Empires & Colonialism

Historians of empire and colonialism consider how power operates across space. We treat empires as political, cultural, social, and economic institutions that shape human agency and identity. At the University of Virginia, we work across different time periods and geographic areas – from the Greek and Roman empires of the ancient world to the imperial formations of the Cold War. In our teaching and research, we examine how such empires acquire, exercise, and justify authority. We ask how they administer diverse populations, and what role these populations play in imperial rule. We study the many forms of colonial domination and resistance – but also hybridization, collaboration, and mutual influence. We track the circulation of goods, people, ideas, and practices, both within empires and across them. And, we consider the varied legacies of empire, such as the racialsocial, and religious categories they produce. The study of empire and colonialism helps to locate the local in the global, and vice versa. It highlights both the networks and the hierarchies that structure our world.

Graduate Student

Faculty

Bishara
Associate Professor, Indian Ocean History, Rouhollah Ramazani Associate Professor of Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Studies
Nau 253
Office Hours: By Appointment
Themes: Economic History & History of Capitalism, Empire & Colonialism, Legal History, Spatial History, Frontiers, & Migration, Transnational and Diplomatic History
Associate Professor
Nau 395
Office Hours: T, 1:00-3:30PM and by appointment
Themes: Empire & Colonialism, Women, Gender, & Sexuality
Associate Professor, Brockman Foundation Jefferson Scholars Foundation Professor
Nau 384
Office Hours: ON LEAVE
Themes: Empire & Colonialism, History of Slavery, Legal History, Race & Ethnicity
Julian Bishko Professor of History, Professor of Law
Nau 454
Office Hours: ON LEAVE
Themes: Empire & Colonialism, Legal History, Material Culture, Transnational and Diplomatic History
Hitchcock
James Madison Professor of History, Director, Governing America in a Global Era (GAGE)
Nau 285
Office Hours: M, 12:00-3:30PM
Themes: Empire & Colonialism, Genocide & Violence, Military & War History, Transnational and Diplomatic History
Horne
Associate Professor of French
317A Cabell Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Themes: Cultural and Social History, Empire & Colonialism, Labor History, Material Culture, Political History
Mason
Associate Professor; Co-Director, Holsinger Portrait Project
353 Nau
Office Hours: M, 2:00PM-4:00PM; W, 12:0-1:30; and by appointment
Themes: Cultural and Social History, Empire & Colonialism, History of Slavery, Race & Ethnicity
Louis Nelson
Professor of Architectural History, Associate Dean in the School of Architecture
Themes: Cultural and Social History, Empire & Colonialism, History of Slavery, Material Culture, Race & Ethnicity
Owens
Professor, Director, Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation, Hotel A
Nau 382
Office Hours: By Appointment
Themes: Economic History & History of Capitalism, Empire & Colonialism, Legal History
Sessions
Associate Professor of History, Affiliated Faculty, Department of French
Nau 354
Office Hours: TR, 11:00AM-1:00PM; Students should schedule meetings at https://calendly.com/profsessions
Themes: Cultural and Social History, Empire & Colonialism, Legal History, Material Culture, Military & War History, Political History, Race & Ethnicity, Spatial History, Frontiers, & Migration, Transnational and Diplomatic History
Photo by Chris Taylor / U.S. Department of the Treasury
Assistant Professor of History and American Studies
484 Nau Hall
Office Hours: W, 11:00AM-1:00PM and Zoom by appointment at https://calendly.com/ds2ax
Themes: Economic History & History of Capitalism, Empire & Colonialism, Environmental History, Labor History, Science, Medicine, & Technology
Director & Chair of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American & African Studies
Themes: Cultural and Social History, Empire & Colonialism, History of Slavery, Race & Ethnicity
Penny
Professor of History, William R Kenan, Jr Professor in American Studies
233 Nau Hall
Office Hours: ON LEAVE
Themes: Cultural and Social History, Empire & Colonialism, Transnational and Diplomatic History
Joshua M. White
Associate Professor, Director, Distinguished Majors Program
Nau 355
Office Hours: Tuesday, 11 AM - 1 PM, and by appointment
Themes: Cultural and Social History, Empire & Colonialism, History of Slavery, Legal History, Transnational and Diplomatic History

Alumni