Posters From The Internationalizing History Seminar Series

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The History Department Initiative to Internationalize the Study and Teaching of History

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(Sponsored by the Harvey Goldberg Center and the George L. Mosse Program in History)

During the 2002-2003 academic year the history department launched a new multiyear initiative to internationalize the study and teaching of history. Sponsored by the Harvey Goldberg Center and the George L. Mosse Program in History, this endeavor seeks to stimulate a cross-fertilization of ideas across traditional geographic and methodological boundaries. To understand the "global" world citizens confront on a daily basis, we need histories that are informed by attention to the ways individuals, cultures, and institutions interact across a worldwide landscape. Internationalizing history does not neglect traditional national boundaries, but endeavors to push these frameworks in creative, diverse, and useful ways.

This initiative draws its inspiration from the many distinguished faculty who made the "Wisconsin Idea" synonymous with ground-breaking historical scholarship and teaching. The list of our role models includes: Fred Harvey Harrington, Merle Curti, Philip Curtin, William Appleman Williams, Jan Vansina, Gerda Lerner, Stanley Kutler, George Mosse, and - perhaps most influential of all - Harvey Goldberg.  Through his writings, lectures, and personal interactions Harvey taught many of us to question the assumed frames of historical reference. Harvey also made the study of the past relevant - sometimes urgently relevant - for contemporary political and social activism. Our initiative for internationalizing history hopes to carry this legacy forward, offering new frames of reference for historical analysis and new perspectives on current debates.

In the spring of 2003 the history department organized three public seminars to generate discussion along these lines. The first seminar, led by our own Professor Steve Stem, met on 11 April 2003. After some brief opening remarks, faculty and graduate students discussed a series of articles offering different approaches, to internationalizing history. The second seminar, led by Professor Dipesh Chakrabarty of the University of Chicago, met on 2 May 2003. This discussion focused on how historians can recapture the voices of "subaltern" peasants and other frequently neglected groups as we internationalize our frame of vision. The third and final spring 2003 seminar, led by Professor John Lewis Gaddis of Yale University, met on 12 May 2003. This meeting sparked a lively and fruitful debate about how historians can integrate the perspectives of both the "First World" and the "Third World" into a broader understanding of the Cold War.

In the  2003-2004 academic year, we hosted four more "internationalizing history" seminars.  On 23 October 2003, Thomas Bender of New York University led us in an examination of "Empire as a Way of Life."  We discussed the tradition of exceptionalism in American history and suggested ways of linking narratives of American history to a broader world historical context.  On 25 February 2004 John McNeill, who was recently named Cinco Hermanos Chair in Environmental and International History at Georgetown University, led us in a discussion of international environmental history.   In his talk, Professor McNeill suggested that national borders are particularly limiting for environmental history, because environmental borders and national borders rarely coincide.  Professor Catherine Ceniza Choy opened an energetic seminar on 31 March 2004 with a presentation entitled "Race, Gender, and Migration in Transnational History."  In the discussion that followed, we considered the ways in which immigration history can enrich our understanding of national histories by exploring the influences of both sender and receiver countries.  We capped off this year's seminar series on 28 April 2004 with a discussion of Cuba's engagement with African nations during the 1960s and 1970s, led by Professor Piero Gleijeses of Johns Hopkins University.

These seminars were successful on many levels. They drew large and diverse groups of faculty and students. They inspired conversations that continued in many informal settings long after the official meetings adjourned. Most important, they drew serious interest to the task of internationalizing our work. With strong faculty and student support, the history department is in the process of planning a series of additional seminars. These seminars will culminate with a conference of scholars from around the world, hosted by the history department, in the fall of 2005.Discussions about internationalizing the study of history have also contributed to new initiatives within our department's undergraduate and graduate curriculum. Professor Jeremi Suri offered a graduate seminar on international history in the spring of 2003 that brought students and faculty together from various area specialties to address topics like the history of imperialism, slavery, capitalism, nationalism, and social protest. Other members of the faculty are planning new collaborative undergraduate and graduate courses that internationalize our teaching.

During the last century the history department at the University of Wisconsin has consistently served as a worldwide leader for innovative research and teaching. Our new initiative to internationalize the study and teaching of history promises to continue and update this distinguished tradition for years to come.

For more detailed information on this initiative keep your eye on our web site.  You may also contact Professors Alfred McCoy awmccoy@wisc.edu and Jeremi Suri suri@wisc.edu directly.

Bibliographies and Suggested Readings for Internationalizing History Seminars

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• Steve Stern Seminar
• Dipesh Chakrabarty Seminar
• John Gaddis Seminar
• Thomas Bender Seminar
• John McNeill Seminar
• Piero Gleijese

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