Samuel Meyerson
Position title: TA: History 277 with Professor James Sweet
Email: semeyerson@wisc.edu
Address:
Advisor: Neil Kodesh
Biography
I am a social and political historian of East Africa with interests in identity, memory, and the rise of the colonial and postcolonial state. My research focuses on the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda, combining extensive oral history fieldwork with archival analysis. My M.A. thesis at Makerere University examined the historical relationship between the Jie, a group of semi-nomadic pastoralists, and the neighboring Ethur, a minority group of sedentary farmers, while my doctoral project traces how the Jie and other Ateker-speaking pastoralists in northeastern Uganda have coexisted and competed with the state since the colonial period.
Education
M.A., Makerere University
B.A., Kenyon College
Field
- African History
MA Title
- “Historical Memory, Identity and Herder-Farmer Relations in Northeastern Uganda: The Case of the Jie and Ethur”
Working Dissertation Title
- “From the Kraals to the Markets: A Pastoral World Beyond the State in East Africa, 1911-2021”
Selected Publications
- Peer-Reviewed Publications:
- Meyerson, Sam. “‘A Reason Not to Belong’: Political Decentralization, Intercommunal Relations, and Changing Identities in Northeastern Uganda.” African Studies Review, FirstView (2022), 1-23. Accessible at: https://www.doi.org/10.1017/asr.2022.128.
- Popular Publications:
- Meyerson, Sam. “‘They’ve Never Forgotten’: Uganda’s Paramilitary Problem.” African Arguments. September 3, 2020. Accessible at: https://africanarguments.org/2020/09/03/theyve-never-forgotten-ugandas-paramilitary-problem/.
- Meyerson, Sam. “Although It’s Dangerous, We Need to Survive: Burundian refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda are enacting grassroots responses to COVID-19.” Africa is a Country. August 5, 2020. Accessible at: https://africasacountry.com/2020/08/although-its-dangerous-we-need-to-survive.
Selected Awards
- Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellowship, 2021
- Social Science Research Council IDRF Fellowship, 2021
- Foreign Languages and Area Studies Fellowship, 2020 (Acholi and Ngakarimojong languages)
- Foreign Languages and Area Studies Fellowship, 2016 (Swahili language)
Courses Taught as TA
- History 130: Introduction to World History (Fall 2021)
- History Lab (Spring 2023)