November 2017

Naomi Lamoreaux and co-authors discuss “Corporations and American Democracy” at Brookings Institution panel

The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has provoked passionate debate about the proper role of corporations in American democracy among academics, policymakers, and the public alike. From judicial opinions to news commentary, many have opined on the nature of corporate rights and responsibilities. However, many people have made assertions about the history of the corporation in the United States that are outdated at best, and all too often lack scholarly foundation.

NYT Opinion: "Colin Kaepernick and the Myth of the ‘Good’ Protest" by Glenda Gilmore

LAST week, the editors of GQ named the quarterback Colin Kaepernick its Citizen of the Year for his work protesting racial injustice. Mr. Kaepernick has been heavily criticized by people like President Trump, who claims that an N.F.L. player who kneels during the playing of the national anthem “disrespects our flag” and should be fired; others argue that he is out of bounds as an activist who mixes sports with politics.
 

History Major, Daniel H. Judt, selected as Rhodes Scholar

On Saturday, November 18, the American Rhodes Scholar Class of 2018 was elected.  They were selected from a pool of 866 candidates who had been nominated by their colleges and universities.  They will now complete their applications to begin courses at Oxford next year, widely across the University’s academic disciplines.

Congratulations to History Major, Daniel H. Judt on being named a Rhodes Scholar! 

Arts & Humanities Book Talk Series: Paola Bertucci, "Artisanal Enlightenment: Science and the Mechanical Arts in Old Regime France"

What would the Enlightenment look like from the perspective of artistes, the learned artisans with esprit, who presented themselves in contrast to philosophers, savants, and routine-bound craftsmen? Making a radical change of historical protagonists, Paola Bertucci places the mechanical arts and the world of making at the heart of the Enlightenment. At a time of great colonial, commercial, and imperial concerns, artistes planned encyclopedic projects and sought an official role in the administration of the French state.

Social Science History Association has awarded Bill Rankin the President’s Book Prize

The Social Science History Association has awarded Bill Rankin the President’s Book Prize for After the Map:  Cartography, Navigation, and the Transformation of Territory in the Twentieth Century, published by the University of Chicago Press in 2016.  The prize is awarded annually for a meritorious first work by an early-career scholar, judged on its scholarly significance, interdisciplinary reach, and methodological innovativeness.  For more information about the book, see

Joanna Radin wins John C. Burnham Early Career Award from Forum for History of Human Science

“Rescaling Colonial Life From the Indigenous to the Alien: The Late 20th Century Search for Human Biological Futures,“ follows the reach of colonial practices of natural history through genomics and into outer space. The article centers around biochemist and medical anthropologist Baruch Blumberg, who began his career collecting samples from colonial subjects in Surinam and ended it as head of the NASA program in Astrobiology. Joanna Radin’s history traces entwinements of colonial natural history, space exploration, and inductive methods in postwar biological science.