Joseph Crespino, Jimmy Carter Professor of American and Southern History, recently appeared on Georgia Public Broadcasting’s show Political Rewind. Crespino draws historical parallels and offers context for other lively U.S. presidential races throughout the twentieth century. Listen to the broadcast,”Donald Trump, George Wallace and the Ghost of Contested Conventions Past,” here.
Category / Faculty
Dr. Leslie M. Harris Offers Historical Insight at White House Screening of “Underground”
Dr. Leslie M. Harris, Associate Professor in the Department of History, recently lead off a panel discussion at the White House related the release of a new television drama titled “Underground.” The WGN America series tracks the story of the Underground Railroad and premiers this week. Harris’ scholarship, including her first book In the Shadow of Slavery, has helped to reshape prevailing conceptions the history of slavery in the United States, including its manifestation in the North and the importance of urban centers. Read the full story about Harris’ participation in the panel discussion here.
Joseph Crespino Discusses Jimmy Carter’s Legacy on Georgia Public Broadcasting
Joseph Crespino recently contributed to “A Millennial Look at Jimmy Carter,” a piece about changing perceptions of the former president and his legacy over time. Authored by Sam Whitehead for Georgia Public Broadcasting, the story includes commentary by Crespino, Julian Zelizer of Princeton, and Steve Hochman of the Carter Center. Read/listed to the full story here.
“We remember Carter as a one term president, but his presidency had significant achievements,” said Joseph Crespino, who teaches history at Emory University. “The re-negotiation of this historic treaty with Panama, and issues over the Panama Canal was a major achievement,” said Crespino. “So too with Camp David, of course. Who has done more to bring peace to the Middle East when you think about a legacy of American presidents over the last 50 years?”
Andrade’s ‘The Gunpowder Age’ Reviewed in The Wall Street Journal
Tonio Andrade‘s The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History (Princeton 2016) was reviewed by Jeffrey Wasserstrom in The Wall Street Journal on January 29, 2016. The article, available here, is titled “Flying Rats and Festive Fireworks.” Wasserstrom’s appreciative review describes the The Gunpowder Age as marking “a major contribution to a significant area of academic concern while opening the eyes of non-specialists.”
The description of The Gunpowder Age from Princeton University Press follows:
| The Chinese invented gunpowder and began exploring its military uses as early as the 900s, four centuries before the technology passed to the West. But by the early 1800s, China had fallen so far behind the West in gunpowder warfare that it was easily defeated by Britain in the Opium War of 1839–42. What happened? In The Gunpowder Age, Tonio Andrade offers a compelling new answer, opening a fresh perspective on a key question of world history: why did the countries of western Europe surge to global importance starting in the 1500s while China slipped behind?
Historians have long argued that gunpowder weapons helped Europeans establish global hegemony. Yet the inhabitants of what is today China not only invented guns and bombs but also, as Andrade shows, continued to innovate in gunpowder technology through the early 1700s—much longer than previously thought. Why, then, did China become so vulnerable? Andrade argues that one significant reason is that it was out of practice fighting wars, having enjoyed nearly a century of relative peace, since 1760. Indeed, he demonstrates that China—like Europe—was a powerful military innovator, particularly during times of great warfare, such as the violent century starting after the Opium War, when the Chinese once again quickly modernized their forces. Today, China is simply returning to its old position as one of the world’s great military powers. By showing that China’s military dynamism was deeper, longer lasting, and more quickly recovered than previously understood, The Gunpowder Age challenges long-standing explanations of the so-called Great Divergence between the West and Asia. |
Emory History Department at the AHA
The American Historical Association hosted its annual meeting in Atlanta from Thursday, January 7 through Sunday, January 10. 35 faculty members and graduate students associated with Emory’s History Department participated in the event as panel chairs, presenters, and commentators. The full list of panels involving Emory History Department faculty and students can be found here.
Brian Vick Wins Hans Rosenberg Prize from the Central European History Society
Brian Vick, Associate Professor of History, recently won the Hans Rosenberg Book Prize from the Central European History Society. The award honors the best book in central European history published in English by permanent residents of North America. Vick received the award for The Congress of Vienna: Power and Politics after Napoleon (Harvard UP, 2014). Below is Prof. Vick’s description of the project.
“My most recent research explores questions of European culture and political culture at the Congress of Vienna, including the political engagement of women, the development of liberal and conservative politics, and the role of religious revival. This work also sounds the cultural and political meanings of the celebratory spectacle and display surrounding Napoleon’s defeat and the return of peace at the close of the wars against Napoleon, and it spotlights such less-studied but important aspects of Congress diplomacy as the struggles over Jewish rights in Germany, abolition of the African slave trade, and the problem of the Barbary corsairs…Along with related articles and essays, this work reassesses the nature and direction of European culture and political culture in their period of transition between the revolutionary era and the nineteenth century.”
Political Drama in Brazil: Jeffrey Lesser in ‘Time’ Magazine
Dr. Jeffrey Lesser, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of History, was recently quoted in Time magazine. Lesser offers commentary on the current Brazilian political crisis and citizens’ attitudes toward the government. An excerpt from the article, “The Dramatic Power Struggle Behind Impeachment in Brazil,” is below.
Cunha’s decision this week to approve impeachment proceedings against Rousseff, on the grounds that she improperly used state bank funds to cover a budget shortfall, is rooted in the pair’s bitter yet symbiotic fight for survival, one that could take them both down. “Brazilians are angry at Cunha as they think he broke the law to enrich himself,” says Jeffrey Lesser, a professor of Brazilian history at Emory University. “But they are angry at Dilma for allowing this to happen, even if she did not herself steal.”
Carol Anderson on the Racial Past of the University of Missouri
Dr. Carol Anderson, Samuel Candler Dobbs professor and chair of African American Studies here at Emory, recently authored a piece in The Conversation titled “The long and troubled racial past of Mizzou.” Professor Anderson’s article draws on her experience as a professor at the University of Missouri (1996-2008), along with her research and teaching expertise on public policy and the ways that domestic and international policies intersect through the issues of race, justice and equality in the United States.
History Faculty and Students Benefit from New Emory Connections in Brazil
In September Emory University teamed up with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) to sign an agreement of research collaboration. FAPESP is a highly respected public foundation in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with numerous international collaborations. Emory also signed an agreement with Fulbright Brazil that establishes a Fulbright Professorship Award for Brazilian Visiting Scholars at Emory. These initiatives will benefit the already-rich community of scholars in the History Department and elsewhere working on Brazil and Portuguese studies. Read the full story from the Office of the Provost here.
Daniel LaChance Publishes News Analysis in ‘The Conversation’
Assistant Professor of History Daniel LaChance published a news analysis in The Conversation on why credible claims of redemption by condemned inmates fail to save them from execution. LaChance’s article examines the recent execution of Kelly Gissendaner in Georgia as a jumping off point for this question. Read the full story.
