History in the News
Congratulations to Stephen Halsey who has just won this year's Richard Saller Dissertation Prize! Mr. Halsey wrote his dissertation entitled "European Imperialism and the Evolution of Chinese Statecraft, 1850-1927" for the committee of Guy Alitto (chair), Ralph Austen, and Akira Iriye, and graduated in December 2007.
The Richard Saller Dissertation Prize is given to the graduate student in the division whose dissertation is the most distinguished piece of scholarship in a given year.
The History Department congratulates several of our alumni who have recently published new books:
- Gabriela Arredondo, PhD 1999, currently Associate Professor of History at the Univesity of California, Santa Cruz, has published Mexican Chicago: Race, identity and Nation, 1916-39 at the University of Illinois Press.
- Antoinette Burton, PhD 1990, currently Professor and Department Chair of the History Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has published The Postcolonial Careers of Santha Rama Rau at Duke University Press.
- Chad Heap, PhD 2000, currently Associate Professor of American Studies at George Washington University, will publish Slumming: Sexual and Racial Encounters in American Nightlife, 1885-1940 at the University of Chicago Press.
The History Department is pleased to welcome Cameron Hawkins, who has just accepted our offer to become an assistant professor of Roman history beginning July 1, 2008.
The History Department is pleased to announce that the 2008 Cochrane Lecture will be given by Peter Burke, Emeritus Professor of Cultural History, Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge. Professor Burke will speak on "The Renaissance in Global Context" at 4pm on Wednesday, May 21, in the John Hope Franklin Room (SS 224). A reception will follow the lecture.
Professor Burke has published 23 books, including 'The Italian Renaissance' (1972), 'Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe' (1978), 'The Fabrication of Louis XIV' (1992), 'The Art of Conversation' (1993), 'A Social History of Knowledge' (2000), 'Eyewitnessing' (2000), 'What is Cultural History?' (2004) and 'Languages and Communities in Early Modern Europe' (2004) and has been translated into 28 languages.
Congratulations to our Winter 2008 graduates! They will receive their degrees at Winter Convocation on Friday, March 21 at 3:00pm in Rockefeller Chapel.
Our Ph.D. graduates are:
- Marie Baxter, in the field of Early Modern European history, with the dissertation, "Schooling in Context: Teachers, Education and the State in Wertheim am Main, 1550-1750," written for the committee of Constantin Fasolt (chair), Michael Geyer, and Robert Bireley;
- Eduardo Contreras, in the field of United States history, with the dissertation, "The Politics of Community Development: Latinos, their Neighbors, and the State in San Francisco, 1960s and 1970s," written for the committee of George Chauncey (chair), Mae Ngai, and Thomas Holt;
- José Hernández, in the field of Latin American history, with the dissertation, "El México Perdido, El México Olvidado, y El México de Afuera: A History of Mexican American Colonization, 1836-1892," written for the committee of Claudio Lomnitz (co-chair), Emilio Kouri (co-chair), Friedrich Katz, Dipesh Chakrabarty, and Juan More-Torres;
- Stephen Sawyer, in the field of Modern European history, with the dissertation, "Locating Paris: The Parisian Municipality in Revolutionary France, 1789-1852," written for the committee of Jan Goldstein (chair), William Sewell, William Novak, and Pierre Rosanvallon.
Our M.A. graduates are:
- Susannah Engstrom, in the field of United States history, with the MA thesis, "'Toward the Poetry of Theater: Art and Politics the Work of the Chicago Repertory Group," written for Amy Dru Stanley and Neil Harris;
- Susan Gaunt, in the field of United States history, with the MA thesis, "Seeking to Remarry: The Use of Community Networks in Petitions to Divorce in Central Tennessee, 1827-1832" written for Julie Saville and Kathleen Conzen;
- Sharony Green, in the field of United States history, with the MA thesis, "Fancy Girls: Constructions of Identity," written for Julie Saville and Catherine Brekus.
The History Department congratulates Hanna Holborn Gray, President Emeritus of the University of Chicago and Harry Pratt Judson Distinguished Service Professor in History, who will receive a 2008 Making History Award from The Chicago Historical Society.The awards will be presented Thursday, May 15 at the Chicago History Museum. Other recipients are W. James Farrell, Sue Gin, Franz Jackson and the Abbott company.
The History Department congratulates Assistant Professor Tara Zahra on the publication of her new book, Kidnapped Souls: National Indifference and the Battle for Children in the Bohemian Lands, 1900-1948.
"Tara Zahra has written a pioneering work that brings together the most complex issues of nations and nationalism with the history of the family and the history of childhood. Focusing on Bohemia from the late Habsburg monarchy through World War II, this brilliantly conceived book illuminates our historical understanding of nationhood and childhood, their relation to one another, and the crucial importance of that relation for modern European history."—Larry Wolff, New York University
The History Department congratulates Graduate Student Marda Dunsky on the publication of her new book, Pens and Swords:
How the American Mainstream Media Report the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
"Pens and Swords doesn't just decry systematic distortion but explains why it happens again and again. Dunsky makes use of theory to illuminate rather than obscure, bringing academic rigor to a topic so politicized that many avoid it out of fear. Thanks to Dunsky for this brave and timely book."
—Robert Jensen, University of Texas at Austin
The History Department congratulates Professor Bernard Wasserstein on the publication of his new book, Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in Our Time.
"Bernard Wasserstein has written a beautifully balanced, exhaustive (yet never exhausting) history of Europe's bloodiest century. With admirable craftmanship, he as woven together the many 'Europes' of the past hundred years - Western and Eastern, urban and rural, spiritual and secular - into a single, seamless but exquisitely embroidered tapestry. His sanity and humanity illuminate every page." -Niall Ferguson
The History Department congratulates our faculty who have received named professorships and distinguished service professorships.
Constantin Fasolt has been named the Karl J. Weintraub Professor in History and the College.
Ramón Gutiérrez has been named the Preston & Sterling Morton Distinguished Service Professor in History and the College.
Christine Stansell has been named the Stein-Freiler Distinguished Service Professor in History and the College.
The History Department is pleased to announce that effective July 1, 2007, Professor Bruce Cumings will begin a 3-year term as Department Chair.