FALL 2019 NEWSLETTER From the 2019-20 Department Chair, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham The History Department is revving up for department, they contributed greatly to the 2019-2020 academic year. In looking their fields of study, to Harvard, and to the forward to the opening of the semester, we historical profession. In fall 2018, death express excitement about the return of the also took alum Stephen Walsh, who received many faculty members who were on leave his PhD in History in 2014. The faculty last year. We welcome you back! And we voted last spring to honor his memory. One call special attention to Tiya Miles and Derek of the department’s three annual History Penslar, who spent their first year as Prize Instructorships will be called the tenured faculty at Harvard (2018-2019) on Stephen A. Walsh History Prize leave and join us this fall in a full and active Instructorship for the next three years way. Tiya Miles offers courses on African (2019-2022). Americans and Native Americans. She is also attentive to gender as one of her The History Department’s faculty news is course titles reveals—“Native American filled with much to highlight. Kirsten Weld Evelyn Brooks Women: History and Myth.” Derek Penslar was promoted to the rank of full professor Higginbotham offers courses in modern Jewish History. He and Arunabh Ghosh was promoted to Department Chair will teach the Gen Ed course “Is War associate professor. David Howell, Inevitable.” Similarly, Liz Cohen returns to previously an affiliate in the department, Dimiter Angelov the History faculty after her sabbatical, now holds a joint appointment with History Outgoing Director of which followed seven years of stellar and East Asian Languages and Civilizations leadership as the Dean of Radcliffe. Liz (EALC). Graduate Studies Cohen brings a public history perspective to her freshman seminar titled “Making Kimberly O’Hagan was promoted to Interim Sidney Chalhoub Places and Spaces in Modern America.” We Director of Administration and Operations, Incoming Director of also congratulate our own Drew Faust, who following Robert Chung’s departure. We Graduate Studies became a University Professor last year also welcomed two new members to our after her illustrious presidency of Harvard administrative staff. Joshua Mejia serves as Lisa McGirr University. Staff Assistant and Web/Media Director of Coordinator, while Taylor Maurice serves as Undergraduate Studies We pause to remember the wonderful the Faculty Coordinator. events of 2018-2019 in honor of recently retired faculty: the captivating two-day I am pleased to announce that Lisa McGirr festschrift/retirement event at Radcliffe on will continue as Director of Undergraduate April 12-13th, for Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Studies in 2019-20, while Sidney Chalhoub who retired the previous year, and the steps into the role of Director of Graduate INSIDE convivial retirement party on April 30th, at Studies (succeeding interim DGS Dimiter Chair’s Letter 1 the Harvest restaurant for Charles Maier, Angelov). Dimiter Angelov is to be who retired this past June. After nearly fifty commended for his excellent leadership, Robinson Renovation 3 years of affiliation with Harvard, he now especially for the various workshops that enjoys emeritus status in the History he sponsored for the graduate students. I, Faculty News 4 Department. We sincerely thank both too, will continue as department chair in Laurel and Charlie for their transformative 2019-20, and will be succeeded by Ann Blair Undergraduate News 9 contributions to the History Department. in 2020-21. In looking back, we must also pause to Some of our faculty will take on new Graduate News 14 recognize those who died. Memorials were leadership roles, while remaining active held in fall 2018 for Richard Pipes, historian members of the History Department. Alumni News 17 of Russia, and in spring 2019 for Edward R. Faculty who were appointed by the J. “Roger” Owen, historian of the Middle divisional deans to chair other East. Although long retired from the departments/centers include 1 From the Chair Alison Frank Johnson over the We celebrate thirteen of our doctoral presentations. Presenters included: German Department, Philip Deloria students—Nathanael Aschenbrenner, Lisa McGirr on visionary ideas and over History and Literature, and Maria Blackwood, Charles Clavey, strategies for the undergraduate Sunil Amrith over the Mahindra Barnaby Crowcroft, Josh Ehrlich, Irvin program; Michael McCormick’s Humanities Center. We wish them Ibarguen, Mateo Jarquí n, Jamie fascinating “virtual” presentation on much success as they take up their McSpadden, Marion Menzin, Andrew his course “The Science of the new duties. Pope, Liat Spiro, Sonia Tycko, and Human Past” and Maya Jasanoff’s Guillaume Wadia—who completed riveting discussion of her Ancestry Beginning their second year as their dissertations last year. Special course. Tiya Miles and Liz Cohen College Fellows, Brandon Bloch (PhD congratulations go to Hannah presented on public history, while Harvard 2018) will continue to offer Shepherd, winner of the Harold K. Vincent Brown led a discussion courses in Modern European History Gross Dissertation Prize, for her regarding the “experimental” thesis. and Zachary Nowak (PhD Harvard dissertation entitled “Cities into We were also visited by and heard 2018) will continue in United States Empire: Fukuoka, Pusan, and Japan’s from the divisional deans and from History. We also look forward to the Imperial Urbanization, 1876-1953.” History graduate student innovative courses offered through representatives. We will continue the 2019-2020 History Prize Multiple new faculty publications discussion of the ideas raised at the Instructorship Program. They were released last year including: retreat in the upcoming year. include Claire Adams’s “Communal Sunil Amrith, Unruly Waters: How Life through the Ages: Monasteries, Rains, Rivers, Coasts, and Seas Have Let us return to campus with Cults & Collectives,” Ruodi Duan’s Shaped Asia’s History; Dimiter renewed energy and commitment to “Histories of the Third World: Asia, Angelov, The Byzantine Hellene: The increasing History concentrators and Africa, and Internationalism,” and Life of Emperor Theodore Laskaris and course enrollments. I look forward to Abbie Modaff’s “Identity Before Byzantium in the Thirteenth Century; seeing you in September! Identity Politics: Americans in the Sven Beckert’s essay “Harvard and Progressive Era.” Ruodi Duan holds Slavery” in the edited anthology the first Stephen A. Walsh History Slavery and the University: Histories Prize Instructorship. We also express and Legacies, which includes the our gratitude to last year’s History afterword by Evelyn Brooks Prize Instructors Alicia DeMaio, Erin Higginbotham; Lizabeth Cohen et al., Hutchinson, and Peter Pellizzari. The American Pageant: A History of the American People, 17th edition; Philip We are particularly thrilled to carry Deloria, Becoming Mary Sully: Toward over into the new academic year the an American Indian Abstract; Andrew departmental faculty-seminar series, Gordon, A Modern History of Japan: led by Cemal Kafadar and Liz Cohen. From Tokugawa Times to the Present, Last year under the title “The 4th Edition; Jill Lepore, These Truths : Historian as Public Intellectual,” A History of the United States and also current and retired faculty, as well as Lepore, This America: The Case for the History undergraduate and graduate Nation; and Erez Manela and Steven students met together throughout Macekura, ed., The Development the year to hear lunch-time talks by Century: A Global History. In addition, Sugata Bose on “Citizens and Aliens: several faculty members released Reflections on Majoritarianism and their previous publications in Democracy;” Walter Johnson on “St. multiple languages. Read more about Louis Past, St. Louis Present;” Nancy faculty activities and publications in Cott on “Historians in Court: Perils, the subsequent pages of this Rewards, Results?;” Jill Lepore on newsletter. “How Data Killed Facts;” and Sidney Chalhoub on “When Historians Finally, members of the History Cannot Remain Silent.” In the faculty who attended the all-day present academic year of 2019-2020 faculty retreat on May 10th enjoyed the seminar will take on the new a collegial and informative name “The Public Face of History.” experience of conversation and 2 ROBINSON RENOVATION The University completed its significant renovation of Robinson Hall in January 2019. Robinson Hall is now equipped with a new elevator traversing all four floors of the building, a new safety sprinkler system, renovated restrooms, and restructured front entrance ramps. The basement features widened office doorways to ensure accessibil- ity, as well as new paint and fixtures. Faculty offices on the first floor have been con- solidated and restructured, and the Lower Library features a newly refinished meeting table. Three new faculty offices have been added to the second floor in addition to a glass-walled media lab, a new kitchen, and restructured administrative offices. 3 FACULTY NEWS Dimiter Angelov’s new book The Byzantine European newspapers on a new research project on global Hellene: The Life of Theodore Laskaris and commodity frontiers. In December of 2018 he was the co- Byzantium in the Thirteenth Century organizer of a large international conference in St. Louis, (Cambridge University Press) appeared in Senegal on colonial cities in global perspectives. July 2019. The book takes advantage of an exceptional body of autobiographical