Category / Undergraduate Students

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Celebrating 2025 Senior Prize Winners

On April 30 the History Department will gather for the annual Senior Celebration to honor history major, joint major, and minor graduates. Five graduating students will receive senior prizes for their exceptional contributions to undergraduate historical inquiry at Emory. The senior prize recipients are:

James Z. Rabun Prize for the Best Record in American History – Matthea Boon

Named for former professor James Z. Rabun, this prize is awarded annually to the graduating senior history major or joint major in Emory College who has achieved the best overall record in American history courses.

The African, Asian, and Latin American History Prize for Best Record in African, Asian, and Latin American History – Rebecca Casel

Established in 2015, this award is given annually to the graduating senior history major or joint major in Emory College who has achieved the best overall record in African, Asian, and Latin American history courses. 

George P. Cuttino Prize for the best record in European History – Ezekiel Jones (Co-recipient)

Established in 1984 to honor Professor George P. Cuttino, this prize is awarded annually to the graduating senior history major or joint major in Emory College who has achieved the most outstanding record in European history courses. 

The Matthew A. Carter Citizen-Scholar Award – Alex Minovici

Established in memory of Matt Carter, who graduated from Emory in May 2000 with High Honors in History, this award is given each year to the graduating history major or joint major in Emory College who exemplifies the qualities that made Matt Carter such an outstanding individual: high academic achievement and good works in the community.

George P. Cuttino Prize for the best record in European History – Samantha Stevens (Co-recipient)

Established in 1984 to honor Professor George P. Cuttino, this prize is awarded annually to the graduating senior history major or joint major in Emory College who has achieved the most outstanding record in European history courses. 

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History Majors to Present at Fox Center’s Undergraduate Honors Fellows’ Colloquium

Six undergraduate honors students from the Emory History Department have spent the past year conducting original research as part of the 2024-25 cohort of Undergraduate Humanities Honors Fellows at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. These fellows will present their work at the upcoming Undergraduate Honors Fellows’ Colloquium. The event will take place in Ackerman Hall, on the third floor of the Michael C. Carlos Museum, on April 9 from 1-4 pm with a reception to follow.

Read the fascinating titles of their presentations below and learn more about their research here.

  • Emilyn Hazelbrook, “Premeditated but Not Guilty: The Rise and Fall of the Battered Woman Legal Defense”
  • Klaire Mason, “From Reform to Repression: Putin’s Third Term and the Making of an Authoritarian State”
  • Alex Minovici, “Sînge și Spaimă: The 1989 Revolution and the Politics of Violence in Socialist and Post-Socialist Romania”
  • Adelaide Rosene, “Shadows of Exclusion: A Sundown Town’s Possessive Legacy in Wisconsin (1895-1970)”
  • Mercedes Sarah, “Keeping ‘Togetherness’: A Me-Wuk Family History of Mothers, Women, and Matriarchs in 20th-Century California”
  • Charlotte Weinstein, “The Sounds of Dissent: Czechoslovak Punk Rock From Communism to Democracy”
by emoryhistorydept

Fields-Black’s ‘COMBEE’ Wins Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black (BA, ’92), Professor and Director of the Dietrich College Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University, has received the 2025 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize for her book COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War (Oxford UP, 2024). COMBEE offers the fullest account to date of Tubman’s Civil War service, including her role in the momentous 1863 raid that led to the freeing of nearly 800 people. The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, which includes an award of $50,000, is given annually to a work that enhances the general public’s understanding of Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War soldier, or the American Civil War era.

Fields-Black received her undergraduate degree in history and English from Emory and her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research specializations include the transnational history of West African rice farmers, peasant farmers in pre-colonial Upper Guinea Coast and enslaved laborers on rice plantations in the antebellum South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry. Indiana UP published her first book, Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora, in 2014. She has also produced compelling work about that past that transcends disciplinary boundaries. She served as executive producer and librettist of “Unburied, Unmourned, Unmarked: Requiem for Rice,” a contemporary classical and multimedia symphonic work and the first symphonic work about slavery on rice plantations.

Read a quote from Dr. Fields-Black about receiving the prize below and find the press release from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History here.

“I am thrilled to receive this award and honored to be the vehicle through which the story of Harriet Tubman’s Civil War service and the Combahee River Raid are told. I came to the history of the Combahee River Raid through my many years of work on rice-growing technology, rice fields, and rice laborers (free and enslaved) on both sides of the Atlantic and my passion for uncovering new sources and methods, which reveal the voices of Africans and people of African descent who did not author written sources. I aspired to tell the history of the Combahee River Raid from the perspectives of the people who participated in it, Harriet Tubman, the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers, and the Combahee freedom seekers who liberated themselves in the raid. This was no small feat since they were all formerly enslaved and the overwhelming majority were illiterate.“

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Alumni Update: Nick Sessums (’24) Publishes Essay in ‘Central Europe Yearbook’

The History Department was pleased to receive an update from Nick Sessums, a 2024 alumnus who graduated with honors. After nine months of drafts, revisions, edits, and reviews, Sessums has just published an essay, titled “Russification and Russianization in Modern Historiography,” in the Central Europe Yearbook.

The essay project began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As a student of history, politics, culture, and international relations, Sessums was captivated both by the historical moment itself and what it said about the world that we live in. Russia’s invasion went against everything that he had been taught about how people and governments were supposed to operate. He had to know why reality did not match his perception of the world.

In the Spring of 2023, he began researching and writing his undergraduate thesis, “Parallel Nations: Ukrainian, Russian, and Imperial Identity in Right-Bank Little Russia” (submitted in April 2024). While he answered many of his original questions in this process, he also began to ask new ones. He started to explore not just the current and historical events themselves, but how the people researching them talk about and interact with them.

Those questions led him to write the essay on Russification and Russianization. He addressed the current moment for Russian and Ukrainian Studies scholarship, particularly for the study of the Ukrainian-Russian borderlands that have faced the brunt of the Russian invasion. His article is also shaped by larger, structural questions regarding disciplinarity, as Slavic Studies in general faces both external and internal challenges in today’s academy. Finally, he highlights the continued role of memory in the field, as the way that we remember historical events often shapes how we study them going forward.

Sessums is especially grateful to his former professors, Dr. Astrid M. Eckert and Dr. Matthew Payne, who told him that his work was good enough for publication and helped him push it to the finish line.

by emoryhistorydept

Four Majors Named to Emory 100 Senior Honorary

Four Emory History Department majors have been named to the Emory 100 Senior Honorary, an award program that recognizes exceptional student leaders in the graduating class. Majors Emilyn Hazelbrook, Klaire Mason, Alexander Moss, and Adelaide Rosene joined the honorees this year. Members of this prestigious group, which is marking its 20th year in 2025, are campus leaders, thought provokers, dynamic athletes, academic mentors, and community influencers. They have made meaningful contributions at Emory and are working to create a lasting impact in communities worldwide. Members of 100 Senior Honorary come from Oxford College, Emory College, Goizueta Business School, and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Past honorees continue to shape Emory’s future by mentoring students, supporting admissions, leading alumni chapters, organizing reunions, and serving on leadership boards. Read more about this program here.

by emoryhistorydept

History Department Offers Rich Slate of Courses for Spring 2025 Semester

Faculty and graduate students in the Emory History Department will teach a rich slate of undergraduate courses in the spring 2025 semester. These include offerings at the 200 and 300 levels, as well as many compelling interdisciplinary courses cross-listed with departments across campus. Browse the offerings below.

200-Level Courses

  • HIST 215/AMST 285-1: History of the American West, Patrick Allitt, TTh 11:30am-12:45pm
  • HIST 221/AFS 221-1: The Making of Modern Africa, Clifton C. Crais, TTh 10am-11:15am
  • HIST 228/AMST 228/ EAS 228 1: Asian American History, Chris Suh, MW 2:30pm-3:45pm
  • HIST 239/AAS 239: History of African Americans Since 1865, Kali Gross, MW 10am-11:15am
  • HIST 247: Napoleon’s Europe, Brian Vick, MW 5:30pm-6:45pm
  • HIST 254/MESAS 254: From Pearls to Petroleum, Roxani Margariti, MW 10am-11:15am
  • HIST 265/MESAS 235: Making of Modern South Asia, Hugo Hansen, MW 4pm-5:15pm
  • HIST 267W/AAS 267W: The Civil Rights Movement, Carol Anderson and Lizette London, MW 4pm-5:15pm
  • HIST 270/JS 270/MESAS 275: Survey of Jewish History, Tamar Menashe, TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm
  • HIST 279W/CHN 279W: Post-Mao? China After 1976, Sarah M. Rodriguez, MW 1pm-2:15pm
  • HIST 285/AMST 285-2: The US and the Cold War, Emilie Cunning, MW 11:30am-12:45pm
  • HIST 285-2/AFS 270-2: Colonial Legacies in Africa, Gerardo Manrique de Lara Ruiz, MW 5:30pm-6:45pm
  • HIST 285-3/AFS 270-3: African Nationalism in the 20th Cent., Rene Odanga, 2:30pm-3:45pm
  • HIST 296-1/ JS 271: Jews & Race in U.S. History, Eric L. Goldstein, MW 10am-11:15am
  • HIST 296-2/REL 270-4/JS 271-2: Holocaust Memory in Europe, Israel, & the US, Alicja Podbielska, TTh 11:30am-12:45pm
  • HIST 200W/MESAS 200W: Middle East: Empires to Nations, Courtney Freer, TTh 11:30am-12:45pm
  • HIST 206W/MESAS 202W: South Asia: Empires to Nations, Ruby Lal, MW 2:30pm-3:45pm
  • HIST 214/AMST 285-3: The American Death Penalty, Daniel LaChance, MW 4pm-5:15pm

300-Level Courses

  • HIST 332/MESAS 332: Gandhi: Non-Violence & Freedom, Scott A Kugle, MW 2:30pm-3:45pm
  • HIST 336/AMST 336/LACS 336: Migrants & Borders in the US, Iliana Rodriguez, TTh 10am-11:15am
  • HIST 338/JS 338: Jews of Eastern Europe, Ellie Schainker, TTh 10am-11:15am
  • HIST 342/AMST 385-1: The Old South, Maria Montalvo, TTh 1pm-2:15pm
  • HIST 343 (Part of Sustainability Minor too): History of Skiing & Snowsports, Judith A. Miller, TTh 5:30pm-6:45pm
  • HIST 347: The Industrial Revolution, Patrick Allitt, TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm
  • HIST 348/AMST 348-1/JS 371 3: Ethnic Experience in America, Jonathan Prude, TTh 5:30pm-6:45pm
  • HIST 363W/LACS 363W-1: Sugar and Rum, Robert Goddard, TTh 8:30am-9:45am
  • HIST 368/HLTH 385-10: History of Hunger, Thomas Rogers, TTh 5:30pm-6:45pm
  • HIST 378 /AFS 378-1/ANT 378-1/LACS 378 -1: Human Trafficking: Global History, Adriana Chira, MW 1pm-2:15pm
  • HIST 384/AAS 384-1/ENG 389-1: Slavery in US History & Culture, Michelle Gordon, TTh 4pm-5:15pm
  • HIST 385-1/AMST 385-2/ ANT 385-8: Oral History: Methods/Practices, Jonathan Coulis, TTh 4pm-5:15pm
  • HIST 385-2/AMST 385-3: Information & Power, US History, Matthew Guariglia, MW 10am-11:15am
  • HIST 385-3/JS 371-2/WGS 385-9: Women & Law, 1200-1800, Tamar Menashe, TTh 11:30am-12:45pm
  • HIST 385-4/REES 375-1: The Soviet Cold War, Matthew Payne, MWF 1pm-1:50pm
  • HIST 385-6: Cultures of Romanticism, Brian Vick, MW 1pm-2:15pm
  • HIST 385W-1: Singlewomen/Premodern Europe, Michelle Armstrong-Partida, MW 11:30am-12:45pm
  • HIST 385W-2/AMST 385W-2: Black & Indigenous Histories, Malinda Lowery, MW 10am-11:15am
  • HIST 396-2/CPLT 389-1/ENG 389-2: History, Memory, Literature, Angelika Bammer, TTh 10am-11:15am
  • HIST 396-3/ENG 389-3/PHIL 385-5/CPLT 389-3: No Time to Think!, Elizabeth Goodstein, TTh 4pm-5:15pm
  • HIST 396-4/ GER 375-1, JS 375 1, CPLT 389 4: Making Sense of Fascism, Frank Voigt, TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm
  • HIST 302/CL 329R: History of Rome, Jinyu Liu, MW 2:30pm-3:45pm
  • HIST 323: Reformation Europe & Beyond, Sharon Strocchia, TTh 4pm-5:15pm
  • HIST 325W/CL 325W: The Classical Tradition & American Founding, Barbara Lawatsch-Melton, TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm
by emoryhistorydept

Six History Honors Students Named Fox Center Fellows

The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry

Six undergraduate honors students from the Emory History Department are among the 2024-25 cohort of Undergraduate Humanities Honors Fellows at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry. These fellowships support up to 12 students completing honors projects in a Humanities or Humanistic Social Science field. The goal of these Fellowships is to support undergraduates as they complete their theses, introduce them to the life of the Humanities, and provide a venue for interdisciplinary interchange, mentorship, and conference-style presentation. View short profiles of the students below and follow the links to more extended biographies.

Emilyn Hazelbrook is a senior majoring in history on the pre-law track. Her honors thesis project will map the trajectory of the battered woman legal defense from 1970 to 2000 in the United States.

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Klaire Mason is a double major in history and creative writing. Her honors research will focus on opposition and repression leading up to Putin’s election to a third term and how it changed Russia’s trajectory.

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Mercedes Sarah is a senior at Emory studying history and English & creative writing. Her honors thesis explores the Indigenous methodologies, the role of the archive, and oral history in the context of Indigenous California. 

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Alex Minovici is a senior majoring in History and Philosophy, Politics, & Law. Her thesis explores how modern political engagement in democratic Romania is influenced by the memory of the 1989 Revolution.

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Adelaide Rosene is a senior studying History with a minor in English. Her thesis project titled “Shadows of Exclusion: The Legacy of Sundown Towns In Wisconsin” examines how communities enforced racial segregation through policing and discrimination in housing.

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Charlotte Weinstein is a senior majoring in History and minoring in Ethics. Her honors thesis explores the ideological shifts within the Czech and Slovak punk music scenes through political transition and the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

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Aldridge Presents Research at OAH Conference

Emory History PhD student Andrew Aldridge presented his research at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians this past spring. Aldridge was one of five students to present during the Graduate Student Lightning Research Round. His talk examined Blackness and criminality through the prism of cultural products like novels, comics, music, and television. Aldridge is beginning his third year in the program, and his research is advised by Drs. Carl Suddler and Daniel LaChance.

by emoryhistorydept

Celebrating Senior Prize Recipients

The Undergraduate Committee is pleased to announce the recipients of the History Department’s Undergraduate Senior Prizes for 2023-2024. They are:

George P. Cuttino Prize for the best record in European History: Harrison Helms

James Z. Rabun Prize for the best record in American History: Joe Beare

The African, Asian, and Latin American History Prize for the best record in African, Asian, and Latin American History: Orion Jones and Yingyi Tan

Matthew A. Carter Citizen-Scholar Award: Anhhuy Do

These awards were presented at our in-person Senior Celebration on Wednesday, May 1, 2pm – 3:30pm, in the Emory Student Center. Congratulations to all!

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Celebrating 2024 Graduates

From Left to Right: Dr. Jason Morgan Ward, Dr. William (Robert) Billups, Dr. Georgia Brunner, Dr. Marissa L. Nichols, Dr. Yanna Yannakakis, Dr. Kyungtaek Kwon, Dr. Matthew J. Payne, Dr. Melissa Faris Gayan.

The Emory History Department celebrates the graduate and undergraduate students who are completing their studies and degrees this spring. Five Emory History doctoral students will be recognized at the Laney Graduate School Diploma Ceremony on Friday, May 10. They are:

  • William (Robert) Billups, “‘Reign of Terror’: Anti–Civil Rights Terrorism in the United States, 1954–1976,” advised by Drs. Joseph Crespino and Allen Tullos
  • Georgia Brunner, “Building a Nation: Gender, Labor and the Politics of Nationalism in Colonial Rwanda, 1916-1962,” advised by Drs. Clifton Crais and Mariana P. Candido
  • Melissa Faris Gayan,* “The First Crack in the Ice: How the 1956 Protests Altered Soviet Cold War Hegemony,” advised by Dr. Matthew Payne
  • Kyungtaek Kwon,* “Identifying the City: Komsomol’sk-na-Amure Transformation from Military Outpost to the City of Youth in the Soviet Far East, 1932-1982,” advised by Dr. Matthew Payne
  • Marissa L. Nichols,* “Nurses, Indigenous Authorities, and Rural Health in Oaxaca, Mexico, 1934-1970,” advised by Dr. Yanna Yannakakis

*completed in summer 2023

Find out more information about all Emory commencement events here.

Congratulations, graduates!