Category / Undergraduate Students

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Scott Benigno (C22) Publishes Article on British Railway Investments in Brazil

History major Scott Benigno (C22) recently published an article in the Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History titled, “The Economics of Empires: An Analysis of British Railway Investments in 1850s Imperial Brazil.” The article investigates Britain’s interests in developing railways in Brazil before the country’s industrialization. The paper was mentored by Dr. Thomas D. Rogers, Associate Professor of Modern Latin American History and Arthur Blank/NEH Chair in the Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences (2018-2021). Read the article abstract below and find the full piece here.

“While Brazil is not often thought to be connected to Britain in our present day, Brazil’s early independent history was inextricably linked with the European imperial power. Using A Report on the Proposed Railway in the Province of Pernambuco, Brazil written by British civil engineer Edward De Mornay in 1855 as an example, this paper looks specifically at Britain’s interests in developing railways in the mostly non-industrialized Brazil and the reasons behind.”


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Honors Students Present Summer 2021 Thesis Research

On Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, the department of history held its first in-person undergraduate event since March 2020. At this event, five history honors students – Ellie Coe, Sarah Gordon, Carson Greene, Willie Lieberman, and Channelle Russell – delivered presentations about the thesis research they conducted during Summer 2021. This research was made possible with history department funding provided through the George P. Cuttino Scholarship, Theodore H. Jack Award, James L. Roark Prize, and Bell I. Wiley Prize.

https://www.facebook.com/HistoryAtEmory/posts/1965356646972210
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Emory News Center Features Montalvo’s Course, “Slavery and the Archive”

The Emory News Center recently wrote a feature story about Dr. Maria R. Montalvo‘s spring 2021 course, “Slavery and the Archive.” The course involved undergraduates in conducting original archival research on the lives of enslaved people, including in Emory’s extensive collections in African American history in the Woodruff Library and Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library. Dr. Erica Bruchko, a 2016 graduate of the History doctoral program and African American Studies and U.S. History Librarian at the Woodruff library, supported the students’ research. Dr. Montalvo is an Assistant Professor and in her second year at Emory. Read a quote from the Emory News Center article below along with the full piece: “History course uncovers ‘archival silences’ of enslaved people.”

“My goal is not to have them all become historians,” Montalvo says. “My goal is to help them understand how to read, learn and question effectively enough to become the best of anything they want to be.”

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Students in Miller’s “The History of Skiing and Snowsports” Launch Website

This spring Dr. Judith A. Miller, Associate Professor of History, taught a new course, “The History of Skiing and Snowsports.” Explaining the genesis of the course, Miller said, “I wished to create a course that took the history of skiing and snowsports seriously, that is, a course that reflected the questions that historians have.” The students in this course have just published their final projects on a website, which was produced in collaboration with Emory’s Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS). Browse the students’ projects on the new website, and read more about the course via the description below.

This new course explores the history of snow sports, especially skiing, from the 18th century to today. We have many topics and Zoom guests lined up. This class is not only for history majors or skiers, but also for business students, and anyone interested in environmental history, sports history, and the history of gender and race. The class will look at the military uses of skiing in World War II, the expansion of leisure sports after 1960, the development of ski schools, history of ski patrols, lift technology, emerging environmental issues, snow science, avalanche control, the history of the land and the indigenous peoples, race and inclusivity in winter sports, the transformation of ski equipment, snow fashions, and the business of ski resorts. Students who have never taken a history course and first-year students are welcome. Each student will do a short final research project. Check out the promotional video on @emoryhistory Instagram during the enrollment period. As American Historical Association Executive Director Jim Grossman says, “Everything has a history.” Skiing and snow sports have a fascinating histories.

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Celebrating the Class of 2021

Congratulations to the History Department-affiliated undergraduate and graduate students receiving degrees at Emory’s 2021 commencement! Find out more information about Emory’s commencement ceremonies here. See below for a list of undergraduate students graduating with special recognition.

History Majors Graduating with Honors
Melanie Mills Dunn
Jason Paul Goodman
Colin Andrew Hutton
Cameron Vida Katz
Ryan Andrew Kelly
Sun Woo Park
Rachel Elizabeth Remmers
Max K Rotenberg

Graduating Members of the History Department Honor Society, Phi Alpha Theta, Phi Tau Chapter
Zachary Charles Ball**
Daniel Manuel Batterman
Elise Lauren Black
Colleen Elizabeth Carroll
Jessica Arevalo Dam
Melanie Mills Dunn
Jason Paul Goodman
Cameron Vida Katz
Ryan Andrew Kelly
AnnMarie Marlow
Rachel Elizabeth Remmers
Jesse Leib Steinman
Rowan M. Thomas

James L. Roark Prize in American History
Cameron Vida Katz

Matthew A. Carter Citizen-Scholar Award
Ciara Murphy

George P. Cuttino Prize in European History
Jesse Leib Steinman

James Z. Rabun Prize in U.S. History
Max K Rotenberg
Melanie Mills Dunn

Latin America & Non-Western World History Prize
Jacob Angelo DeFazio

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History Dept. Students and Faculty Receive Grants from Halle Institute

Emory’s Halle Institute for Global Research has awarded multiple undergraduate and graduate students and faculty members from the History Department with research funding throughout the 2020-’21 academic year. Directed by Dr. Jeffrey Lesser, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of History, the Halle Institute supports and promotes global research opportunities for faculty, students, and visiting scholars throughout all of Emory’s schools. See the History Department’s recipients and their funded projects below.

Rethinking Global Inequalities (with Goizueta Business and Society Institute)

Michelle Armstrong-Partida – “Singlewomen: Enslaved and Free in the Late Medieval Mediterranean”

Halle-CFDE Global Atlanta Innovative Teaching (GAIT) Grants

Adriana Chira – “Human Trafficking in World History”

URC-Halle International Research Awards in partnership with the University Research Council (URC)

Astrid M. Eckert – “Germany and the Global Commons: Environment, Diplomacy, and the Market”

Graduate Global Research Fellows

Georgia Brunner – Rwanda/Italy/Belgium      

Undergraduate Global Research Fellows

Bronwen Boyd – “The Signares of Senegambia: Slavery, “Progress,” and the French Colonial Project in the Nineteenth Century,” Emory College of Arts and Sciences: History, French Studies

Ellie Coe – “Unlikely Friendships: The Little-Known Meetings of Cosmonauts and Astronauts in the Early Space Age,” Emory College of Arts and Sciences: History, Russian and East European Studies

Alex Levine – “Dueling Dragons: Examining Welsh National Identity Through Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century British Imperial Involvement in China,” Emory College of Arts and Sciences: History

Annie Li – “A Comparative History of the Activism of Chinese American Churches and Taiwanese Churches,” Emory College of Arts and Sciences: History, Sociology

Willie Lieberman – “English Femininity in Purcell’s Operas,” Emory College of Arts and Sciences: History

Julien Nathan – “Who is the Nation: Analyzing the Relationship Between Gastarbeiter and the New Left Student Movement, 1960-1973,” Emory College of Arts and Sciences: History

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Honors Student Cameron Katz Discusses Experience as Undergraduate Fellow at the Fox Center

History major and honors student Cameron Katz recently published a piece on the blog of Emory’s Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry reflecting on her time as an undergraduate humanities fellow. Katz discusses her research, which centers on Florida’s felony disenfranchisement law, as well as how the pandemic has shaped her experience as a student and scholar. Read an excerpt from the post below, along with the full piece: “Shared Scholarship During the Pandemic.”

“The opportunity to present my research to a group of scholars was also very beneficial. My history honors thesis examines the racial implications of Florida’s felony disenfranchisement law – the rule which revokes a person’s right to vote on account of a felony conviction – which was on the books from 1838 to 2018. Because my temporal framework is so large, working to condense it to a short presentation for an audience less familiar with the history really helped me to streamline my main argument, which I think is one of the most challenging aspects of large projects. Hearing feedback about my presentation allowed me to narrow my presentation even further so that I could convey my work in an accessible and informative manner. Later this month, I will be presenting my research at the Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Symposium so the additional practice at the Fox Center has helped me to prepare.“

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Undergraduate Honors Students Present Thesis Proposals Throughout April

Throughout the month of April History majors at Emory are presenting their honors thesis proposals via Zoom. Their fifteen research projects range widely in period, place, and theme, from an analysis of African-American funeral directors in Jim Crow Georgia to a study of diplomatic relations between Russian cosmonauts and U.S. astronauts. Read about the student projects (including their faculty mentors) by clicking on the flyers below, and email Ms. Lakesia Hayes for the zoom link to the final round of presentations on Monday, April 26, from 2:40-4pm EDT.

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Suddler to Moderate “State of the Playing Field” in Final Event of Sports History Lecture Series

Dr. Carl Suddler, Assistant Professor of History, will moderate the final event in the Sports History Lecture Series, titled “State of the Playing Field: Sports Historians Wrap Up,” along with History honors student Hannah Charak (21C) and Mathematics major Matthew Ross (21C). The panel will include: Amira Rose Davis, assistant professor of history and African American Studies at Penn State University; Louis Moore, associate professor of history at Grand Valley State University; Theresa Runstedtler, associate professor of history at American University; and Derrick White, professor of history and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky. Following the panel, the speakers will answer questions from the audience. Registration is required, and registrants will be entered into a prize raffle.

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Honors Student Willie Lieberman Celebrates Jane Austen Collection in Emory’s Rose Library

Willie Lieberman, a third-year student in the History honors program specializing in European Studies, recently published a post on the blog of Emory’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. Coinciding with Women’s History Month, the article surveys the Rose Library’s exciting Jane Austen collection. Read an excerpt from Lieberman’s piece below along with the full article here.

“March is Women’s History Month – a time to celebrate women’s accomplishments throughout history, address past and present injustices, and pave the path to a more liberated future for all women. The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library is home to a wealth of collections by significant female authors like Sylvia Plath and Alice Walker. One of the Rose Library’s most exciting features is its Jane Austen collection. Jane Austen is one of the best-known and most successful female authors…The Rose Library’s Jane Austen holdings signify her commercial success and the value of her writing to society, while also pointing to inequities female authors faced in publishing.“