News
The November 2021 special issue of The Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (JESHO), “The Persianate Bazaar,” features key contributions from Professor Fahad Bishara. The collection of essays in this volume examines forms of business documentation in the late Persianate world and the Indian Ocean, between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries. In addition to writing the introduction with Nandini Chatterjee, Fahad contributed an article, “The Diver’s New Papers: Wealth, People, and Property in a Persian Gulf Bazaar.”
https://brill.com/view/journals/jesh/64/5-6/jesh.64.issue-5-6.xml?language=en
Grace Hale’s “Cool Town,” which explores the birth of such bands as R.E.M. and the B-52s, was just named this year’s top book on Georgia history by the Georgia Historical Society.
https://news.virginia.edu/content/faculty-spotlight-historian-revisits-a...
Alan Taylor’s American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 was mentioned in an article in The New York Times Magazine detailing long-standing debates about how we tell our national story and what that has to teach us about our current divisions: The 1619 Project and the Long Battle Over U.S. History.
Last month, Caroline Janney was a guest on C-SPAN's American History TV where she discussed her book Ends of War: The Unfinished Fight of Lee's Army after Appomatox, as well as the uncertainties in the military and politics following the end of the Civil War.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?514706-1/ends-war
Caroline also received praise in a Wall Street Journal review for her book as she detailed how Robert E. Lee's surrender became foundational to the destabilizing myth of the "Lost Cause" and for offering a "fresh and disquieting version of Lee’s surrender, adroitly balancing official, political and military decisions with the recollections of the men on the ground who endured – and sometimes defied – its consequences."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ends-of-war-review-the-myth-of-appomattox-1...
Professor Neeti Nair has been appointed to the John W. Kluge Center’s inaugural alumni advisory board to serve two-year terms as Kluge Center ambassadors, helping the Center promote its scholarly opportunities to wider audiences.
In an interview with Town & Country Magazine, Andrew Kahrl discusses the historical struggles of Black families as they looked "to escape from the clutches of predatory conditions within their new neighborhoods."
Last week, Laurent Dubois joined NPR’s 1A to discuss how Haiti is faring after presidential assassination, the aftermath of the recent earthquake, & treatment of Haitian migrants. https://the1a.org/segments/haiti-and-its-migrants-an-update-on-del-rio/
Graduate student Thomas Storrs’ co-authored paper, “New Evidence on Redlining by Federal Housing Programs in the 1930s” was published in the National Bureau of Economic Research: https://www.nber.org/papers/w29244?utm_campaign=ntwh&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ntwg12 Congratulations Thomas.
In an interview with NPR, Professor Claudrena Harold attributes crucial contributions of working people to the many facets of development in the US. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/04/1033177379/labor-day-history-triangle-shirtwaste-factory-fire-patco-strike
Laurent Dubois provided insight on Haiti’s earthquake and political future. https://the1a.org/segments/taliban-haiti-cuba/
In a recent blog for Columbia University Press, Professor Justene Hill Edwards reflects on African Americans’ complicated legacy of patriotism.
In a recent op-ed for the Washington Post, Professor Liz Varon explains how the removal of Confederate statues will give us a clearer view of the complex Southern past.
Since the news broke of the assassination of Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moïse, University of Virginia scholars who focus on Haiti have been busy answering media questions about the country.
Three professors whose scholarship focuses on the tumultuous history and politics of this nation – Marlene Daut, Laurent Dubois and Robert Fatton – have been providing background and suggesting possible next steps, but at the same time are surprised at the mystery of who carried out the attack and who’s leading the country, saying it’s a dangerous time for Haiti.
Recommended summer reading: Alan Taylor’s American Republics, Justene Hill Edwards’ Unfree Markets: The Slaves’ Economy and the Rise of Capitalism in South Carolina, and Philip Zelikow’s The Road Less Traveled: The Secret Battle to End the Great War.
Gilder Lehrman Book Breaks features the most exciting history scholars in America discussing their books live with host William Roka, followed by a Q&A with home audiences. On June 13, 2021, Professor Max Edelson discussed his book The New Map of Empire: How Britain Imagined America before Independence. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/programs-and-events/book-breaks/book-breaks-archive
Here's a link to the video: https://vimeo.com/562931556
The French National Library's digital press collections has a podcast series on crime and the press. Each episode focuses on a particular crime or event that made the headlines in France, and consists of a conversation with a scholar of the crime/event and a scholar of the press in that time/place. The series just released an episode featuring Professor Jennifer Session and Arthur Asseraf ( Cambridge). On this episode, Professors Sessions and Asseraf discuss the Margueritte revolt in Algeria.
Professor Neeti Nair writes an op-ed in the Indian Express on the demolition of the National Archives of India Annexe. In this op-ed, Professor Nair writes: "The demolition of the annexe and the uncertainty over its collection may affect the kind of narratives we are able to craft. So long as scholars are able to access regional and state archives across India, they will be able to write regional histories. So long as they are able to collect oral histories, they will be able to tell stories of past struggles and successes that might have not been deemed worthy of “official” archives. So long as there are other kinds of institutional archives and private archives, they will be able to write those histories."
Congratulations to Professors Sarah Milov and Brad Reed who were recipients of UVA Student Council's 2021 Distinguished Teaching Award! The award acknowledges "their exceptional work in the classroom, their diligence in supporting their students' learning, and their profound impact on their students--both through their teaching and their unparalleled commitment to their students." Thanks Brad and Sarah for advancing the teaching mission of the department and the College.