Author Archives: briansandberg

On Judicial Authority and Insurrection

An investigative report in the New York Times finds that Chief Justice Roberts acted personally to steer the Supreme Court of the United States to find for former President Trump in three major cases related to the Storming of the … Continue reading

Posted in Political Culture, United States History and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Rituals, History, and the Paris 2024 Olympics

The Opening Ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympics were certainly impressive and have attracted sustained interest from cultural historians, political historians, sports historians, and literary scholars in French and Francophone studies. Trisha Urmi Banerjee and Nathaniel Zetter (University of Cambridge) … Continue reading

Posted in Cultural History, European History, European Studies, History in the Media, History of Race and Racism, Museums and Historical Memory, Political Culture, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

French History at the Paris 2024 Olympics

The dramatic opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics featured French history and culture in a series of tableaux vivants and performances that referenced early modern French theater and court culture. Several of my colleagues in early modern French history … Continue reading

Posted in Contemporary France, Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, European Studies, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, History in the Media, Museums and Historical Memory, Women and Gender History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Appian Way and World Heritage Politics

The Appian Way is often considered the world’s first highway, and now it is officially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The New York Times reports: “Known as the “regina viarum,” or the queen of roads, the Appia was … Continue reading

Posted in Ancient History, European History, European Studies, History of the Western World, Italian History, Museums and Historical Memory, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Teaching Western History

I am teaching HIST 110 History of the Western World I this fall semester at Northern Illinois and am once again revamping the readings. I have decided to go with a new interpretive essay, Josephine Quinn’s How the World Made … Continue reading

Posted in Ancient History, European History, Historiography and Social Theory, History of the Western World, Idea of Europe, Medieval History, Mediterranean World, Northern Illinois University, The Past Alive: Teaching History, Undergraduate Work in History, World History | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Douglass Day Workshop

The Newberry Library in Chicago is hosting a Digital Humanities workshop on Frederick Douglass during Black History Month. Undergraduate and graduate students in History at Northern Illinois University may be interested in participating in this event. Here is the announcement … Continue reading

Posted in Digital Humanities, History of Slavery, Human Rights, Manuscript Studies, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

French Colonial History Online Workshops

The French Colonial Historical Society is organizing two online workshops on using documentary sources at the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer (ANOM) in France. For additional information or to register, see the French Colonial Historical Society website. Here is the announcement from … Continue reading

Posted in Archival Research, Contemporary France, Digital Humanities, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, Empires and Imperialism, European History, French Empire, French History, Graduate Work in History, History of Race and Racism, History of Violence, Manuscript Studies, World History | Leave a comment

Beyond the Battlefield Released

My latest essay has been published in the collective volume on Beyond the Battlefield Reconsidering Warfare in Early Modern Europe, ed. Tryntje Helfferich and Howard Louthan (London: Routledge, 2023), which is scheduled to be released today (22 December 2023). My … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Conflict, Civilians and Refugees in War, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, European Wars of Religion, French Wars of Religion, History of Violence, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Digital Mapping and Pre-Modern Violence

Digital mapping projects are investigating episodes of violence in pre-modern societies in new ways. Interpersonal violence often erupted in pre-modern societies. Recent studies of late medieval England recount murders in urban centers: “A spice merchant stabbed by a fruit seller … Continue reading

Posted in Cultural History, Digital Humanities, European History, History of Violence, Manuscript Studies, Material Culture, Medieval History, Urban History | Leave a comment

Natalie Zemon Davis and Early Modern History

I deeply saddened to learn today that renowned early modern historian Natalie Zemon Davis has died. Natalie Zemon Davis was a brilliant historian of early modern French, European, Mediterranean, and global history. Natalie’s essays on unruly women, women’s honor, gender … Continue reading

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, French History, French Wars of Religion, History of the Book, Languedoc and Southern France, Mediterranean World, Rare Books and Pamphlets, Reformation History, Religious Violence, Women and Gender History, World History | Leave a comment