RECENT NEWS

UNCG History Adds B.A. Public History Concentration

Undergraduates and prospective students, the UNCG Department of History is thrilled to announce that effective this coming August we have a new B.A. Concentration in Public History! This exciting and growing History field prepares students for careers and graduate study in public history or museum studies (historic sites, history museums, community organizations, nonprofit work, and more).

Students will explore the presence and power of the past in new ways. Through a sequence of courses, student in the Public History concentration will examine how popular conceptions of the past get shaped, how public memory shapes individual and collective action, where history can be found in the contemporary landscape, how historic sites are preserved and documented, and how professional public historians work to interpret and share the past with audiences. Students will also learn the skills of public historians, such as oral history, exhibit design, and digital history methods. The concentration will provide a new way to look at the power and relevance of history, including its connections to civic engagement and social change, and a new way to see history as relevant.

We are building and drawing on our expertise in public history that includes our award-winning M.A. with a Concentration in Museum Studies program and our public history minor at the Ph.D. level. The B.A. Public History Concentration requirements are identical to our existing B.A. track with the addition of at least three courses (9 credit hours) in public history courses. See the B.A. in History, Public History Concentration page for detailed information, or download this flyer to see what is offered in Fall 2023.

UNCG History Adds Online BA Program

The UNCG History Department now offers a wholly online B.A. degree. The curriculum is the same as our existing on campus B.A. degree plan but enables students who have time constraints preventing them from taking our traditional program to still get a History degree. For more information, see this webpage: https://online.uncg.edu/bachelor-of-arts-in-history. Click here to download a flyer.

Save the date for the UNCG History Department on May 5, 2023, beginning at 5 p.m. in UNCG Auditorium on the corner of Tate and Spring Garden Streets.

Parsons Appointed to NC Council on the Holocaust

Governor Roy Cooper has appointed Dr. Anne E. Parsons to the North Carolina Council on the Holocaust as a member at-large. Parsons has worked with the Council's Traveling Exhibitions Program for the past two years. Parsons assisted in developing an innovative digital and physical exhibit "Roots of Resistance: The Tuchyn Story."

Historical Roots of Our Time: "Caste and Race"

Friday, Jan. 19, 2023, noon
Presenters: Jeremy Rinker, UNCG Peace and Conflict Studies and Gaurav Pathania, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Peacebuilding in the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) at Eastern Mennonite University
Zoom: Register here: http://go.uncg.edu/historicalroots

"Caste and Race: Interconnected, yet Distinct, Systems of Oppression"
Increasingly caste and race are again being discussed in tandem in the public sphere. This can be partly attributed to Pulitzer Prize winning author, Isabel Wilkerson’s recent book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020), in which the author invokes Allison Davis’ famous study Deep South: A Social Anthropological Study of Race and Class (1947) and Caste and Class in a Southern Town (1937) by John Dollard to help us rethink the role that race and Jim Crow has played in American history. But are caste and race the same? How do they differ as systems of oppression? This discussion with two scholars that focus on modern caste activism will explore what draws the comparisons to two related, yet distinct systems of oppression. Does describing the American racial system as a “racial caste system” (see Wilkerson, 2020; Alexander, 2010) assist or dilute the meaning of the globalized terminology of caste. Join us for an exciting discussion of these ideas as part of the historical roots of our time.

2022 Department Newsletter Online

The 2022 edition of our department newsletter, The Historian, is now online! Read it online or download here.

Chris Bouzane, UNC System Presidential Scholar

Chris Bouzane, History and Political Science alum ('22), recently shared his experience as a UNC System Presidential Scholar with the College of Arts and Sciences. He highlighted the impact of UNCG professors (2 from History) on his development as a scholar.

"The courses I’d say that prepared me for this role would be Dr. Allison Bramwell’s “Urban Politics” course, Dr. Denisa Jashari’s “Riots, Rebellions, and Revolutions” course, and my history 411 Capstone course: “The Irish Famine,” taught by Dr. Jill C. Bender. Each of these courses challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and to develop new skills. Whether that be research, writing, or analysis based; the skills I’ve learned from these professors have stuck with me and been utilized in the Scholar position. Moreover, their passion for teaching and their research was infectious."

Read the article: Alumnus Q&A with Presidental Scholar Chris Bouzane – The College of Arts and Sciences

Eger Wins ASOR Award

Congratulations to Dr. Asa Eger, Professor of Islamic history, for winning the G. Ernest Wright Award from the American Society of Overseas Research for his book Antioch: A History. This award is given to the author/editor of the most substantial volume(s) dealing with archaeological material, excavation reports and material culture from the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. This work must be the result of original research published within the past two years. (One award is given annually.)

Summer in Taiwan: Crossroads of Modern Asia
June 30 - August 2, 2023
Prof. James Anderson (Department of History, UNCG)

Recording from Zoom Information Session: https://uncg.zoom.us/rec/share/WAuhSgLiHeCGJIU3JZBVvDBtKB4lVGdd7z2yIDmHtkJqrgpe5EmUmWUfeqVbzC62.-Vj0bVhoD4yn8f8O (Passcode: m9s9%e5k) , or visit go.uncg.edu/taiwan.

The program is located on the campus of Tamkang University and includes one overnight excursion to the city of Tainan, which will include one evening of hotel accommodation. The remaining field trips are all day trips to and from Taipei. 6 credits in 2 courses (HIS 488/HIS 697) on the history of Maritime Taiwan, Modern Taiwan and Taiwanese society and culture. Study Abroad accommodations, program related travel expenses in Taiwan, IPC fee, international health insurance, and program excursions and site visits. Cost = $3,850, not including airfare and some meals. Financial Aid applicable for travel and scholarships/grants available. For additional information please contact Dr. Anderson (jamie_anderson@uncg.edu). Application Deadline: December 15 – studyabroad.uncg.edu.

Study Abroad in Israel Summer 2023

Join our colleague Dr. Asa Eger in Israel June 27-July 26, 2023 for an archeological study abroad learning experience! Deadline for application is December 1, 2022. For more details and to apply, go to the Caesarea Archaelogical Field School overview page.

Emilee Robbins Wins AWRN Graduate Student Research Grant

The Atlantic World Research Network is pleased to announce that the 2022-2023 Atlantic World Research Network (AWRN) Graduate Student Research Grant has been awarded to Emilee Robbins, PhD Student in History.

This AWRN grant of $500 will help to support Robbins’ project, "Women’s Memoirs in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions," which is a chapter of her dissertation. More specifically, this grant will enable her to do archival work at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston.

Congratulations to Emilee on a project that explores the autobiographical writings of two loyalist women writers whose lives were defined by the experience of displacement caused by the American Revolution, and by their seeking refuge across the Atlantic. By placing these works in dialogue with one another and with that of a female emigree to America from the subsequent French Revolution—within the wider context of the Age of Atlantic Revolutions—Emilee shows how women writers participated in cultural exchanges, mobility, and the creation of trans-Atlantic networks. Many thanks also to Dr. Linda Rupert for contributing her helpful and detailed letter of support.

AWRN Graduate Student Research Grants are available by application each fall and are open to MA, MS, MBA, MFA, and PHD student applicants seeking to defray the costs of travel to collections, conferences, field work sites, artistic and theatrical venues, museums, summer seminars, and specialized summer schools. For further information, please email awrn@uncg.edu.

UNCG Alum Maya Brooks First Full-time Black Curator for SECCA and NCMA

Read the article in Triad City Beat: "Maya Brooks is the new assistant curator for contemporary art at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. She will serve both the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) in Raleigh and SECCA, which is an affiliate of NCMA. The new position, which started on June 2, builds on the past two years of Brooks’ experience as the Mellon Foundation Assistant Curator at NCMA." Maya earned her M.A. in History with a concentration in Museum Studies at UNCG in 2020.

Internships at the Smithsonian

Read the article: Ushering in a new digital era at the Smithsonian. "2022 was a particularly successful year for UNCG students gaining on-the-job experience. Dr. Parsons built the internship application process into her classes to help students secure those coveted spots. In "The Practice of Public History," they research which available internships will best serve the career path they want, and she guides them through the application requirements. 'Our curriculum is very rigorous,” she says. 'Students' projects directly serve the community. They work on the curation of traveling exhibits, build story maps online, and work on collections preservation. Everything they do is incredibly hands-on, so when they graduate, they have a strong resume.'"

"Roots of Resistance": Museum Studies Program Creates Ukraine History Exhibit for Schools

Growing up, Dr. Anne Parsons was told that her Jewish family members from Ukraine died in a fire during the Holocaust. It wasn’t until she started researching the Nazi's genocide of Jews of Ukraine that she learned her family was part of one small village's show of resistance. Together with graduate students in UNC Greensboro's Master's in History and Museum Studies Program, the associate professor and director of public history envisioned a Holocaust exhibit specifically focused on the events in Tuchyn, Ukraine during World War II. Her team of graduate students and faculty collaborators came up with "Roots of Resistance," a digital and physical installation, with a community-engaged, educational mission. Read more at UNCG News.

HRRN Film Series: "In the Life of Music"

Oct. 27, 2022, 6:30 p.m., SOEB 114

2022-23 International Human Rights Film Series. The film "In the Life of Music" follows the lives of one Cambodian family through the years of the Khmer Rouge Regime and the influence of one song through three generations. James Anderson from History and Gavin Douglas from Ethnomusicology will lead a discussion. There will be refreshments afterward.

Voting For Power: A Brief History of Voters in the United States

On October 13th, at 5pm in MHRA 1214 join our colleagues Dr. Mark Elliott and Dr. Omar Ali (Dean of the Honors College) as they speak and answer questions on voting in American history! They will also be joined by Ashley Billie and Quinn Anderson from the Office of Civic Engagement who will offer resources and help students register to vote!

"Locating 'Jack the Ripper' in the Archives"

Join our colleague Dr. Jill Bender Thursday, Oct. 6 at 12:00 noon as she presents "Locating 'Jack the Ripper' in the Archives" as the latest installment in UNCG Special Collections & University Archives Speaker Series. Join via Zoom, http://go.uncg.edu/speakerseries.

"Snapshots from Antioch"
Dr. Asa Eger

Thursday, April 7, 2022, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Virtual, Register Here.

Founded by generals of Alexander the Great, pride of the Roman Empire, and reputed birthplace of the first Christian community and church, Antioch is known as one of the largest and most important metropolises in the classical world. Today it is a provincial capital in Turkey known as Antakya-Hatay. However, virtually nothing is known about the city under Islamic rule and as a medieval city. This talk focuses on these 'lost' periods, highlighting the city's importance during five periods of history: the Early Islamic, Middle Byzantine, Crusader, Mamluk, and Ottoman periods, from the 7- early 20th centuries. In a larger sense, Antioch is a fascinating case study to closely examine the transformation from classical to medieval to early modern city. This lecture is a presentation of the recently published book Antioch: A History, co-authored with Dr. Andrea U. de Giorgi.

This event is sponsored by the History Department, HNAC, the Archeology Club and the Islamic Studies Research Network at UNCG.

Historical Roots of Our Time
"Mnemonics and Public Memory Work in Ukraine"

Dr. Nataliia Ivchyk , Associate Professor, Rivne State Humanities University, Ukraine

Friday, April 8, 2022, Noon-1 p.m., EST
Virtual, Register Here.

Dr. Nataliia Ivchyk will speak about the work of Mnemonics, an NGO in Rivne, Ukraine which creates public memory projects. Specifically, she will speak about their efforts to commemorate the history of the Holocaust and other histories of trauma in Ukraine and the effects of the recent invasion by Russia. Discussants for this talk will be Dr. Anne Parsons and Dr. Jeff Jones, History.

This event has been generously supported and sponsored by the History Department, HNAC, IGS, the Lloyd International Honors College and the Jewish Studies Program in the Department of Religious Studies at UNCG.

Annual Henry Samuel Levinson Lecture: Dr. Anne Parsons
"Remembering Resistance: A Jewish Uprising in Ukraine"
Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 7:00 p.m. EST
Register here: https://henrylevinsonlecture2022.eventbrite.com

Mark your calendar and reserve a spot now. Dr. Anne Parsons will speak about developing the exhibition "Roots of Resistance: The Tuchyn Story," on the 1942 Tuchyn ghetto uprising in Ukraine on March 29. She also will discuss the current conflict's impact on the international exhibition. The event is online via ZOOM, and registration is required. https://henrylevinsonlecture2022.eventbrite.com.

"In 1942, the Jews of Tuchyn, Ukraine, fought back when the Nazis came to liquidate the ghetto. Professor Anne Parsons will speak about researching this history and the ways that the Holocaust has been remembered in Ukraine. Parsons collaborated with artist Adam Carlin and a team at UNCG to co-curate the exhibition with the N.C. Council on the Holocaust. Parsons and Carlin will discuss the process of creating this exhibition for audiences in the U.S. and Ukraine and the impact of the current conflict on it."

Presented by UNCG's Jewish Studies Program and Religious Studies Department with generous donations from the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professorship in Jewish Studies, the Henry Samuel Levinson Program Endowment for Jewish Studies, the Barbara Colchamiro Endowment, and the Judith Rosenstock Hyman Jewish Studies Program Endowment.

History Career Night

Wednesday, March 23, 7-9:00 p.m.
Virtual, on Zoom

History majors: mark your calendars and register now for a History Department Career Night event on March 23! Learn how History prepares you for a variety of careers and meet former History majors employed in various professions! Register Here.

Historical Roots of Our Time Lecture
"The United States and Regional Conflicts in the Persian Gulf, Past and Present"

Friday, Mar. 18, 2022, 11:00
Virtual, Register Here.

Join us on Zoom for the next Historical Roots of our Time lecture with Visiting Assistant Professor of History David Wight and Noor Ghazi from Peace and Conflict Studies on March 18 at 11:00.