of non-Black Latinos in the U.S. South from the 1940s to the… read more about From Warm Welcome to the Desire to Expel: New Book from Historian Cecilia Márquez Examines the Racialization of Latinos in the U.S. South »
On Monday, September 18, the first Fall 2023 Methods Lab featured a presentation from Dr. Mireya Loza, professor of History and American Studies at Georgetown University, about her work curating exhibits at the National Museum of American History. Discussing her contributions in curating two exhibits, “De Ultima Hora: Latinas Report Breaking News” and “Girlhood (it’s complicated),” Dr. Loza walked the audience through the methodological aims and challenges of presenting public history on sometimes controversial topics.… read more about Methods Lab: Curating Latinx History with Dr. Mireya Loza »
On September 13th, at the first installment of the Fall 2023 History Colloquium series, theater historian Dr. Esther Kim Lee discussed her book, Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era, the first comprehensive look at yellowface, or white actors portraying Asian characters, in American cinema. Dr. Lee presented a brief introductory slideshow, showing archival images she'd encountered, followed by a discussion of the work. Topics ranged from the globalized nature of racial performance, why there are… read more about Dr. Esther Kim Lee Discusses "Yellowface" at Fall Colloquium »
Assistant Professor of History Hannah Conway joins the Duke faculty this year. (John West/Trinity Communications) Many of us have complicated relationships with people. Hannah Conway has a complicated relationship with a place: the South. From growing up a self-described “woodland weirdo” in Appalachia to spending much of her graduate research in the lower Mississippi Delta region, Duke’s newest assistant professor of History has an affinity for the southeastern portions of the U.S. A… read more about Repairing Our Social Erosion with Environmental Historian Hannah Conway »
Assistant Professor of History Matthew Shutzer joins the Duke faculty this year. (John West/Trinity Communications) In Matthew Shutzer’s class “Fossil Fuels and Climate History,” students are encouraged to think of climate not only as a contemporary scientific problem, but as a potent agent of historical transformation. Shutzer, who joined the faculty this Fall as assistant professor of History, asks students to examine the historical connection between climate change and the fossil… read more about Matthew Shutzer Puts Climate Change in Context »
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) revealed its allocation of $41.3 million in grants, benefiting 280 humanities projects throughout the nation. Two Trinity College of Arts and Science Faculty are recipients of the grant. Jocelyn Olcott Jocelyn Olcott’s project focuses on the value of care. (John West/Trinity Communications) Jocelyn Olcott, Professor of History; International Comparative Studies; and Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, was… read more about Two Trinity Faculty Awarded Grants from National Endowment for Humanities »
Dr. Mestyan's essay, "From Empire to Federation? The View from the Middle East," is up on the Princeton University Press website in support of his new book, Modern Arab Kingship (PUP, 2023). read more about Adam Mestyan Explains the Impact of Federations in the Middle East »
On the occasion of the release of his latest book, Modern Arab Kingship: Remaking the Ottoman Political Order in the Interwar Middle East (Princeton University Press, 2023), Dr. Adam Mestyan has published an online article in Aeon digital magazine. "The Arab Kingdom" details the proclamation of a new pan-Arab empire amid the chaos of the First World War, and the historical lessons to be learned from its eventual collapse. read more about Sharif Hussein and the Campaign for a Modern Arab Empire »
Summer is a great time to catch up on reading. Books from more than a dozen Duke authors offer insight on a range of topics – from gratitude for everyday life to the antislavery writings of Henry David Thoreau. Below is a roundup of some of the most recently published and soon-to-be-out titles. Many of the books, including new editions of previous titles, can be found on the “Duke Authors” display shelves near the circulation desk in Perkins Library. Some are available as e-books for quick download. Most can also be… read more about Hot Off the Press: Summer Reading From Duke Authors »
SpaceX and Blue Origin are paragons of the 21st century’s most ambitious endeavors. But while the technology may be new, the political and economic questions raised by their efforts to colonize space are centuries old. In his new book, “Empire, Incorporated,” Philip Stern explores 400 years of British history to trace the role corporations played in building British colonialism. From its very inception, the corporation was a “legal fiction with very real power,” Stern writes, and moreover it was “an elusive contradiction”… read more about What Was the Corporation? »
In her first-ever New York Times byline, Dr. Cecilia Marquez published a guest essay in the Opinion section entitled "The Myth of the Lone Wolf Latino" on May 12, 2023. In the wake of the May 6 mass shooting at a Texas shopping mall by, allegedly, a Latino man, Marquez makes a case for the importance of better understanding the "small but growing minority of Latinos engaged in right-wing and white supremacist extremism." read more about Cecilia Marquez Guest Opines in the New York Times »
Sophomore and recently-declared History major Sarah Konrad has won a Gilder Lehrman College Fellowship! The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History provides annual short-term research fellowships in the amount of $3000 each to undergraduate students majoring or minoring in History, American Studies, Africana, Political Science, or related fields. Launched in 2022, this program enables young historians to do research primarily at the Gilder Lehrman Collection—a repository containing more than eighty thousand items… read more about Gilder Lehrman Fellowship Awarded to New History Major »
Ritika Saligram can be heard across campus and beyond. She is a senior studying Political Science, History and Markets & Management Studies. Saligram helped plan an educational trip to Pearl Harbor for more than 30 Duke student and alumni in her role as Co-Chair of the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy. She is president of Duke’s oldest, most award-winning female acappella group, Out of the Blue. Her interests include security and conflict studies in Asia, European history,… read more about Class of 2023: Ritika Saligram gives her voice to a senior year filled with challenges and hope »
PhD Candidates Mohammed S. Ali and Arthur Braswell have both been admitted to the Summer School Institute Vienna Circle as part of an academic exchange program between Duke University and the University of Vienna. Mohammed looks forward to continuing his research on the ethical archetypes of environmental history as part of this summer's course on "Climate Science: Historical, Philosophical, and Sociological Issues." Arthur plans on using the seminar to further pursue his research on the environmental consequences of… read more about Two PhD Candidates will join Climate Science Summer Course at University of Vienna »
