Department News
November 15, 2024
In his UWS-72A Autobiographical Comics, Rafi Abrahams has introduced his students to the power of comics as an art form, encouraging them to explore the medium’s potential for self-expression and storytelling. Through both their own drawings and analytical papers on comics discussed in class, students are able to engage deeply with the medium, offering unique perspectives and personal insights. This approach not only highlights the creative possibilities of comics but also fosters critical thinking and a greater appreciation for the ways in which comics can communicate complex ideas and emotions..November 8, 2024
Rafael Abrahams was awarded a 2024 William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Fellowship from the American Society for Legal History (ASLH) for his dissertation research that was presented at the American Society for Legal History's Annual Meeting in San Francisco in October 2024. Congratulations Rafael!
May 9, 2024
Congratulations to our very own Professor Michael Willrich who was named a 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History for American Anarchy: The Epic Struggle between Immigrant Radicals and the US Government at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century (Basic Books)February 12, 2024
History PhD student Joseph Weisberg was recently profiled for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences' Geeking Out With... series, in which they talk to graduate students about their passions.
November 22, 2023
Natalie Cornett, PhD '21 in History, will publish her first book with Cornell University Press in the fall of 2024. She spoke to GSAS about the process and how she transformed her dissertation into a book.
July 5, 2023
With winners in four categories, the History Department is was well-represented among this year's Library Research Excellence Prize winners. They are:
- Community-engaged research, offered in partnership with the Samuels ’63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation (COMPACT): Elizabeth Simms, Rafael Abrahams, Joseph Weisberg, Wayland Library: 175 Years
- Research paper or project completed by a graduate student: Lydia Matthews, "They are bound for the milk station down the way:" Maternal Health, Infant Care, and Italian Women’s Claims to Belonging in 20th-Century Boston
- Research related to racism and anti-racism: Fritz-Gerald Duverglas, The Discrimination of Black People in The Tech Industry, and
- Digital research project: Elie Ackerman, Vivien Fair, Michaela McCormack, Micah Seigel, Teresa Shi, Brandeis on Native Lands
March 16, 2023
History PhD student Alexandra Szabo is among three graduate students from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences who are featured during Women's History Month for bringing important stories to the surface, and, as a result, paving the way for women of today.
Alexandra's research on gendered aspects of genocide and the stories she's uncovered surrounding women's reproductive health in particular are taking women's history in novel directions, breaking long-kept silences.
January 24, 2023
Professor Emerita Sylvia Arrom's latest book, "La Güera Rodríguez: The Life and Legends of a Mexican Independence Heroine" (UC Press, 2021) just won the Howard Cline Prize for the best book on Mexican History, to be awarded at the May meeting of the Latin American Studies Association.
May 9, 2022
Prof. Greg Childs is among six members of the Brandeis faculty to be honored this year for their excellence in teaching, mentoring, and service. The Michael L. Walzer '56 Award for Teaching recognizes a faculty member who combines exceptional scholarship with inspired teaching. This marks the fourth year in a row that a History faculty member has received this award, which is a strong testiment to the dedication history faculty members show toward their students and the priority placed on teaching. Prof. Child's award this year follows that of Professors Wangui Muigai ('21), Hannah Muller ('20), and Naghmeh Sohrabi ('19).
April 26, 2022
July 12, 2021
History PhD student Rafael Abrahams received the 2021 Prize for Graduate Student Research for his paper titled, " 'Intimate With the Stars and the Trees': Black Conservationism in the Progressive Era." Brandeis Library Research Excellence Prizes recognize students who apply exemplary library research skills. Congratulations, Rafi!June 19, 2021
On Saturday, June 19 — Juneteenth — Brandeis released a virtual discussion between Annette Gordon-Reed, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University, and Abigail Cooper, assistant professor of history at Brandeis, about Professor Gordon-Reed's latest book "On Juneteenth." Part history, part memoir, "On Juneteenth" is a timely exploration of the origins of the holiday which marks the arrival of federal troops to Galveston, Texas, in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. Their arrival came more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Professor Gordon-Reed is also the author of the 2009 book, "The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family," which won a Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction and the National Book Award.
May 17, 2021
Ryan Shaffer '21 was selected as this year's Doris Brewer Cohen Prize recipient for his senior thesis entitled “The Chase and Waite Courts: Hindering the Reconstruction Promise of Racial Equality.” Focusing on the pivotal years after the American Civil War, Ryan’s thesis explores the courts’ efforts to “inhibit the ability for legislators to expand protections for African Americans, reduce the influence of the newly passed Reconstruction amendments, and establish a distinction between state and federal citizenship.” All of these factors, he argues, hindered the Reconstruction push for greater racial equality, with reverberations until the present day.
April 27, 2021
Professor Alice Kelikian in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor recounts the the story of the three aunts she never knew and the memory of her father, Dr. Hampar Kelikian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide of 1915-23.
April 21, 2021
For the second year in a row, the Department of History had two faculty members receive awards for teaching and mentoring. Wangui Muigai was awarded the Michael L. Walzer '56 Award for Teaching, honoring a faculty member who combines exceptional scholarship with inspired teaching. Also this year, Govind Sreenivasan received the Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer '69 and Joseph Neubauer Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring.
April 6, 2021
Professor Yuri Doolan was interviewed for the Journal of Asian American Studies podcast (hosted on The New Books Network) about the Atlanta shootings alongside three other scholars and organizers.
March 25, 2021
Professor Michael Willrich is featured in The Atlantic's podcast, "The Experiment: Stories from an Unfinished Country."
March 19, 2021
Professor Yuri Doolan's research is cited in the New York Times.March 4, 2021
Professor Michael Willrich is featured in the podcast "EPIDEMIC."
February 19, 2021
Professor Abby Cooper is featured in the podcast "Seizing Freedom." It tells incredible stories of American freedom, told by those who made it a reality. In this episode, Professor Abigail Cooper discusses African Americans building their communities within Civil War refugee camps, as well as their relationship to African traditions.
February 16, 2021
Professor Jankowski discusses his latest book, "Against All: The Long Winter of 1933 and the Origins of the Second World War," with William Friedman ’65.
January 27, 2021
Brandeis’ Spring 2021 semester is being conducted in a hybrid fashion, with some students living on campus and taking a portion of their courses in person and some students studying completely remotely. Students, faculty and staff coming to campus should comply with all measures required within the Campus Passport, including testing and taking the Daily Health Assessment. For complete information, visit the COVID-19 Response website.
January 20, 2021
Joe Biden's inauguration committee released a series of videos featuring historians discussing past presidential inaugurations, including the Brandeis History Department's Leah Wright Rigueur.
December 13, 2020
In a New York Times article, Professor Michael Willrich discusses the potential civil liberties hurdles caused by the advancement of digital health technologies.
November 23, 2020
Paul Jankowski's book, "All Against All: The Long Winter of 1933 and the Origins of the Second World War" is featured among the Financial Times' "Best History Books of 2020." FT reviewers state, "It is a rewarding approach, enhanced by Jankowski's engaging narrative style."
November 3, 2020
Leah Wright Rigueur writes an election-day article on the history of Black celebrity GOP endorsements for The Washington Post.
October 8, 2020
Abby Cooper is interviewed for HistoryNet about the faith and community building of freed people in refugee camps during and after the Civil War. Her research will appear in "Pierced Dimes and Placenta Fires," forthcoming in 2021.
June 30, 2020
Congratulations to Yuri Doolan, Assistant Professor in the Department of History and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program (WGS). He received the Qualey Award for his article titled, "Transpacific Camptowns: Korean Women, US Army Bases, and Military Prostitution in America." You may read the article here.June 23, 2020
Abby Cooper studies how African Americans living in Civil War-era refugee camps imagined — and constucted — their futures after slavery. Her work is featured in the summer issue of Brandeis Magazine.
May 29, 2020
The Department of History was well represented among the teaching awards this year, with two faculty recipients among the five prizes awarded by Brandeis. Hannah Muller was awarded the Michael L. Walzer '56 Award for Teaching, honoring a faculty member who combines exceptional scholarship with inspired teaching. This marks the second year in a row that a History faculty member has received this award, with Naghmeh Sohrabi having received the honor last year. Also this year, Michael Willrich received the Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer '69 and Joseph Neubauer Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring.
May 22, 2020
Naghmeh Sohrabi publishes in jadaliyya.com.
May 19, 2020
The Berlin Prize provides recipients with the time and resources to step back from their daily obligations to engage in academic and artistic projects they might otherwise not pursue. During her semester-long fellowship at the Academy in spring 2021, Sohrabi will reconstruct the intimate lives that were folded into the vastness of the 1979 Iranian revolution.
May 18, 2020
María Ignacia Rodríguez de Velasco (1778-1850) is a fascinating Mexican woman who has become an icon of the nation’s popular culture. Over time the stories told about her have grown increasingly fanciful. Known by her nickname, “La Güera Rodríguez,” she has been – erroneously – portrayed as a courtesan who seduced Simón Bolívar, Alexander von Humboldt, and Agustín de Iturbide; as a major independence heroine; and as a feminist who defied the conventions of her day. "La Güera Rodríguez: The Woman and the Legend" reconstructs her biography and then traces the way she has been remembered in historical chronicles and in the press, novels, plays, comic books, movies, an opera, television programs and blogs. Showing when and why false facts and apocryphal stories appeared, the book not only illuminates the neglected social history of her day but also highlights the degree to which historical memory reflects ever-changing worldviews and concerns.
May 5, 2020
Paul Jankowski discusses his new book, "All Against All: The Long Winter of 1933 and the Origins of the Second World War," in BrandeisNow.
May 5, 2020
The victory over smallpox shows the beginning of more modern public health and can teach us about today’s COVID-19 pandemic, Michael Willrich argues in futurity.org.
April 28, 2020
As he weaves together the stories of the influences that conspired to lead the world to war, Jankowski offers a cautionary tale relevant for western democracies today. The rising threat from dictatorial regimes and the ideological challenge presented by communism and fascism gave the 1930s a unique face, just as global environmental and demographic crises are coloring our own. While we do not know for certain where these crises will take us, we do know that those of the 1930s culminated in the Second World War.
From The Kirkus Reviews, "Expert ... [Jankowski] shrewdly juxtaposes interminable peace and disarmament conferences and political events with the national mood in a dozen countries whose leaders revealed a distressing eagerness to discover the source of their misery in rival nations or undeserving minorities."
April 17, 2020
Professor Muigai received this prestigious award for her current book project, "Infant Death and the Black Experience." Given annually by the American Association for the History of Medicine to an early-career scholar, the Pressman-Burroughs Wellcome award recognizes a book project that stands to make a significant impact in medical and health history. Members of the award committee state, "we believe that when published, 'Infant Death and the Black Experience' will make a dramatic mark on our field, helping us to rethink race, gender, and public health in the 19th and 20th centuries."
April 9, 2020
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) fellowships and grants are awarded to individual scholars for excellence in research in the humanities and related social sciences. Professor Sohrabi will spend her fellowship year working on her current book project, "The Intimate Lives of a Revolution: Iran 1979."
March 13, 2020
In support of public health efforts and for the safety of our community, Brandeis has determined that all classes should be moved online for the spring semester. Additionally, all on-campus events have been canceled for the remainder of the academic year. You may read all messages to the Brandeis community and access the frequently asked questions page by clicking on the headline above.
February 14, 2020
Research by historian Abigail Cooper shows how newly emancipated people forged a new path.
December 18, 2019
In this episode of the Highlights Podcast, Alexander Herbert, a PhD candidate in the history department, discusses his book, "What About Tomorrow?: An Oral History of Russian Punk from the Soviet Era to Pussy Riot."October 28, 2019
Patrick Brown defended his dissertation this September and will receive his PhD in February 2020.
July 16, 2019
Prof. Brian Donahue featured in BrandeisNOW