The Department of History is excited to welcome three new faculty members – Simon Balto, Marcella Hayes, and Matt Villeneuve! Simon Balto joins us as a historian of the twentieth-century United States, with a particular focus and expertise in African American history. Professor Balto’s first book, Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black …
Professor Pablo Gómez has a new book published this week, titled The Gray Zones of Medicine: Healers and History in Latin America (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021). The book was co-edited by Diego Armus, a professor of Latin American history at Swarthmore College, and features contributions from scholars such as UW–Madison historian James Sweet. “Health practitioners working …
Congratulations to alumna Geneviève Dorais (Ph.D. 2014) on the publication of her new book, Journey to Indo-América: APRA and the Transnational Politics of Exile, Persecution, and Solidarity, 1918–1945 (Cambridge University Press, 2021). “The American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) was a Peruvian political party that played an important role in the development of the Latin American left during the first half of …
Congratulations to alumnus John Gripentrog (Ph.D. 2006) on the publication of his new book, Prelude to Pearl Harbor: Ideology and Culture in US-Japan Relations, 1919-1941 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021). “Reconsidering the origins of World War II in Asia and the Pacific, this book focuses on the diplomatic and cultural interactions between the United States and …
The Department of History is sad to note the passing of alumnus and environmental activist Adam Kolton. Mr. Kolton graduated from UW–Madison with a bachelor’s degree in history and journalism in 1990, and went on to become a Washington-based environmental lobbyist and legislative activist. His notable work includes a quarter-century crusade against industrial development of …
Professor Mou Banerjee has been interviewed by Channel 3000 News about the current situation happening in Afghanistan. Banerjee lends a historical perspective to the Taliban’s role in Afghanistan, discusses the role of Sharia law, and offers some clarification on common misconceptions surrounding the relationship between the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. Watch the full interview at …
Congratulations to Professor Patrick Iber on receiving a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. Iber is one of 213 NEH grant recipients nationwide, and his $60,000 fellowship (funded through the Ford Foundation) will last four years. This fellowship will allow Iber to work on writing his next manuscript, The Ford Foundation, Social Science, and …
The George Mosse Program in History has recently featured on their blog an oral history interview with Jane Williams, the former graduate admissions coordinator for our Department of History. Jane started the position in 1988 and retired in 2014. Her interview with John Tortorice, conducted in May of 2014, shows a unique perspective on the …
In a new video, Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher provides an update on the work of the UW–Madison Public History Project. The Project is a “multi-year effort to uncover and give voice to those who experienced, challenged, and overcame prejudice on campus” and grew out of the report from a campus study group co-chaired by Professor Stephen …
Congratulations to History major and recent graduate Alyssa Hamrick on receiving the $500 honorable mention for the 2021 Iwanter Prize for Undergraduate Research from the UW–Madison Center for the Humanities! Hamrick received the honorable mention for her senior thesis, advised by Professor Kathryn Ciancia and titled “From Katyn to ‘Katynism’: The U.S. Congressional Investigation of …