Category / Research

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Dr. Dawn Peterson in ‘Slate’ on “Andrew Jackson’s Adopted Indian Son”

Illustration from John Frost's 1860 biography, A Pictorial History of Andrew Jackson.

Illustration from John Frost’s 1860 biography, A Pictorial History of Andrew Jackson – Internet Archive 

Professor Dawn Peterson was recently interviewed for a piece in Slate by Rebecca Onion. Prompted by discussions following the decision to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, the article hones in on one piece of Jackson’s life frequently cited by those who defend his legacy: his adoption of a infant Creek boy in 1813. Peterson offers historical context for the adoption of Lyncoya (the name given by Jackson to the orphaned boy) and the practice in southern society more broadly. These insights derive from Peterson’s recent research and especially her forthcoming book Indians in the National Family: Adoption and the Politics of Antebellum Expansion (Harvard University Press in 2017). Read an excerpt from the piece below and check out the full article here.

Though they adopted native children, slaveholders like Jackson imagined “they were assimilating Native people and their lands into the confines of the United States. They believed that what they were doing was a benevolent act, but also understood it as a form of cultural genocide.” 

 

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Graduating History Major Takuya Maeda Profiled for Innovative Scholarship

In May of 2016 senior Takuya Maeda will graduate with highest honors in history. Maeda was recently profiled for his research accomplishments at Emory, most especially his work on the use of funds from the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 “set aside for the Japanese-American community to develop educational efforts and awareness about internment” during World War II. Maeda received a grant from the Scholarly Inquiry and Research at Emory (SIRE) program to conduct this research, which his mentor Professor Daniel LaChance described as “groundbreaking.” Maeda plans to continue and expand this project through graduate work in history. Read the full profile on Takuya here.

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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.

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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.
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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.

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Experimental Interdisciplinary Faculty Fellowship Supports Innovative Research Co-Led by Jeffrey Lesser

The Emory News Center recently published a profile of a research project co-led by Jeffrey Lesser, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor History. Lesser and research partner Uriel Kitron, Goodrich C. White Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences, are examining “how the dynamics of human migration, disease transmission and access to health care have impacted a vibrant immigrant neighborhood in São Paulo, Brazil — one of the world’s largest megalopolises.” Check out the full article here.

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When Sugarcane Meets Oil: Tom Rogers’ Summer Research

Tom Rogers, Associate Professor of Modern Latin American History, spent the summer of 2015 conducting research in Southeastern Brazil. Rogers’ inquiry spanned from research in secret police and labor court archives to oral histories with local union leaders. The project examines agricultural transformation in late-twentieth-century Brazil with a particular focus on the nation’s 1975 National Alcohol Program that encouraged ethanol production from sugarcane. The Office of the Provost recently profiled Rogers’ research and teaching, which typify Emory’s teacher-scholar model and “focused international activity in Emory’s global strategies.” The article can be read in full here or by clicking on the image below.

rogers

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Slave Voyages, through a Digital Lens: Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database Receives Recognition and Support

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade database, accessible at slavevoyages.com, received a Digital Humanities Implementation grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) this year. The international project is lead by Robert W. Woodruff Professor of History Emeritus David Eltis, who teamed up with co-editors at the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship to enhance the website through funds provided by the NEH. The Voyages project was recently featured on the news page for the Office of the Provost at Emory. You can read the full article here or by clicking on the image below.

eltis

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Alumni and Friends: Help Fund Student Research

The Emory College Department of History places student research at the heart of its mission. The department’s approach to learning—including quantitative analysis, close textual reading, work with primary materials, excellence in communication, and mastery of research methods—prepares students to do their own research on the cutting edge of the discipline. With a faculty distinguished for its expertise, Emory’s Department of History does more than ensure that undergraduates know about history. The department’s emphasis on independent research fosters the skills and intellectual discipline students need to thrive in any number of professions.

Through research, Emory students gain strong analytical abilities that help them in all aspects of their professional lives: in government work and with nongovernmental organizations, in medicine and other health professions, and in law and business.

Alumni and friends who want to champion historical understanding, educational excellence, or student success after graduation will find meaningful investment opportunities in undergraduate research at the Department of History.

Learn more here: Fund Student Research