RECENT NEWS

2021 Department Newsletter Online

The 2021 edition of our department newsletter, The Historian, is now online! Read it online or download here.

Jashari Wins National Dissertation Award

Assistant Professor of history Denisha Jashari was awarded the Distinguished Dissertation Award from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and ProQuest for her dissertation, “Cartographies of Conflict: Political Culture and Urban Protest in Santiago, Chile, 1872-1994.” She received the award in the Humanities and Fine Arts category during the CGS Annual Meeting in New Orleans in December 2021. Read more here.

Interview with Jewel Parker, Ph.D. Student

History Ph.D. student and instructor Jewel Parker was recently interviewed by the Graduate School. She won the 2021 Atlantic World Research Network Graduate Student Research Grant. "The research she plans to conduct during this trip will contribute to the third chapter of her dissertation, 'The Transatlantic Slave Trade: New Ideas of Health and Healing in America.' According to Jewel, this particular chapter will examine unexplored aspects of the transatlantic slave trade, including Africa’s botanical legacy in America and how African peoples preserved their medical knowledge and practice." Read more here.

Study Abroad in Taiwan

Information Session: on Zoom, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, 12-1 p.m.
Dates: May 22-June 18, 2022
Application Deadline: December 15, 2021 Portal to apply

"Taiwan: Crossroads of Modern Asia" explores the ways in which the various peoples on the periphery of a larger Chinese empire have existed throughout history, fighting during much of this time for political and cultural autonomy. By comparing and analyzing various scholarly works, and conducting individual research on-site projects, students will be in a position to write their own history of Taiwan with a focus on explaining how the past informs our understanding of the present. The program includes one overnight excursion away from the primary site 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. Contact Dr. James Anderson at jaander2@uncg.edu for more information.

Study Abroad in Israel

Information Session: on Zoom, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021, 12-1 p.m.
Dates: May 22-June 18, 2022
Application Deadline: December 10, 2021 Portal to apply

The site of Caesarea Maritima, on the northern coast, is one of the largest archaeological sites in Israel. It was founded as a Hellenistic anchorage settlement and developed into a significant and elaborate Roman city with a manmade harbor under Herod the Great in 22-10 BC. From then through the Byzantine period, it was the capital of the province of Palestine, and larger than Jerusalem. Archaeological projects from numerous consortia groups both have been conducted for the last fifty years, uncovering significant parts of the central city, the harbor, the Augustan Roman temple, the Byzantine octagonal church, and the Crusader church and city walls. However, little is know of the city during the Early Islamic period. Debates over the nature of the Levantine coast from the 7-10th centuries characterize it either as a depopulated no-man’s land frontier with the Byzantine controlled Mediterranean, or interspersed with key settlements actively engaged in trade and exchange. According to Islamic sources, Caesarea (Qaysariya), was a ribāṭ, a type of site that similarly either functioned as a military-religious lookout station or commercial waystation. Our renewed excavations of the city will seek to investigate the answers to these questions, searching for the Early Islamic occupation of the city and what it reveals on the nature of how classical cities transformed in the Early Islamic period, and the larger regional Levantine coast in the early Medieval period. Contact Dr. Asa Eger at aaeger@uncg.edu for more information.

German Film Club Discussion of Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

Monday, November 8, 2021, 5:00 p.m.
MHRA 1302 or Zoom

Discussion of the movie Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (directed by Marc Rothemund, 2005) facilitated by Dr. Teresa Walch (UNCG faculty in History) and Luiz Francisco Osorio (UNCG Honors student in History). Please watch the film beforehand. Members of the UNCG community can stream Sophie Scholl for free through Box after logging in with UNCG credentials. Film is in German with subtitles.

Historical Roots of our Time Lecture

"Kabul 1989/2021 and Saigon 1975: Similarities and Differences"
Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, 12 - 1 pm
Virtual | Sign up at go.uncg.edu/historicalroots.

Join Jeff Jones (History), James Anderson (History) and Bill Crowther (Political Science) for a comparison of the end of foreign occupation and withdrawal of troops, and the resulting impact, in Vietnam and Afghanistan, in the past and today. Sponsored by Department of History and the UNCG Humanities Network and Consortium.

Historical Roots of our Time Lecture

"Conspiracy Theories and Mass Deception from 1930s Germany to Today"
Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, 12 - 1 pm
Virtual | Sign up at go.uncg.edu/historicalroots.

In the wake of World War I, mass disinformation ran rampant in Germany. Adolf Hitler exploited antisemitic conspiracy theories in his rise to power and discredited newspapers who critically covered him by promoting the idea of the "lying press" in the early 1930s. But mass disinformation did not vanish from contemporary politics following Hitler's demise. Liberal democracies in Europe and the United States continue to confront a barrage of conspiracy theories and grapple with charges of "fake news" and "alternative facts" in contemporary politics. In this session, Dr. Teresa Walch (History) and Dr. Patrick Giamario (Political Science) will discuss what's at stake in these politics of deception and consider how we might better confront mass misinformation today.

Wight Speaks at UNCG Sustainability Lecture & Dialogue Series

David Wight will be participating in the UNCG Sustainability Lecture & Dialogue Series with Tad Skotnicki on Oct. 20 at Noon ET on Zoom. The theme is consumption, which he will approach from material in his book Oil Money. Full information and registration here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uncg-sustainability-lecture-dialogue-series-consumption-tickets-174418519487

Journey Presents Research at Anne Lister Research Summit

Join Azariah Rafael Journey (she/her/they/them), an undergraduate student in the History Department at UNCG, for The Anne Lister Research Summit as she presents "The Evolution of Anne Lister's Theology: From Bondage to Liberation."

Date: Sunday, October 17, 2021
Time: 2:00 EST
Register and view the schedule here: https://www.annelisterresearchsummit.org/2021/2021-schedule.

The Anne Lister Research Summit aims to bring together people interested in researching Anne Lister to share knowledge and develop collaborations. The Anne Lister Research Summit facilitates people researching Anne Lister, finding each other, exchanging knowledge, and developing common practices in research. It is a truly global online event with contributors from 12 time zones and is totally free to attend.

What did Anne Lister believe? How did she consolidate her Anglican Christian faith with her sexuality, educational adventures, and her travels? How did the intersectionality of her deeply rooted faith and her sexuality change throughout her lifetime? Join Azariah Rafael Journey, an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro History Department in an exploration of how Anne Lister’s faith evolved during her lifetime from feelings of shame and bondage to spiritual and sexual liberation.

We will consider Anne Lister's personal theology and some of the things that impacted it throughout her life as well as examine that the ideas of her theological stance are still being discussed, debated, and tested in the Christian Faith.

Historical Roots of our Time Lecture

"The Gender of Emotional Labor"
Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, 12 - 1 pm
Virtual | Sign up at go.uncg.edu/historicalroots.

The pandemic has focused a spotlight on the gendered inequities in emotional labor. Additionally, broader cultural conversations over the past several years have highlighted the gendered and racialized dimensions of exactly who is allowed to express certain emotions and at what time those expressions are permitted. This talk will highlight the historical roots and continuing consequences of those gendered expectations and inequities of emotional labor. Presented by Mandy Cooper (HIS), Ting Wang (Sociology & WGS) and Heather Adams (English)

Wight Book Talk September 30

"Oil Money: Middle East Petrodollars and the Transformation of US Empire, 1967-1988"
Thursday, September 30, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
Zoom: Register at go.uncg.edu/oil-money

David M. Wight is a visiting assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In addition to Oil Money, he is the author of multiple articles and book chapters on the history of international relations, the United States, and the Middle East. He is currently conducting research for a new book analyzing the dramatic rise of higher education exchanges between the Arab world and the United States during the Cold War.

Human Rights Research Network Film Series: "Turning Point"

"Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror"
Tuesday, September 28, 2021, 6:30 p.m.
Zoom: Register at go.uncg.edu/turning-point
Moderator: Dr. Jeff Jones, Department of History

Historical Roots of our Time Lectures Kick Off in September

"The Plessy Doctrine and the Logic of Racism, Then and Now"
Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021, 12 - 1 pm
Virtual | Sign up at go.uncg.edu/historicalroots.

Join the Department of History for the return of their Historical Roots of Our Times series, which pairs a History faculty member with a colleague from across campus to discuss a pressing issue from a contemporary perspective. In this installment, History's Dr. Mark Elliott is joined by Dr. Jeffrey Kaplan, Department of Philosophy. Their talk will be followed by a Q&A. Students are encouraged to attend!

Jones Virtual Lecture Sept. 1

The Iranian Cultural Society of NC and the Graduate Student Association of Iranians at Duke present Duke University Emamian Lectureship Series: Dr. Jeff Jones will give a lecture on "The Graveyard of Empires? A Comparative View of the Soviet and American Wars in Afghanistan" on Zoom, Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 6:45 p.m. The lecture will be conducted in English and is free and open to the public. Co-sponsors: Dr. Ali and Parvin Jarrahi; Duke University Middle Eastern Studies Center; Duke Islamic Studies Center, UNCG Department of History; Persian Studies Program at UNC Chapel Hill; Duke University Libraries. https://duke.zoom.us/j/95925679038 Meeting ID: 959 2567 9038

The State Normal and Industrial College and the 19th Amendment

Congratulations to our colleagues Dr. Lisa Levenstein and Dr. Mandy Cooper for helping UNCG Libraries educate about the role of UNCG students in advocating for women's suffrage and getting the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed! Read more: The Women's Suffrage Movement at State Normal and Beyond.

Eger Publishes "Antioch: A History"

Congratulations to Associate Professor of Islamic History Dr. Asa Eger on the publication of his book Antioch: A History, co-written with Andrea U. de Giorgi, Routledge Press. From the publisher's website: "Antioch has typically been treated as a city whose classical glory faded permanently amid a series of natural disasters and foreign invasions in the sixth and seventh centuries CE. Such studies have obstructed the view of Antioch's fascinating urban transformations from classical to medieval to modern city and the processes behind these transformations. Through its comprehensive blend of textual sources and new archaeological data reanalyzed from Princeton's 1930s excavations and recent discoveries, this book offers unprecedented insights into the complete history of Antioch, recreating the lives of the people who lived in it and focusing on the factors that affected them during the evolution of its remarkable cityscape."

Wight Publishes "Oil Money"

Congratulations to Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. David Wight on the publication of his new book Oil Money: Middle East Petrodollars and the Transformation of US Empire, 1967–1988 with Cornell University Press! Dr. Wight teaches courses for us in U.S. history and U.S. foreign relations.

Jashari Wins Dissertation Award

Congratulations to assistant professor Dr. Denisa Jashari who just found out that her dissertation written at Indiana University “Cartographies of Conflict: Political Culture and Urban Protest in Santiago, Chile, 1872-1994” has been selected as the winner of the University Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award for 2020 in the Humanities category! This is the highest honor for research that Indiana University bestows upon its graduate students. The dissertation will also be IU’s nomination for a national competition, the 2021 Council of Graduate Schools/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award, in the Humanities category.

History Department Launches YouTube Channel

We now have a YouTube page! We will be posting videotaped forums involving our faculty and students, virtual commencement exercises, and other material. Visit it here and be sure to subscribe! The link can be found on the right side under our Facebook page section.

Gatson and Parsons Receive P2 Grant

Congratulations to Drs. Torren Gatson and Anne Parsons for receiving a UNCG P2 grant with the NC African American Heritage Commission and NC Central University. The team received 3 years of funding for their project, "Crafting a Community Engaged Approach: Creating Pathways for African Americans in Public History."

The Historical Roots of Our Time Series: "The Injustices of Rape, a Conversation"
Friday, April 15, 2021, 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Zoom: https://go.uncg.edu/historicalroots

With Cat Jacquet and Anne Parsons (UNCG, History, moderator)

Join the conversation Friday, April 15th 4-5 pm as part of History and HNAC's new series - "The Historical Roots of Our Time." No pre-registration needed, just use the Zoom link at noon Friday! https://go.uncg.edu/historicalroots

Parker Wins College Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Jewel Parker for being selected as the 2020-2021 winner of the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award for the College of Arts and Sciences! Way to go Jewel!

Parsons Wins Outstanding Book Award

Congratulations to Dr. Anne Parsons for co-winning the "2019 Outstanding Book Award" from the Disability History Association for her book "From Asylum to Prison: Deinstitutionalization and the Rise of Mass Incarceration after 1945" (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2018).

"Praise from the committee: 'Lucidly written, Parsons’ powerful account places disability at the center of the burgeoning histories of mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex. From Asylum to Prison is especially compelling and insightful in the way it brings together race, prisons, the disability rights movement, and the related yet distinct deinstitutionalizations of people diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities and those labeled as having intellectual or developmental disabilities. Always attentive to historical complexities and the unintended consequences of policymaking, Parsons shows how we cannot fully understand the rise of mass incarceration without incorporating disability.'"