Category: News

Department Alumna Donna Cox Baker Builds Career in Historical Publishing

March 28, 2017

Dr. Donna Cox Baker, a 2014 graduate of the University of Alabama’s History PhD program, is the editor-in-chief of Alabama Heritage magazine, serves as the acquisitions editor, recruiting history titles for The University of Alabama Press, and co-chairs the Statewide Initiatives Committee for the Alabama Bicentennial Commission. Baker says that students should not feel overly pessimistic about finding work. “You’ve got to look for jobs, but you never know what elements in your particular experience might fill a need in […]

Dreams of Dominion Conference to Highlight to Highlight Connections Between the 19th Century U.S. South and Latin America

March 21, 2017

A daylong conference highlighting the transnational connections between the 19th century U.S. South and Latin America will be held in the Hotel Capstone Ballroom at The University of Alabama on March 27, 2017 . Historians Martha Santos (the University of Akron), Roberto Saba (the University of Pennsylvania), Angela Diaz (Texas Tech University) and David C. LaFevor (University of Texas, Arlington) will share their scholarship alongside UA faculty and graduate students. That evening, David C. Lafevor will present a keynote lecture, […]

Cornell University Professor Edward Baptist Speaks to Department

March 7, 2017

On March 6, 2017, Professor Edward Baptist spoke to a packed house in ten Hoor Hall about his new project, a history of efforts to contain black movement in North America and of resistance to those efforts. His talk, entitled “Making White Freedom by Hunting Enslaved Africans,” described the evolution of laws and social practices in colonial America that made people of African descent subjects of suspicion and susceptible to policing by white colonists. Professor Baptist is a professor of history […]

J. Michael Francis Speaks With Department About Indians, Europeans, and Africans in Florida Before 1603

March 7, 2017

Dr. J. Michael Francis, Hough Family Chair of Florida Studies at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, spoke to a group of faculty and students last week in a lecture entitled “Before Jamestown: Europeans, Africans, and Indians in La Florida, 1513-1603.” His talk highlighted work he has been involved with in early Florida history and current public history projects commemorating the state’s colonization by Europeans. Francis’s visit was sponsored by the Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies Program, […]

Dr. Edward Baptist to Speak on “Creating White Freedom by Hunting Enslaved Africans”

February 28, 2017

Dr. Edward Baptist, professor of history at Cornell University and author of The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism, will be giving a talk on Monday, March 6, at 5pm in 30 ten Hoor Hall. The talk is entitled, “Creating White Freedom by Hunting Enslaved Africans.” This event is hosted by the Frances S. Summersell Center for the Study of the South and the Department of History. It is free and open to the […]

Careers for History Majors Luncheon Held

February 28, 2017

On Monday, February 27, the Department of History hosted a luncheon for those history majors thinking about the job market and possible careers. The UA Career Center’s Tiffany Goodin spoke about how to translate marketable skills learned in history classes into a job or career. Pamela Derrick, the Director of Experiential Learning, also attended, and suggested ways for history majors to translate their in-class learning into the real world, and how extracurricular experiences could influence career preparation. Finally, faculty and […]

Students to Help Unveil Marker for Victims of Lynching

February 26, 2017

Please join Professor John Giggie and students from his seminar on Southern memory course as they gather with Bryan Stevenson and members of the Equal Justice Initiative for the unveiling of a historical marker to the victims of lynching in Tuscaloosa County. Prof. Giggie’s students have spent the semester researching the eight documented lynchings in Tuscaloosa County and will present on the meaning of their work during the unveiling ceremony. The group will gather at 2803 6th Street (Google Maps […]

USF Professor J. Michael Francis to Speak on “Before Jamestown: Europeans, Africans, and Indians in La Florida, 1513-1603”

February 22, 2017

The Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies Program and the Department of History welcome Dr. J. Michael Francis who will speak on “Before Jamestown: Europeans, Africans, and Indians in La Florida, 1513-1603,” on Friday, March 3, 2017, at 3:00 PM, in room 251 ten Hoor Hall. Dr. Francis is the Hough Family Chair of Florida Studies at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. He received his Ph.D.from the University of Cambridge. At the University of South Florida, he […]

Department Celebrates Publication of Dr. Erik Peterson’s The Life Organic

February 10, 2017

On February 2, the Department of History celebrated the publication of Dr. Erik Peterson’s The Life Organic: The Theoretical Biology Club and the Roots of Epigenetics. Dr. Peterson’s book tells the story of scientists in the late nineteenth nd early twentieth century who pursued a middle road of investigation between mechanists, those who argued that living beings were simply complex machines, and vitalists, who believed that animals and humans possessed a “vital spark,” an ineffable essence that separated living and […]

Dr. Edwin C. Bridges, Former Director of the ADAH, to Speak on the Importance of Alabama History, February 27

February 9, 2017

Dr. Edwin C. Bridges, who recently retired as director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History after more than thirty years at its helm, will speak in room 205, Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library at 6 pm, Monday, February 27. Bridges’s topic – “Alabama History: It’s Worth Another Look” – explores the important role that state histories play in telling our national story. “State history is often regarded as lite – parochial, shallow, and the province of buffs and amateurs,” […]

Professor Kathleen DuVal to Accept Deep South Book Prize and Speak on Independence Lost, February 15

February 6, 2017

On February 15, Kathleen DuVal, Professor of History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, will be speaking about her book, Independence Lost: Lives at the Edge of the American Revolution, winner of the 2016 Deep South Book Prize from the Summersell Center for the Study of the South. Focusing on the American Revolution as it played out along the Gulf Coast, Independence Lost demonstrates the imperial dimensions of the conflict and the multitude of ways those who are rarely […]

Jacqueline Avila, Assist. Professor of Musicology at the University of Tennessee to Speak on the Corrido in Mexican Cinema

February 6, 2017

Dr. Jacqueline Avila, an Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Tennessee, will be discussing the the corrido (a traditional Mexican ballad) in Mexican cinema from the 1920s to the 1950s and the importance of both these ballads and the cinema in the construction of a new Mexican identity after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). Dr. Avila is a musicologist with an historical bent, and her presentation will include video and audio presentations that promise to be very exciting. Dr. […]

History Majors Among Mock Trial Winners

January 19, 2017

The History Department would like to congratulate history majors Jordan LaPorta, Noah Caldwell, Ashlyn Cooper, and Chance Sturup for their recent tournament win with the University of Alabama Mock Trial Association. Jordan LaPorta, a senior history/political science double major and the president of the association, said he was “a little surprised” at their win. In the fall semester, lower- and upperclassmen are put on teams together to help new members learn the ropes. The team won first overall — winning […]

Professor Emeritus George Rable Featured in Documentary

January 18, 2017

Professor Emeritus George C. Rable was recently featured on the American Heroes Channel’s documentary series Blood and Fury: America’s Civil War, where he was interviewed for their “Battle of Fredericksburg” episode. Rable is the author of Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!, which details the battle and is the recipient of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize (2003), The American Civil War Museum’s Jefferson Davis Award (2002), and The Society for Military History’s Distinguished Book Award in American History (2004). Rable has been featured on television […]

Alumnus Matthew Downs Inspires Students at the University of Mobile

January 10, 2017

Department alumnus Matthew L. Downs is carrying on the University’s tradition of teaching excellence and leadership at the University of Mobile, where he is Assistant Professor of History and Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Downs graduated from the University with his Ph.D. in History in 2010, after completing his Masters in 2004. Working with Dr. Kari Frederickson, he studied US and southern history, specifically focusing on the modernization of the South in the mid-twentieth century. Downs […]