RECENT NEWS

Skelton Wins Research Grant

From the University of Florida: "We are delighted to recognize Robert D. Skelton as the first of the Chase Family Grant graduate scholars to visit the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History in 2023. Robert completed a week of research focusing on Reconstruction. As part of his dissertation work at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, he argues that the Radical Republican vision for fostering Black political power and landownership in Florida collided with post-war business interests that viewed the new Freedmen populace as primarily an inexpensive labor force. In particular, he examined post-war negotiations between Democrats and Republicans to restart and revitalize Florida’s economy that fractured the Republican coalition and led to the demise of both Republican and African American political power in Florida until the Civil Rights Era."

Lascarez Casanova Runs a "Barbie World" at Doll and Toy Museum

From UNCG Communications: "A UNC Greensboro (UNCG) alumna is running her own 'Barbie world' at the North Carolina Museum of Dolls, Toys, and Miniatures (NCMDTM).

"Saskia Lascarez Casanova ’22 M.A. is the museum administrator of the small museum in Spencer, North Carolina. Fellow alumna Jasmin Zamora-Cuna ’22 M.A. previously served as the museum assistant but left the post for another opportunity in August. The pair graduated together from UNCG’s history and museum studies master’s program.

Read the article by Avery Craine Powell here: UNCG Alumna Runs Barbie World at Doll and Toy Museum

Tolbert Publishes "Beyond Piggly Wiggly"

Congratulations to Professor Dr. Lisa Tolbert on the publication of her new book, Beyond Piggly Wiggly: Inventing the American Self-Service Store, by University of Georgia Press, in association with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Dr. Tolbert teaches classes in American cultural history and education in our department.

From the UGA web site: "Patented in 1917, Piggly Wiggly was by far the most influential self-service store of the early twentieth century. Before 1940 it was the only self-service chain with a national distribution network, but it was neither the first nor the only version. Beyond Piggly Wiggly reveals the importance of Piggly Wiggly in the invention of self-service and goes beyond the history of a single firm to explore the role of small business entrepreneurs who invented the first self-service stores in a grassroots social process."

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.

Historical Roots of Our Time: "Haiti in Crisis"

Friday, April 14, 2023, noon
Presenters: Dr. Christopher Davis, UNCG History and Zachary Moore, Deputy Managing Editor, Americas at ICIS
Zoom: Register here: http://go.uncg.edu/historicalroots

"Haiti in Crisis: Roots of the Current Upheaval and the Historical Complexity of Intervention"
Over the past few years, Haiti has appeared more and more in the headline news and, sadly, not for positive reasons. Since the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise on July 7, 2021, Haiti has descended into one of the greatest humanitarian crises of its long and troubled history. Already facing the question of political legitimacy prior to Moise’s death, the Haitian government has seen its authority diminish while various gangs at present control 60% of the capital of Port-au-Prince. A nation whose dependence on foreign aid had gained it the nickname “the republic of NGOs” has recently seen this replaced with the even more unenviable title of “the mafia state”. The resulting chaos, in which Haitian citizens are increasingly cut off from food, fuel and medicine and are at the mercy of the gangs, has even resulted in an appeal from the Haitian government for foreign military intervention. So how did things get to this point? With an expert on petrochemical markets in the Caribbean and Latin America region, and a scholar of Haitian history, the presenters for this discussion will explore how Venezuelan oil diplomacy and political corruption in Port-au-Prince led to the current crisis. Furthermore, as the U.S. and other nations consider Port-au-Prince’s request for military intervention, this discussion will also explore how the history of interventions in Haiti explain U.S. reluctance to do so again.

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.)