Zachary Partnoy

Class of 2026
Major in History, Minors in English and Political Science

Hi, I’m Zachary Partnoy, a senior studying History. I’m originally from San Diego, CA, and I now live in Washington, D.C. I think the History major is a terrific choice for anyone with a wide variety of intellectual interests. I’ve done history research through independent studies, Bass Connections (Future Space Settlements: Lessons from History, 2024-2025), and the senior thesis program (my thesis is a real page-turner on the East India Company’s role in the English Financial Revolution). I’m also the editor-in-chief of The Lemur: Duke’s Big Ideas Magazine (thelemur.org), which I founded in my sophomore year. Part of my mission with The Lemur is to foster a more vibrant intellectual culture at Duke, so please reach out if that sounds appealing! Otherwise, you can find me watching New York crime movies, playing golf poorly, writing screenplays and short stories, and eating fluffernutters.

Favorite Class: Tudor/Stuart Britain, which I took freshman spring with then-graduate student Sam Horewood, set me on an obsessive path that has led to my thesis! I also want to mention U.S. Political History 1900-Present, Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and Athenian Law. The list could go on and on.