'I value building spaces where people can find good and safe company'
Naiara Bezerra-Gastesi is history and FGSS major.
Tear down academic silos: Take an ‘undisciplinary’ approach
A new Cornell study suggests that solving societal problems such as climate change could require dismantling rigid academic boundaries, so that researchers from varying disciplines could work together collaboratively.
Ezra's Archives Journeys Forward
In the middle of March, halfway through their second-semester, seniors Regan Murray and Max Fernandez, co-editors-in-chief of Ezra’s Archives (an undergraduate peer-reviewed history journal) had to move their work off-campus to the internet. The COVID-19 pandemic altered everything, including the activities of the Department of History’s student...
Grants advance social sciences research, collaboration
The Cornell Center for Social Sciences has awarded spring grants supporting research and conferences involving more than 30 faculty and researchers across campus, including collaborations within new and expanded superdepartments.
Humanities students share wide variety of research in spring event
More than 30 students who have conducted research will present their work in a virtual conference May 6-7. One panel investigates the ideas of Goldwin Smith, while other presentations focus on migrant workers in Singapore, political violence in Africa and other topics.
Panel: Pandemic and protests laid economic injustices bare
Four faculty members and a Washington Post reporter discussed the ways racism shapes economic policies.
Public History Comes to Life
“Public history is any form of historical engagement that occurs outside of the traditional classroom, including monuments, museums, oral history, historical preservation, walking tours, media, and performance,” explained Stephen Vider, Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Cornell Public History Initiative, last October. “Our...
' "Why" is never a bad word'
Conor Hodges majored in American Studies, College Scholar Program, Government, History.
Atlantic Travelers ~ an online journey
Professor Ernesto Bassi and his students invite you to travel the Atlantic through their virtual exhibit, Atlantic Travelers. Learn about the early modern Atlantic world while peering into the lives of men and women who traveled the Atlantic from the Age of Conquest (sixteenth century) to the Age of Revolutions (1770s-1830s).The site's launch...
A Mid-Semester Note from the Chair
Greetings Friends and Alumni, I’m writing to share with you three recent articles about history, which are in our mid-semester e-newsletter. The first article, “Garcia, Burrow receive inaugural faculty diversity award” discusses Maria Cristina Garcia, the Howard A. Newman Professor of American Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences,...
History Degree Shines Light on Alumna's Real Estate Business Career
The Department of History interviewed Cornell Alumna Erica Siegel Henning in the Fall of 2019. Erica was an undergraduate history major who has gone on to pursue a career in real estate investing. Ms. Henning has a Master of Public Administration from Cornell’s Institute of Public Affairs (CIPA) and a Master of Business Administration from the...
‘Mild’ Russian sanctions signal need for de-escalation
On Thursday, the Biden administration announced economic sanctions on Russia in retaliation for alleged election interference and cyberattacks. Nicholas Mulder, assistant professor of history, says the new sanctions are "signals, rather than immediate increases in pressure."
How Herman Melville can help us cope with dark times
Prof. Aaron Sachs’ new book tells the stories of two American writers, who he says show us how history can offer hope.
Business-GOP alliance fraying as CEOs oppose voting limits
On Wednesday, hundreds of companies’ executives joined in a new statement to call out Republican-sponsored voting bills that they say will curtail voting access in several American states. History professor Lawrence Glickman, an expert on consumer activism, comments
Final ‘Racism in America’ webinar on April 27 to focus on our economic system
The webinar will feature four Cornell faculty experts looking at the past as well as present of the relationship of racism to capitalism and the unequal impact of COVID-19 on different sectors of the economy.
Graduate Student Good News Letter
Graduate student good newsletterFall 2019I wanted to take a moment of your time to recognize the excellent work our graduate students have been doing over the past summer and fall semesters. All the best,Ray CraibProfessor, Director of Graduate StudiesManuel Berduc was awarded this past year a Michele Sicca Research Grant from the...
Think twice before founding that free-market utopia
In a new book, Raymond Craib writes that libertarian attempts to escape regulation and build communities structured entirely through market transactions often have calamitous consequences for local populations.
Why Study History
Why Study History? Cornell History offers the reader titles of articles that address this question and links to their rich content. Why Study History & Careers for History Majors ~American Historical Association (AHA) offers several informative articles Why Humanities Degrees May Set You Up for Life ~the BBC What...
NATO decision on Finland, Sweden strong on paper, future unclear
With NATO formally inviting Finland and Sweden to join its alliance after Turkey dropped its objections, classics and history professor Barry Strauss comments that history is full of alliances that amounted to little.
John Weiss Retires Leaving a History Assignment for the Future
On the one-hundredth anniversary of the World War I Armistice, Associate Professor of History John Weiss addressed veterans, members of the Cornell ROTC, and the Tompkins County community. Weiss was a participant in the Armistice Day Memorial event hosted by Cornell ROTC and the Division of Alumni Affairs and Development. It was held at the Baker...
Researching the cultural impacts of climate change on Italy
Kevin Bloomfield, a Ph.D. candidate in history, publishes the paper - Beyond One-Way Determinism: San Frediano's Miracle and Climate Change in Central and Southern Italy in Late Antiquity, which examines the cultural impacts of climate change in Italy during the first millennium by studying scientific data and historical records.
New York Times Columnist Douthat to speak on Meritocracy
Our contemporary power structure claims to be based on merit and aims for diversity, but it has lost a sense of duty and responsibility that the traditional aristocracy represented, says author and political essayist Ross Douthat. In “Meritocracy and the Public Good: Who Wins? Who Loses?” Douthat will explore what the costs of this structure are...
Grad Student Shares Experience
In February 2019, the Department wrote graduate student, Benedetta Luciana Sara Carnaghi, who is currently conducting archival research in Vienna, and asked her some questions about her graduate student experience at Cornell. Her full responses are below. They are set up in a Question and Answer style so that readers may look for items of...
New professorship honors Walter LaFeber
Tom Pepinsky will be the inaugural Walter F. LaFeber Professor.
Cornell Historical Society Interview
History’s Undergraduate Association: Cornell Historical SocietyAn interview with Ephraim Gau and John Sullivan Baker.The Cornell Historical Society (CHS) has been in existence since 2011. There are currently seven highly-engaged members on the Executive Board. On January 30, the department spoke with Ephraim Gau and John Sullivan Baker...