Category / Undergraduate Students

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Emory History Department Updates in the Context of COVID-19

Emory University will extend spring break until March 22, after which the institution will transition to remote learning for graduate and undergraduate classes. Visit Emory’s COVID-19 page for details about these changes, and please contact History Department faculty and staff via email with individual questions or concerns. History Department staff and faculty will work remotely for the next several weeks.

All History Department seminars, workshops, and book events have been canceled for the remainder of the semester, including the History Department Workshop scheduled for this Friday, March 20, featuring Dr. Thomas D. Rogers and Dr. Jeffrey T. Manuel, and the celebration of Dr. Sharon Strocchia’s recently-published monograph, Forgotten Healers: Women and the Pursuit of Health in Late Renaissance Italy, slated for next week. In lieu of the in-person events featuring these works, check out two recent posts about them:

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History Major Emily Sharp To Present Honors Thesis at Hopkins’ Inaugural Undergraduate Research Symposium

Undergraduate student Emily Sharp, who is a double major in history and English, will present her history honors thesis at the inaugural Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium at Johns Hopkins University in April. Her thesis is titled, “Roy Cohn’s America: Conservatism, Sexual Politics, and Memory in 21st Century America.”

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Dr. Judith A. Miller and Student Natalia Thomas Describe “Fake News” Course on GPB’s ‘On Second Thought’

Dr. Judith A. Miller and first-year student Natalia Thomas were recently interviewed on the Georgia Public Broadcasting show On Second Thought about Miller’s first-year seminar “Fake News.” Speaking to host Virginia Prescott, Miller describes how, as a historian of 18th and 19th century France, she ended up teaching a course with a substantial focus on contemporary U.S. history. Thomas, a first-year student in the course, describes the impact “Fake News” has already had on students: “‘I used to just take what I read at face value,” she explained. “I’ve learned to be more cautious about what I’m consuming, and make sure to check multiple news sources and see what they’re saying about certain issues.”‘ Read the article summary of the conversation and listen to the full interview: “Emory University’s ‘Fake News’ Course Helps Students Tease Fact From Fiction.”

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Judith A. Miller and Students Investigate “Fake News” in First Year Seminar

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Student Jeffrey Gao and associate professor of history Judith Miller. From Emory Photo/Video. 

Associate Professor Judith A. Miller is teaching a first-year seminar this spring titled “Fake News.” The Emory News Center’s Maureen McGavin describes the class as investigating “examples of fake news, conspiracy theories, hoaxes, biased stories and wrongful convictions, in the U.S. and in other countries, as well as discussions of how the falsehoods took hold and were eventually debunked.” Read the Emory News Center’s profile of the course, “‘Fake News’ class helps students learn to research and identify false information,” in addition to the full course description below.

“Fake news, hoaxes, “truthiness,” lies, spin rooms, bots, leaks, deniers, and propaganda: These phenomena have shaken the world in the recent years. Fake news has become important part of our daily political culture, whether in the United States or elsewhere around the globe. Elections and public policy have been influenced by them. Our course will delve into several historical cases of hoaxes, history “deniers,” and media exploitation before turning to the recent past and even daily events in the US and elsewhere. What dynamics do those examples reveal that can illuminate the contemporary world? Then we will explore the place of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as darker parts of the web, in purveying both accurate and false information. For instance, how do “fake news” authors use language, music, and images to make their ideas more persuasive? How has technology increased the power of “fake news”? Why have certain kinds of societies been more or less vulnerable to propaganda? How have courts understood the principles of “free expression,” “burden of proof,” and a “free press”? How have politicians and journalists contributed to and struggled with the recent intensifying “fake news” phenomenon? We will work closely with Woodruff librarians as we evaluate evidence: How do historians weigh claims and sources? Are there even clear red flags in our media-saturated world? How can historical examples help us sort out these questions? Each student will develop a case study of an incident–understood broadly, anything from political propaganda anywhere in the world, to allegations of wrongful conviction or sexual assault, to history deniers, as just a few examples–that takes up these issues.”

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Martin Pimentel, Senior History Major and Fox Fellow, Posts on Research About Detroit’s Rumor Control Center

Martin Pimentel, a senior double-majoring in history and political science, recently published a blog post for the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. Pimentel is a Fox Center Undergraduate Humanities SIRE Fellow. He is completing his honors thesis, which examines the history of Detroit’s rumor control center in the 1960s. Read his recent post here: “Detrioters: The Rise and Fall of the Detroit Rumor Control Center, 1967-1970.”

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Undergraduate Fox Center Fellow and History Major Daniel Thomas Publishes Blog Post About Honors Thesis

Daniel Thomas, a senior history and international studies double major, recently published a blog post about his honors thesis for Emory’s Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. Thomas researches the history of Russian separatism in the Donbas, a region in Eastern Ukraine. He completed fieldwork for his thesis in the summer of 2019 in Kyiv, Ukraine, with support from the History Department’s George P. Cuttino Scholarship for Independent Study Abroad. Thomas is currently an undergraduate fellow at the Fox Center and works with Dr. Matthew Payne. Read his post here: “Neighbors against Neighbors: Historical roots of the Donbas War, 1985-2014.”

 

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History Majors Coe and Fuller Win 2019 Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Awards

Annually Emory’s Woodruff Library recognizes outstanding research among undergraduates in the Emory College with the Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Awards. Eligible students must use the library’s collections and research resources in their original papers, digital projects, or posters and show evidence of critical analysis in their research skills.

Congratulations to two history majors who won this award for 2019. Ellie Coe (class of 2022), is a history and Russian & East European studies double major. She won for her project, “The Soldier’s Queue in the Eighteenth Century.” Hannah Fuller (class of 2020) is a history major and was recognized for her project, “Jemima Wilkinson: The Genderless Feminist of the Enlightenment.” Both Coe and Miller completed their research under the supervision of Dr. Judith A. Miller, Associate Professor of History.

Read more about the Atwood Awards, including former history students who have won the prize, here: The Elizabeth Long Atwood Undergraduate Research Award.

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Join us for First ‘History Pathways’ Event: “Getting the Most Out of Your Emory History Major”

Join us for our first History Pathways event, “Getting the Most Out of Your Emory History Major,” on Wednesday, October 2, from 12:30-1:30pm in Bowden Hall 323. The event is open to all students – from first year through seniors – who want to learn more about Emory’s History Department. The event will include pizza and soft drinks, and we will cover the many exciting opportunities we offer for undergraduates, such as Cuttino Fellowships and Clio Paper Prizes. We will also launch our “History Pathways” program, aimed at developing career mentoring and internship programs. If you plan to attend, please respond to the poll here. Reach out to Professor Judith A. Miller (histjam [at] emory [dot] edu) with any questions. 71478852_1343103635864184_8628822273870004224_n.png

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Cherise Thomas, History Department Work Study Student, Wins Gilman International Scholarship

Congratulations to Cherise Thomas, one of the History Department’s work study students, for winning a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. The Gilman scholarship, which is a grant program of the U.S. State Department, will fund Thomas’ summer study abroad in Salamanca, Spain. Thomas is one of only 10 students from Emory to win the Gilman scholarship in 2019.