Congratulations to alumnus David Blight (Ph.D. 1985), who has just won the Pulitzer Prize in History! Blight, Professor of History at Yale, was recognized for his most recent book, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (Simon & Schuster, 2018). According to the Pulitzer Prize website, this book is “a breathtaking history that demonstrates the scope of Frederick Douglass’ …
History alumnus Ryan Quintana (Ph.D. 2010) was recently featured in an episode of the podcast Ben Franklin’s World! In the episode, he discusses the creation and development of early republic South Carolina through concepts of “space,” the ways in which Black Carolinians helped secure South Carolina’s independence, and how Black Carolinians helped build South Carolina’s …
Recently retired, Professor Emeritus John Sharpless was featured in an article from the Isthmus, discussing his time teaching at UW–Madison. “’I think it’s more about how I treated students generally,’ says Sharpless, 73, who gave his final lecture on December 11, 2018. ‘I treated them as adults whose opinions should be respected and I was always …
The Department of History will mourn the loss of Turkish historian and Professor Emeritus Kemal Karpat. Professor Karpat passed away on February 20th, 2019, at the age of 96. Professor Karpat taught in our department for 36 years, from 1967 until his retirement in 2003. His research pioneered the study of late Ottoman history, and …
History alumnus John Rowe (B.S. 1967 and J.D. 1970) was featured last month in Sift & Winnow, the e-newsletter of the College of Letters & Science at UW–Madison. The article was titled “Knowledge is Power,” and traced Rowe’s success as a CEO in major companies such as Central Maine Power Company, New England Electric System, …
Norman K. Risjord, age 87, died on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. Norman was born in Manitowoc on Nov. 25, 1931, and grew up in Kansas City. He attended the College of William and Mary, 1949 to 1953, was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society in his junior year, and was a three-year letterman on …
Professor Emeritus William J. Courtenay has published a new book on religious life at the medieval University of Paris. The book is titled Rituals for the Dead: Religion and Community in the Medieval University of Paris (University of Notre Dame Press, 2018). According to John Van Engen, Andrew V. Tackes Professor Emeritus of Medieval History …
Professor Patrick Iber had an op-ed published in the New York Times yesterday, on the subject of U.S.-Venezuelan relations. Professor Iber is a historian of 20th century Latin America and U.S. foreign relations at UW–Madison. For the full article, click here.
Two of our History majors, Piper Brown-Kingsley and Claire Hitter, have been George L. Mosse Program Undergraduate Interns for the past several months, working at Wisconsin Historical Society and listening to oral history interviews from Wisconsin’s Jewish Community. They’ve both released blog posts with interesting insights from their research and experience. Read more about their work. Piper …
Professor Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen has an article published today in the Washington Post, titled “The shutdown is Trump’s ultimate attack on American intellectual life.” Professor Ratner-Rosenhagen specializes in U.S. intellectual history at UW–Madison. For the full article, click the link here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/01/24/shutdown-is-trumps-ultimate-attack-intellectuals/?utm_term=.e854638953ef