Congratulations to Dr. Abigail Meert, a 2019 PhD graduate in African history, on winning a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Meert received a summer stipend for her project “Suffering, Struggle, and the Politics of Legitimacy in Uganda, 1958–1996.” She will conduct archival research in Uganda and the United Kingdom along with semi-structured follow-up interviews with previous informants. The expected outcome of the research is an academic article as part of her book project on the Ugandan Civil War from 1981–1986. Meert is Assistant Professor of History at Texas A&M International University.
Category / Awards
Emory History Graduate Programs Highly Ranked by U.S. News’ 2022 Guide
The U.S. News & World Report recently released its 2022 edition of their “America’s Best Graduate Schools” guide. Numerous programs in the Laney Graduate School were ranked highly, including the History graduate program, which sits at 26th on the “Best History Programs” general list. The African History and Latin American History programs ranked seventh and tenth, respectively, among top programs focused on those specific regions. Other ranked Laney programs include: African-American literature (4th), American politics (18th), British literature (16th), comparative politics (20th), English (26th), international politics (18th), political methodology (14th), and political science (19th). Read more about the ranking of programs throughout the Emory campus here: “Emory’s graduate, professional schools ranked among best by U.S. News.”
Celebrating Senior Prize Winners for 2020-’21
The Undergraduate Committee recently announced the winners of senior prizes for 2020-’21. Congratulations to the recipients, listed below:
- George P. Cuttino Prize for the best record in European History: Jesse Steinman
- James Z. Rabun Prize for the best record in American History: Max Rotenberg & Melanie Dunn
- The Latin America & Non-Western World Prize for best record in Latin America & Non-Western World History: Jacob DeFazio
- Matthew A. Carter Citizen-Scholar Award: Ciara Murphy
These awards will be presented at the History Department’s virtual Senior Celebration on Wednesday, May 5, 2-3p (Zoom details to come). Browse past winners of the senior prizes here.
Anderson Named AAPSS’s 2021 W. E. B. DuBois Fellow
Congratulations to Dr. Carol Anderson on being one of five distinguished scholars inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS). The honor recognizes the contributions of university-based scholars and public servants who advance science and deepen public understanding of human behavior and social dynamics. There are 145 AAPSS fellows in total. Anderson, who was named the AAPSS’s 2021 W.E.B. DuBois Fellow, is also Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies and Associated Faculty in the History Department. Read more about the award via the AAPSS press release.
Yaza Sarieh (‘18Ox, ‘20C) Wins 2020-21 Henry Luce Foundation Fellowship
Congratulations to recently graduated History major Yaza Sarieh (‘18Ox ‘20C) on receiving the Henry Luce Foundation Fellowship for 2021-2022. Yaza was also the recipient of the History Department’s Matthew A. Carter Award, given annually to a graduating student who exemplifies high academic achievement and good works in the community. Sarieh is one of only a dozen Emory students to win this prestigious fellowship in the university’s history. Read the Luce Foundation’s profile of Sarieh below, along with the same from the Emory News Center: “Two recent Emory graduates selected for prestigious Luce Scholars Program.” Also, learn about the other Luce fellowship winners from this past year here.
“Yazmina Sarieh graduated from Emory University in May 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in History and Arabic. Born and raised in a small immigrant community outside of Nashville, Tennessee, Yazmina has always had a passion for service, social justice and diversity. At Emory, she co-directed Behind the Glass, an organization connecting students with undocumented detainees who were being held in a nearby detention center. She led initiatives at Georgia Organics, a food justice organization, managing a project that mapped demographics, health disparities and nutritional assets in order to alleviate food insecurity among schoolchildren. She has volunteered with the International Rescue Committee to support the integration of newly arrived refugees from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo and Honduras. While interning at the Carter Center, she worked on large-scale conflict resolution with international actors regarding the Syrian Civil War, specifically advocating for the rights of internally displaced populations. As a Gilman Scholar at al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco and the Sultan Qaboos University in Manah, Oman, Yazmina connected with people around the globe, engaging in cross cultural dialogue and integrating into diverse communities. She was named a Phi Beta Kappa scholar upon graduation, and received the Matthew A. Carter Citizens Award from the Emory History Department, given to one student who best exemplifies academic achievement and good works in the community. Yazmina is motivated to work in migrant rights and advocacy, hoping to create more efficient policy, programming and infrastructure that will enhance economic growth, social inclusion and political stability among marginalized communities. During her free time, Yazmina loves to preserve her Palestinian heritage through embroidery, reading ethnographies and caring for her plants.“
Strocchia’s ‘Forgotten Healers’ Awarded Gordan Prize for Best Book in Renaissance Studies
Congratulations to Dr. Sharon Strocchia, Professor of History, whose book Forgotten Healers: Women and the Pursuit of Health in Late Renaissance Italy (Harvard UP, 2020) was awarded the 2021 Phyllis Goodhart Gordan Book Prize. The prize is given annually by the Renaissance Society of America to the best book in Renaissance studies. Forgotten Healers was also awarded the Marraro Prize by the Society for Italian Historical Studies. Browse past winners of the Phyllis Goodhart Gordan Book Prize, along with other awards given by the Renaissance Society of America, here.
Smith’s ‘Talking Therapy’ Wins American Journal of Nursing Book Award
Dr. Kylie M. Smith has won the 2020 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award in History and Public Policy for her work Talking Therapy: Knowledge and Power in American Psychiatric Nursing (Rutgers UP, 2020). Smith is Associate Professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Associated Faculty in the History Department. Talking Therapy previously won the 2020 Lavinia L. Dock Award from the American Association for the History of Nursing. Read more about the work below and at the Rutgers UP website.
‘Emory Report’ Highlights Recent Honors Won by Eckert and Strocchia
The Emory News Center recently featured honors won by two History Department faculty members. The article highlights Associate Professor Astrid M. Eckert‘s West Germany and the Iron Curtain: Economy, Culture & Environment in the Borderlands (Oxford UP, 2019), which has won awards from the Central European History Society, the German Studies Association, and the European History Section of the Southern Historical Association. In addition, the Emory Report highlights Professor Sharon Strocchia‘s Forgotten Healers: Women and the Pursuit of Health in Late Renaissance Italy, which was awarded the Marraro Prize by the Society for Italian Historical Studies. Read about other faculty and staff awards from across the Emory campus: “Acclaim: Recent honors for Emory faculty and staff.”
Eckert’s ‘West Germany and the Iron Curtain’ Wins Hans Rosenberg Book Prize
Congratulations to Dr. Astrid M. Eckert, whose book West Germany and the Iron Curtain: Environment, Economy, and Culture in the Borderlands (Oxford, 2019) has won the 2019 Hans Rosenberg Book Prize of the Central European History Society. The prize is awarded to the best book in the field published by a North American resident in 2019. The committee’s appreciation for the book begins with the following praise: “Like a landscape, this book opens the eye and expands the horizon with every chapter, offering new vantage points, unexpected turns, and hidden depths.” The Rosenberg Prize is the third awarded to Eckert’s West Germany and the Iron Curtain, following the 2020 DAAD/GSA Book Prize and the 2020 Smith Award by the European History Section of the Southern Historical Association.
Graduate Student Alexander Compton Wins Article Prize from Southern Historical Association
Congratulations to graduate student Alexander Compton, whose second-year research paper “Decolonize Your Minds! Audre Lorde, Archival Activism, and the Transnational Origins of Black European Consciousness” won the John L. Snell Memorial Prize of the European History Section of the Southern Historical Association. The Snell Prize is given annually to the graduate student who submits the best seminar research paper in European history, written within the past year. Compton’s paper historicizes the processes that led to the rise of Black German and Black European consciousness in the 1980s, particularly the transnational networks forged through the composition, publication, and translation of the seminal Black German feminist anthology Farbe bekennen (Showing Our Colors). The paper was mentored by Prof. Eckert and Prof. Vick.