Seeing Race Before Race Fellowship: Reminder

Posted on March 6, 2022 by briansandberg

I am re-posting this fellowship announcement, since the deadline (8 March 2022) for applications is fast approaching.

Premodern critical race studies is a rapidly expanding field within premodern studies. Many historians of the Medieval and Early Modern World are investigating the histories and languages of race and racism in premodern contexts.

The Center for Renaissance Studies is currently hiring a Postdoctoral Fellow in conjunction with its Seeing Race Before Race project.

Recent Ph.D.s in premodern History and related fields may be interested in applying for this postdoctoral fellowship.

Here is the announcement from the Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library:

The Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies seeks an early career scholar in Premodern Critical Race Studies to serve as a Public Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow for one year (with the possibility of renewal for a second year pending grant funding) to support Seeing Race Before Race, a multi-year project including an exhibition, public and scholarly programming, a publication, and digital initiatives. The Fellow will begin in Fall 2022, one year before the exhibition launches in Fall 2023.

The Public Humanities Fellow will be responsible for ensuring that all exhibition assets align with prevailing methods of premodern critical race studies. This position will assist in creating and editing exhibition texts; acting as the internal and external communications lead for the project; managing exhibition programming work; developing digital resources; and liaising with departments across the Newberry. The Fellow will report to the Director of the Center for Renaissance Studies.

This position requires a PhD in a humanities field related to medieval, early modern, colonial, Atlantic World, or Indigenous studies from 1100-1800, with expertise in critical race studies preferred. Preference may be given to candidates whose scholarly work or career has been focused on public history, museums, libraries, and archives.

Please email your cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to Human Resources at jobs@newberry.org. In the email’s subject, please note the position you are applying to. Please combine all requested documents into a single PDF document and submit as an email attachment. For more information, please visit the Newberry’s Employment page here: https://www.newberry.org/employment

Applications will be reviewed beginning March 8, 2022, on a rolling basis, and the review will continue until the position is filled.

Please direct all questions about the position to renaissance@newberry.org

Posted in Cultural History, Digital Humanities, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, Grants and Fellowships, History of Race and Racism, History of Violence, World History | Leave a comment

Russian Offensives in Ukraine

Posted on March 6, 2022 by briansandberg

Ten days into the Ukraine War, we can begin to assess the Russian offensives in Ukraine on multiple fronts.

Separate Russian offensives are threatening to encircle the major cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv in northern Ukraine, while the Russian forces from Crimea advance in southern Ukraine, and fighting continues in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces have employed airstrikes, missile strikes, and bombardments of strategic sites, government facilities, and urban centers throughout Ukraine.

Countless news reports and social media posts offer real time perspectives on the fighting, but there have also been many documented cases of fake news and false claims. In addition, government agencies and militaries have differing interests that affect war news and information. So, we have to be very careful in assessing news of the ongoing military campaigns.

Assessing military units’ movements and combat is extraordinarily difficult, despite satellite photography and social media video posts. The Institute for the Study of War continues to provide some of the best daily assessments of the military operations. Their maps of military operations are being used by most major news media organizations, a sign of their influence on war reports and strategic analyses. Maps, daily analyses of military operations, and strategic assessments are available at the Institute for the Study of War.

Historians and political scientists are playing a role in deciphering the strategic situation. Here is one example of a Foreign Policy interview with Alexander Motyl, Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University-Newark:

What Putin’s Past Says About Ukraine’s Future A historian speaks on how the Russian president’s history helps explain his current mindset. Mary Yang Foreign Policy

Many news organizations have published opinion pieces and analyses that offer predictions on the course of the war and potential outcomes. This approach is related to military and diplomatic organizations’ practices of “war gaming” scenarios to train for future conflicts. Here is a BBC report on five potential scenarios for the outcome of the Ukraine War:

Ukraine: How might the war end? Five scenarios What are some of the possible scenarios that politicians and military planners are examining? BBC News

Posted in Empires and Imperialism, European History, European Studies, European Union, Security Studies, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

RSA High School Teaching Grants

Posted on March 3, 2022 by briansandberg

The Renaissance Society of America (RSA) is once again offering teaching grants for high school teachers who teach online lessons or units on Renaissance studies.

The RSA is currently inviting high school teachers to submit proposals for their Grants in Support of Innovative Teaching of Renaissance Studies to High School Students.

The RSA’s announcement reads:

In the wake of the COVID pandemic, high school teachers around the globe have been searching for and creating new ways to immerse their students in the experience of Renaissance culture. To recognize and share these innovative teaching methods, the RSA is delighted to announce our second annual competition for the best online teaching projects in secondary education.

The winners of this competition will each receive an award of $1,000 and will present their projects at a Zoom conference that we plan to make available to a wide range of secondary school teachers, not only current members of the RSA but those who want to learn more about Renaissance studies. The conference will be held on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.

The competition is open to scholars actively engaged in teaching high school students: for instance, museum docents, library curators, and directors of education at theatre companies as well as high school teachers. Proposals from such fields as art history, drama, history, literature, languages, and music are all welcome. The project could include virtual tours of museums, architectural sites, or rare book libraries, or online performances of drama and music. The deadline for proposals is Monday, May 9, 2022. Please email us at rsa@rsa.org with any questions.

Sincerely,

The RSA Committee for Grants in Support of Innovative Teaching of Renaissance Studies to High School Students

Previous Winners include:

Tim Overkempe, “Living Pasts: Bringing History Alive through Locals and by Digital Means”

Emma Whipday, “Stay at Home Shakespeare”

Santiago Muñoz-Abeláez, “Paisajes coloniales: redibujando los territorios andinos en el siglo XVII [Colonial Landscapes: Redrawing Andean Territories in the 17th Century]”

Jorge Torres, “Nahua Music at the Time of the Conquest”

Thomas Hendrickson, “Unedited Neo-Latin Manuscripts in the High School Classroom”

Elisa Frei, “On the Edition of Renaissance Manuscripts”

Johnny L. Bertolio, “Le vie dorate: Un’altra letteratura italiana: da San Francesco a Igiaba Scego [The Golden Paths: Another Diverse Italian Literature from Saint Francis to Igiaba Scego]”

Anne Blaney, “Fun with Words” (Exploring the Folger Shakespeare API)

Posted in Art History, Cultural History, Digital Humanities, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, Grants and Fellowships, Humanities Education, Mediterranean World, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History, The Past Alive: Teaching History | Leave a comment

Ukraine War

Posted on February 28, 2022 by briansandberg

My students in HIST 384 History of War since 1500 at Northern Illinois University are following the developments in the Ukraine War, which relates directly to the themes we are studying this semester.

Russian rocket launcher destroyed in fighting around Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

I have opened an optional Discussion Forum this week for NIU students who would like to discuss the Ukraine War and consider the comparative history of war.

My personal website and blog already includes links for websites analyzing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One of the websites that I highlight is the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank specializing in the comparative study of war.

The ISW’s maps and analyses of the Ukraine crisis and Russian invasion are being used by many major news media. Here is ISW’s latest update on the Ukraine War:

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/ukraine-conflict-update-10

I will be posting additional information on my personal website soon.

My students will definitely be discussing the Ukraine War in HIST 384 History of War since 1500 throughout the rest of the semester and during the last week on current conflicts and the future of war.

A Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s borders created the Ukraine Crisis (November 2021 – February 2022), but this crisis grew out of political tensions and unresolved strategic concerns involving Russia and Ukraine stemming from the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union.

We can discuss many political, military, strategic, economic, and historical factors that have contributed to the current conflict.

The Maidan Revolution in Kyiv in February 2014 ousted a Russian-backed government in Ukraine, provoking a Russian annexation of Crimea and support for Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine (Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic). Since 2014, Ukrainian military forces and Russian separatists have repeatedly clashed, and pro-Ukraine and pro-Russia militia groups have fought a low-intensity conflict in eastern Ukraine. We might consider whether state or non-state armed actors have been more important in the civil conflict in Ukraine from 2014 to 2022 (prior to the Russian invasion of last week)?

For an overview of Ukrainian and Russian history, see NPR’s report:

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/12/1080205477/history-ukraine-russia

United States military intelligence issued a series of warnings of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War, a major think tank specializing in war studies issued its own warning of a probable Russian invasion on 18 February:

“Russia may launch an attack on Ukraine on Saturday, February 19, 2022. The attack would likely begin with an air and missile campaign targeting much of Ukraine to decapitate the government and degrade the Ukrainian military as well as the ability of Ukrainian citizens to prepare to resist a subsequent Russian invasion. US and allied governments have been warning of such an attack for some days, pointing to the size of the Russian forces concentrated on Ukraine’s borders. …”

Russia launched a major invasion of Ukraine a few days later, on 24 February 2022.

We can discuss why some nation-states, military organizations, and political groups downplayed the threat of a Russian invasion prior to the outbreak of war?

Posted in Arms Control, Civil Conflict, Civilians and Refugees in War, Comparative Revolutions, European History, European Studies, European Union, Revolts and Revolutions, Security Studies, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | 4 Comments

Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Posted on February 24, 2022 by briansandberg

Russian military forces have launched a major invasion of Ukraine, escalating the civil conflict in eastern Ukraine into a broader Ukraine War. President Putin has made a televised announcement of a “special military operation” in Ukraine, effectively declaring war.

Russian forces have bombarded strategic sites in Ukraine, including airstrikes and/or missile strikes at Ukrainian airports and air bases. BBC News reports that “Missile strikes and explosions have been reported in several parts of Ukraine, including Kyiv and Kharkiv.”

Russian airstrike at Chuguyev Airport, 24 February 2022. Photo: Agence France-Presse

These airstrikes seem to be supported by artillery bombardments in eastern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russian armed forces have crossed the Ukrainian border at multiple points. BBC News confirms that Russian military units have invaded Ukraine from their positions in Russia, Crimea, and Belarus.

BBC News reports on the outbreak of the Ukraine War. The New York Times is providing live updates, as are The Washington Post and France24.

For more in-depth analysis of the Ukraine War as it develops, see:

The Council on Foreign Relations provides policy analyses focused on international relations.

The Mershon Center for International Security Studies at The Ohio State University sponsors research on international relations, current conflicts, and the history of war and society.

Institute for the Study of War maintains a robust website with information and analyses on current conflicts, including the Ukrainian Crisis.

The Center for a New American Security is a think tank that offers analyses of conflicts and security issues.

The Rand Corporation is one of the oldest policy think tanks focused on military and security studies.

The International Security Program at the New America Foundation provides analyses of international relations and conflicts.

The United States Institute of Peace provides conflict analysis in the context of its promotion of conflict resolution and peacemaking worldwide.

The Peace Research Institute Oslo tracks conflicts and promotes peacemaking initiatives.

Posted in Civil Conflict, Civilians and Refugees in War, Empires and Imperialism, European History, European Studies, European Union, History of Violence, Idea of Europe, Security Studies, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Rousseau and Revolution

Posted on February 22, 2022 by briansandberg

The Medieval and Early Modern Studies Seminar at Montclair State University is hosting a lecture by Francesco Toto on “Rousseau and Revolution in the Second Discourse.”

Graduate students in pre-modern History at Northern Illinois University may be interested in this online lecture.

Here is the announcement from the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Seminar:

Montclair State University’s interdisciplinary Medieval and Early Modern Studies Seminar (MEMS) is pleased to announce a Zoom lecture on Wednesday, February 23 at 10am (EST)

Francesco Toto, Rousseau and Revolution in the Second Discourse

Francesco Toto is Assistant Professor at the University Roma Tre, where he works in anthropological, ethical, and political thought. His research has been focused on Hobbes, Spinoza, Helvétius and Rousseau, but he has also been interested in other well-known (Adam Smith, Sade) and lesser-known (Jean Meslier, Dom Deschamps) authors.  He is the author of two books, one on Spinoza (L’individualità dei corpi. Percorsi nell’ Etica di Spinoza, Milan, 2015), and one on Rousseau (L’origine e la storia. Il Discorso sull’ineguaglianza di Rousseau, Pisa, 2019); has published many articles and book chapters in Italian, French, English and Spanish; and has edited several books and journal issues. He is a member of the research group focused on the topic of “Compassion in Action: Theories of Sympathy and Construction of Otherness in the Long Eighteenth Century,” and co-directs the journal “Consecutio rerum” (www.consecutio.org).More information at the MEMS website.

Posted in Civil Conflict, Comparative Revolutions, Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, History of Violence, Intellectual History, Revolts and Revolutions | Leave a comment

The Ukrainian Crisis and the History of War

Posted on February 22, 2022 by briansandberg

The current Ukrainian Crisis is being analyzed by security studies and international relations analysts primarily through the lens of recent Russian History and Eastern European Studies (using area studies approaches).

War and Society Studies may offer some different perspectives on this crisis. By considering competing definitions of modern warfare and diverse examples of wars over a long time period, historians of War and Society can avoid simple analogies and develop more nuanced understandings of long-term developments in international relations and warfare.

Russian military exercises near the Ukrainian border, February 2022. Photo: Euronews.

I am encouraging Northern Illinois Univeristy undergraduate students in my current course, HIST 384 History of War since 1500, to consider how the history of war that we are studying in the course relate to the Ukrainian Crisis. Numerous aspects of modern warfare that we are examining are shaping the current crisis: nationalism, mobilization, conscription, barracks, civil-military relations, mass armies, partisan war, social terrorism, combined-arms tactics, logistical systems, war news, propaganda, limited war, and laws of war.

NIU Honors students who took my course last semester on HIST 399 Communal Conflict: Civil Wars in World History will be able to use their knowledge of Violence Studies and Comparative Civil Conflict to assess the developing Ukrainian Crisis. We studied civil conflict, religious conflict, colonial conflict, civil warfare, revolutionary war, nationalism, civil-military relations, separatism, paramilitaries, guerrilla warfare, ethnic conflict, atrocity, conflict resolution, and peacemaking.

NIU undergraduate students in my course on HIST 110 History of the Western World I are investigating the history of the concept of the West. The Ukrainian Crisis shows how the definitions of Europe and the West are still debated and contested. Can Ukraine be considered European? Some Ukrainians want their nation to join the European Union, while some ethnically Russian Ukrainians would rather join the Russian Federation. President Putin has challenged the sovereignty of Ukraine and even questioned whether it is a nation-state at all. Can the Russian Federation be considered part of the West? Ever since the reign of Peter the Great, Russian leaders have often asserted that Russia is part of Europe, but other European states have normally disputed such claims. The Ukrainian Crisis exposes the uncertain future of Ukraine and the idea of Europe, yet it has paradoxically renewed the sense of unity among members of the NATO alliance and of the European Union, arguably reinforcing the notion of the West.

I encourage my students to follow the developing Ukrainian Crisis and consider how their historical studies can provide different perspectives on current events.

Several major research institutes and think tanks offer analysis of current events through the lens of War and Society Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Violence Studies, International Relations Studies, and related methodologies:

The Council on Foreign Relations provides policy analyses focused on international relations.

The Mershon Center for International Security Studies at The Ohio State University sponsors research on international relations, current conflicts, and the history of war and society.

Institute for the Study of War maintains a robust website with information and analyses on current conflicts, including the Ukrainian Crisis.

The Center for a New American Security is a think tank that offers analyses of conflicts and security issues.

The Rand Corporation is one of the oldest policy think tanks focused on military and security studies.

The International Security Program at the New America Foundation provides analyses of international relations and conflicts.

The United States Institute of Peace provides conflict analysis in the context of its promotion of conflict resolution and peacemaking worldwide.

The Peace Research Institute Oslo tracks conflicts and promotes peacemaking initiatives.

Some journals of international relations provide analyses of current conflicts: Foreign Affairs, International Affairs (UK), and Le Monde diplomatique (France).

Several specialized news media services are providing in-depth reporting on the Ukrainian Crisis. On international relations and diplomacy, see especially: Foreign Policy.

Major newspapers and magazines with robust foreign affairs and current conflicts divisions offer in-depth reporting, including: Al Jazeera (Qatar), Atlantic, BBC (UK), Corriere della Sera (Italy), Democracy Now!, DW (Germany), The Economist (UK), Euronews (Europe), France 24 (France), Guardian (UK), Le Monde (France), Libération (France), Mother Jones, The New York Times, NPR, El Païs (Spain), Politico, Reuters (UK), Der Spiegel (Germany), and Washington Post.

Posted in Arms Control, Civil Conflict, Empires and Imperialism, European History, European Studies, European Union, History in the Media, History of Violence, Peacemaking Processes, Political Culture, Political Theory, Security Studies, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Femmes à la cour de France

Posted on February 14, 2022 by briansandberg

Tracy Adams has published a review of a collective volume on Femmes à la cour de France, edited by Caroline zum Kolk and Kathleen Wilson.

I was pleased to write an essay for this collective volume on noblewomen from the Montmorency family during the French Wars of Religion.

The full citation for the book is:

Caroline zum Kolk and Kathleen Wilson, eds., Femmes à la cour de France: Charges et fonctions (XVe – XIXe siècle). Lille: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2018. 406 pp. Illustrations. € 32.00 (pb). ISBN 9782757423615.

Tracy Adams’s review may be found on the H-France website at https://h-france.net/vol22reviews/vol22no6Adams.pdf H-France Review Vol. 22 (January 2022), No. 6.

Tracy Adams describes the historical context of women at the early modern French court: “During the last decades of the fifteenth century, the number of women at the French royal court began to increase, and female roles became more specialized and prestigious, with new opportunities for upward mobility. Entourages of richly appareled attendants came to form an essential component of the queen’s, and, therefore, the king’s, grandeur. The phenomena were not lost on contemporary observers, who expressed awe at the privileged positions and liberty of word and movement that female members of the court enjoyed.”

Adams also discusses the historical scholarship on royal and noblewomen at the French court: “As the editors of this volume note, a long and diverse historiography attests to a steady fascination for the queens, regents, and princesses who inhabited the great cours des dames, and a number of these familiar figures—Catherine de Médicis, Anne of Austria, Marie-Antoinette—make brief appearances here. However, they are not the main characters in the work under review. Instead, this study foregrounds the dames and demoiselles d’honneur (as several of the essays make clear, the names refer to very specific positions, so I leave them in the original), chambermaids, spouses of ministers, and relatives of the royal family who served them. In addition, rather than biographical narratives of these women, the essays offer analyses of their official tasks and duties, the better to understand how they fit into the larger court system. The volume therefore contributes to a still budding scholarship that takes the careers of female courtiers and the positions they occupied seriously, studies like Jan Hirschbiegel and Werner Paravicini’s 2007 collection, Das Frauenzimmer, and Nadine Akkerman and Birgit Houben’s The Politics of the Female Households from 2013.[1] Moreover, as the editors also note, in contrast with their Anglo and German counterparts, French historians did not begin to produce court studies until the first decade of this century. The sixteen essays collected in this volume, focusing on female courtiers at the French royal court, fill a significant gap.”

Posted in Civil Conflict, Court Studies, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, European Wars of Religion, French History, French Wars of Religion, Gender and Warfare, Noble Culture and History of Elites, Paris History, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History, State Development Theory, Warfare in the Early Modern World, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

Undergraduate Research Funding at NIU

Posted on February 14, 2022 by briansandberg

Northern Illinois University offers Undergraduate Research Funding to current undergraduate students through several different programs of the Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning. (OSEEL).

Many NIU History Majors and Minors have won funding in the past to support their research projects related to HIST 495 Senior Capstone and other History courses.

If you are interested in competing for undergraduate research funding, feel free to contact me via email to discuss your research project prior to submitting your application.

Here is the announcement from NIU’s Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning about undergraduate research funding:

Conference on Undergraduate Research and Engagement, Northern Illinois University. Photo: Northern Illinois University

Funding for Summer/Fall 2022 Undergraduate Research Projects Available

Applications for the summer/fall 2022 Student Engagement Fund (SEF) and Research, Engagement and Academic Diversity (READ) Grant are currently being accepted and have a due date of Monday, March 21. SEF and READ support projects that consist of undergraduate students working on faculty-mentored research, community-based projects and projects focused on social justice and diversity. Student and faculty submissions are considered.


Recipients of the funds are provided financial support of up to $2,500 for research-related expenses including project supplies and conference registration (for the student). Additionally, students working on the project are eligible for up to $1,200 in compensation for their work as an undergraduate research assistant. 


Open to all colleges. Visit OSEEL.niu.edu for more information and to apply.

Posted in Grants and Fellowships, Northern Illinois University, Undergraduate Work in History | Leave a comment

Supervisory Historian Position at the Smithsonian

Posted on February 11, 2022 by briansandberg

The Smithsonian Institute is currently hiring a Supervisory Historian at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

The National Portrait Gallery provides a brief history: “The National Portrait Gallery was authorized and founded by Congress in 1962 with the mission to acquire and display portraits of individuals who have made significant contributions to the history, development, and culture of the people of the United States. Today, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery continues to narrate the multi-faceted and ever-changing story of America through the individuals who have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts, and new media, the Portrait Gallery presents poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists whose lives form our national identity.”

National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

The job description for the Supervisory Historian outlines the following duties:

  • Leads all historical research and interpretation; monitors the historical accuracy of the work produced by the History Department.
  • As a professional scholar, authors articles and books; responds to letters of inquiry on historical topics from the public, researchers, and scholars.
  • Oversees the evolution of America’s Presidents; develops special temporary exhibitions on American history, art, and biography; selects artworks to create educational and visually stimulating exhibitions.

The full job description is available online at USAJobs.gov.

The National Portrait Gallery website has additional information.

Posted in Art History, Cultural History, Jobs and Positions, Museums and Historical Memory, Political Culture, United States History and Society | Leave a comment