Professor Gregg Mitman, a scholar of medical history and environmental studies, is featured today in an interview with the College of Letters & Science discussing what we can learn from global epidemics in a historical lens. Professor Mitman has studied the historical path of infectious disease outbreaks across centuries and the globe, and has released …
On April 7th, Professor Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen will be honored by the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award! Professor Ratner-Rosenhagen was one of thirteen faculty members selected to receive an award this year. A university tradition since 1953, these awards are given out annually to recognize some of the university’s finest educators. At …
Professor Paige Glotzer, a scholar of urban history and political economy, has been selected as the Urban History Association’s member of the week! She is profiled on The Metropole, the official blog of the Urban History Association, here: https://themetropole.blog/2020/02/18/member-of-the-week-paige-glotzer/. Asked about her advice for young scholars who are preparing for a career related to urban history …
In keeping with the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, the Department recently created the Madison History Club, which brings together people who are curious about the past and eager to discuss history with others. The Madison History Club offers public lectures, book discussions, roundtables, film screenings, and digital programming, sharing the knowledge and expertise of …
Professor Elizabeth Hennessy has written an article for the Washington Post titled “We’re trying to keep the Galapagos pristine. That might destroy them.” The piece talks about recent efforts to preserve biodiversity in the Galapagos, framing it through a lens of evolutionary history and what exactly constitutes the “pristine.” Of the Galapagos, Hennessy says, “When we …
Alumnus Gregory Jones-Katz (Ph.D. 2016), has published an article in the journal Rethinking History. The article rereads French philosopher Jacques Derrida’s 1988 Critical Inquiry essay on literary critic and literary theorist Paul de Man’s collaborationist articles and his postwar silence. During his time at UW–Madison, Jones-Katz was advised by Professor Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, who specializes in U.S. intellectual …
Alumna Karen Spierling (Ph.D. 2001), an Associate Professor of History at Denison University, has written a piece for the Chronicle of Higher Education titled “The Humanities Must Go on the Offensive.” In the article, Spierling presents an argument that “there is no functioning, stable, globalized world of the future without the humanities.” Spierling currently teaches …
David Sorkin, a historian of Jewish and European history, has published a new book titled Jewish Emancipation: A History Across Five Centuries (Princeton University Press, 2019). Sorkin is a Professor Emeritus of our department and currently the Lucy G. Moses Professor of Modern Jewish History at Yale University. He specializes in the intersection of Jewish …
This past Sunday, December 8th, Professor Elizabeth Lapina was interviewed on Wisconsin Public Radio for a segment titled “Knightly Culture and the Crusades.” The host was Norman Gilliland, who co-produces the weekly WPR program “University of the Air.” Lapina delved into the questions about how the crusades began, what the crusaders were trying to achieve, …
Danielle Wendricks, a History major also studying Community and Nonprofit Leadership and Educational Policy at UW–Madison, took Horticulture 120 this semester with her grandparents, who audited the class as part of UW’s Senior Guest Auditor Program. The Senior Guest Auditor program allows Wisconsin residents 60 years of age and older to audit classes at the …