May 2017

Congratulations to our prize-winning seniors

The following History seniors were awarded senior essay prizes at a ceremony in the department on Friday, May 19, 2017. The prize ceremony was attended by students, parents and faculty. In addition to prize day festivities, many seniors also participated in a special senior essay symposium on April 21, 2017 organized by our Senior Essay Director, Jennifer Klein and our Phi Alpha Theta faculty advisor, Jenni Allen.

Congratulations to all of our outstanding students!

Field: Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East

History major Yifu Dong (BR ’17) and Prof. Denise Ho (BR ’00) weigh in on Chinese nationalism on American college campuses on The ChinaFile Conversation

History major Yifu Dong (BR ’17) and Professor Denise Ho (BR ’00) weigh in on Chinese nationalism on American college campuses on The ChinaFile Conversation, a weekly discussion of China news sponsored by the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society.

Read the full conversation at ChinaFile.

Timothy Snyder discusses his best-selling book 'On Tyranny'

Professor Timothy Snyder recently discussed his best-selling book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century on various programs including The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and Real Time with Bill Maher. Check out the videos below.

The Daily Show, May 15, 2017

In memoriam: Firuz Kazemzadeh, scholar of Russian history, former head of Davenport College

Firuz Kazemzadeh, professor emeritus of history at Yale and former head of Davenport College, died on May 17, in California. He was 92 years old.

Kazemzadeh was a leading member of the American Baha’i community and an ardent champion of international religious freedom.

Congratulations to our prize-winning graduate students

The following History graduate students were awarded Yale and department prizes this commencement weekend. Congratulations to all of our outstanding students!

Joseph Peterson

“Missionaries and Marabouts: Catholicism, Islam, and Secularism in Nineteenth-Century France and Algeria”

John Addison Porter Prize

The 57th annual Allan Nevins Prize is awarded to Isaiah Lorado Wilner

The 57th annual Allan Nevins Prize is awarded to Isaiah Lorado Wilner for his dissertation, “Raven Cried for Me: Narratives of Transformation on the Northwest Coast of America.”

Beverly Gage named the Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy

Beverly Gage, newly named as the Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy, is a historian of 20th-century American politics and society. Her appointment will be effective July 1.

Conference marks three decades of International Security Studies at Yale

International Security Studies (ISS) celebrated three decades of support for the study of international history, grand strategy, and global security at Yale at a conference on May 12 and 13. The event also honored ISS’s long-time director, Professor Paul Kennedy, by bringing back his former students —many of whom are now professors at leading institutions in their own right—to present papers inspired by his work.

AHA: "Yale History’s Major Comeback" by Elizabeth Elliott

Over the past year, the nationwide decline of history majors and enrollments has become one of the AHA’s foremost concerns. Now, surprising news has arrived from Yale University: after a two-decade slip in popularity, history is the top declared major among its Class of 2019.

NY Times: "In Firing Comey, Did Trump Unleash the Next Deep Throat?" by Beverly Gage

Once again, Donald Trump has done something that no president before him dared to do. This time, he has fired an F.B.I. director engaged in an active and continuing investigation of his own campaign. The decision reflects President Trump’s most autocratic instincts, showcasing his contempt for the independence of federal investigators as well as for the basic search for truth.