Department of History

Secondary-level female education played a foundational role in reshaping women’s identity in the New South. In Leaders of Their Race: Educating Black and White Women in the New South, Sarah H. Case examines the transformative processes involved at two Georgia schools–one in Atlanta for African American girls and young women, the other in Athens and attended by young white women […]

9/21/17 update: On Friday October 13 there will be a book launch with Prof. Rappaport and guest speakers, in UCSB Theater-Dance West 1701 auditorium, from 5 to 7pm. Recent books have revealed how certain commodities, such as sugar and cotton–and now tea–have shaped the global economy and the rise of mass consumerism. Tea has been one of the most popular […]

In addition to Prof. Kate McDonald’s first book, a study on travel in imperial Japan, and Prof. Hal Drake’s examination of miracles in the fourth century Roman empire, summer and fall 2017 will see the publication of Prof. Erika Rappaport’s  A Thirst for Empire: How Tea Shaped the Modern World and Prof. Toshi Hasegawa’s Crime and Punishment in the Russian Revolution: Mob […]

Professor Drake’s new book offers a fresh examination of a complex polytheistic period in Roman history, surveying a wide range of faiths and belief systems during this eventful century. It offers a thoroughly researched assessment of the supernatural and its sociological and cultural effects on history down to the present. Contemporary readers engaged in religious discourse will find the analysis […]

Prof. Mhoze Chikowero is a featured correspondent in the June 20, 2017 issue of The Herald, Zimbabwe’s largest daily newspaper.  Click here to read Prof. Chikowero’s essay on Cde Dickson “Chinx” Chingaira, a leading Chimurenga (“liberation” in the Shona language) musician and veteran of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.  The essay draws from Prof. Chikowero’s recent book, African Music, Power, and Being […]

UCSB History professors Verónica Castillo-Muñoz, Sherene Seikaly, and Sharon Farmer celebrate their new books with Chancellor Henry Yang. Prof. Castillo-Muñoz has just published The Other California: Land, Identity and Politics on the Mexican Borderlands with the University of California Press. Prof. Seikaly recently published Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy in Mandate Palestine (Stanford University Press, 2016). Prof. Farmer recently published […]

Perspectives on History, the news magazine of the American Historical Association, recently published findings on the job outcomes of students who graduated with an undergraduate degree in history, titled “History is Not a Useless Major“. Contrary to popular myths, history majors are not underemployed or paid less than graduates in other fields. The article concludes, “Majoring in history does not doom […]

The 12th Conference of the International Federation for Research on Women’s History/ Federation Internationale Pour la Recherche en Histoire des Femmes (IFRWH/FIRHF) will be held August 12-15, 2018 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, the home of the current President, Eileen Boris. This will be the first time that this international gathering of historians of women and gender […]

UCSB History professors Verónica Castillo-Muñoz, Elizabeth Digeser, Ann Plane, and Gabriela Soto-Laveaga have chapters in a new edited volume, Globalizing Borderlands Studies in Europe and North America, just published by University of Nebraska Press. The volume was edited by UCSB professor John W.I. Lee and professor Michael North of the University of Greifswald, Germany.  Professor North was a Fulbright Distinguished […]

Cornell University Press recently published Professor Salim Yaqub’s new book, Imperfect Strangers: Americans, Arabs, and U.S.–Middle East Relations in the 1970s. Yaqub’s book argues that the 1970s were a pivotal decade in U.S.-Arab relations—a time when Americans and Arabs became an inescapable presence in each other’s lives and perceptions, and when each society came to feel profoundly vulnerable to the […]

Congratulations to this year’s winner of the Phi Alpha Theta Best First Book Award, Dr. Mateo M. Farzaneh, for The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani. Dr. Farzaneh is an Associate Professor of History of the Islamic World and the Modern Middle East at Northeastern Illinois University-Chicago. Dr. Farzaneh’s PhD is from UC Santa Barbara, where he studied […]

Dr. Giuliana Perrone has been named as one of this year’s Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars by the American Society for Legal History for her paper entitled “Slaves into Citizens: Legitimizing Black Domestic Relationships in Reconstruction-Era State Courts.” She will be presenting her paper at the society’s annual conference in Toronto this October.

Let the Games Begin With the 2016 Olympics just over in Brazil, UC Santa Barbara scholars including Prof. John W.I. Lee discuss the origins and significance of the Games.  Click here to view the complete story.

“A collaborative effort of the Public History Program at UC Santa Barbara, the UCSB Library’s Department of Special Research Collections and the campus’s divisions of student affairs and humanities and fine arts has earned a Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH). The UCSB contingent is one of 63 recipients of the annual […]

A bitter election. Social unrest and violence at home and abroad that seem to augur ruinous times. A gaping political divide fed in part by new technology and ways to communicate. Sound familiar? Welcome to the 19th century. While the hyper-partisanship of today’s America might feel new, two UC Santa Barbara scholars note that we’ve been down this road before. […]

April Haynes (UCSB History PhD 2009) has won the 2016 SHEAR (Society for the History of the Early American Republic) book prize for her 2015 monograph, Riotous Flesh: Women, Physiology and the Solitary Vice in 19th-Century America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015). “Riotous Flesh …sets a new standard for how to study together black and white female reformers while […]

Three graduating seniors, including one History major, have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to undergraduate research at UC Santa Barbara. The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research for 2016 has been awarded to Charles Joseph Key, who has earned a bachelor of arts degree in History, as well as two other undergraduates from different disciplines. Under the mentorship […]

Professor Sherene Seikaly has won this year’s prestigious Plous Award from UCSB’s Academic Senate. Established in 1957, and named after Harold J. Plous, an Assistant Professor in UCSB’s Department of Economics, the Plous Award is presented annually to: an Assistant Professor from the College of Letters and Science. Selection is based on outstanding performance and promise as measured by creative action […]

Since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2007, the history major has lost significant market share in academia, declining from 2.2% of all undergraduate degrees to 1.7%. The graduating class of 2014, the most recent for which there are national data, included 9% fewer history majors than the previous year’s cohort, compounding a 2.8% decrease the year before that. […]

Most faculty who have been around for a while and perhaps a few grad students will remember Jessica Chapman, who studied Vietnamese history at UCSB and wrote a great book: Cauldron of Resistance: Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and 1950s Southern Vietnam (Cornell University Press, 2013). She is now a professor of history at Williams College. Jessica has just […]

Public History PhD Student Melissa Barthelemy has been awarded the Margaret T. Getman and William J. Villa Service to Students Award, for the exhibit that she curated, “We Remember Them: Acts of Love and Compassion in Isla Vista,” an exhibition honoring the acts of love and compassion that emerged in Isla Vista and on the UC Santa Barbara campus after […]

Congratulations to Dr. Anthony Barbieri-Low, who has been awarded a year-long fellowship from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (Senior Scholar Grant program) for his book project “The Many Lives of the First Emperor of China, from History to Myth to Popular Culture.”

Here’s the latest on fellowships, jobs, and promotions for UCSB History graduate students and alumni/ae. Check back frequently for new updates!   POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS Sarah Watkins (Ph.D. 2014; currently Visiting Assistant Professor at Colby College, Maine) has won a Junior Faculty Fellowship at the Center for Historical Research, Ohio State University, on the theme “Family, Kinship, and Households: New Perspectives,” for […]

All graduating History majors and their families are invited! The UCSB Department of History is pleased to invite you to the annual UC Santa Barbara History Department Graduation Reception. Sunday June 12th 10:00am -12:00pm in HSSB 4020 Please join History faculty members and your fellow students for a buffet breakfast and mingling. This celebration is for all graduates of the 2015-2016 […]

Recently, a number of faculty members in the History Department have received awards and honors from various professional organizations and on-campus entities. Join us in congratulating the following faculty members for their well-deserved recognition: Sarah Cline: Was awarded the Edward Lieuwen Award for Lifetime Achievement in Teaching Latin American Studies by the members of the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American […]

Finding Your Inner Rockstar: UCSB Department of History from UC Santa Barbara on Vimeo.

As the political jockeying about replacing Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia begins, LBJ’s experience trying to nominate Justice Abe Fortas as Chief Justice in an election year offers a historical parallel. This Feb. 13, 2016 New Yorker article “The Death of Antonin Scalia” quotes Prof. Kalman, who wrote a biography of Fortas: “Abe Fortas and L.B.J. are spinning in their […]

Gender and Intimacy Across the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands A Workshop at UC Santa Barbara September 30 – October 1, 2016 Loma Pelona Conference Center SCHEDULE Friday, September 30, 2016 5:00-5:15 pm: Welcome & Introduction, Sharon Farmer, Chair & Professor, History 5:15-6:00 pm: Keynote Speaker, Dr. Alexandra M. Stern, Professor of American Culture, Women’s Studies, History, and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the […]

It was voted no. 1 of 2014 publications by leading scholars of Peruvian history Prof. Cecilia Méndez’s book La República Plebeya: Huanta y la formación del Estado Peruano, 1820-1850 (Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2014)[The Plebeian Republic: The Huanta Rebellion and the Making of the Peruvian State, 1820–1850], was voted “the best book of history of 2014” in a survey […]

Historian Eric Foner spoke at UCSB on Tuesday March 3 From an article in the UCSB Current: Foner’s talk focuses on his latest book, “Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad.” It will begin on March 3 at 5 p.m in UCSB’s Campbell Hall. It is free and open to the public. “I think the significance of […]

Prof Kalman remarks on portrayal of LBJ; others quoted in Jan. 2015 UCSB Current Several critics of the recently released film Selma have remarked that the portrayal of President Johnson is skewed more negatively than his historical actions. Asked for her assessment of that aspect of the film, Prof. Kalman responded: “I absolutely loved the movie, which I thought was […]

Please read these guidelines before contacting any history professor about courses HISTORY DEPARTMENT COURSE WAITLIST/ADD POLICY The History Department recognizes the difficulties that students face in adding courses. To ensure efficiency and fairness in the add process, the Department has formulated the following guidelines. Please read them carefully. UPDATE June 3, 2014: eGrades has been augmented to allow automated waitlists […]

Alumni and supporter newsletter features in-depth articles about department news & events This issue’s news includes features on: — Puritans and WWI — History PhDs in Hong Kong — Meet the new grad students — New faculty for Middle East, Borderlands — A grad student’s Fulbright year in Italy Please go to the History Associates’ page to download the full […]

Perlstein’s new book is on “The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan.” The August 31, 2014 New York Times Book Review section’s interview with Rick Perlstein contained this exchange: Who are the best historians writing today? I look to historians for their power to illuminate not just the invisible lineaments of the present, but also that which is […]

This notice is provided because of the filing of an application for permanent alien labor certification for the following position: Assistant Professor in History of Modern Biological/Life Science Applicants should be able to teach a variety of graduate seminars and upper division courses related to the history of the modern life sciences, as well as contribute to the department’s lower-division […]

10:00am – 12:00pm; HSSB 4020 We are pleased to invite you to the Annual UC Santa Barbara History Department Graduation Reception. Please join the History faculty and your fellow students for a reception: Sunday June 15, 2014 10:00am-12:00pm HSSB 4020 Please R.S.V.P by Friday June 6, 2014 This celebration will be for all graduates of the 2013-2014 Bachelors of Arts […]

Alumni and supporter newsletter features in-depth articles about department news & events In this April 2014 issue of Historia: — Teaching Award for Toshi Hasegawa — Reliving the Riviera campus — Gardens in Art — Three grad conferences — Students debate the Great Society at 50 Please go to the History Associates’ page to download the full PDF of this […]

In July 1969—less than two weeks after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin cavorted on the moon—The New York Review of Books published a controversial essay by John McDermott, “Technology: The Opiate of the Intellectuals.” In it, McDermott, a social scientist at the State University of New York, offered a sharp rejoinder to those who viewed the Apollo 11 mission as […]

The program of courses, panel discussions, conferences, public lectures, and symposia runs throughout the 2013-14 academic year. A new History Department webpage has been launched as part of an ongoing initiative to recognize a sweeping array of social policy innovations from 1964 to 2014. Visit The Great Society at Fifty webpage to learn about upcoming courses, lectures, and other events […]

Mexican peasants played an important role in the sourcing of synthetic hormones for birth control. Twenty years ago, NAFTA — the North American Free Trade Agreement — removed barriers to trade between the United States and Mexico, marking a more cooperative phase in what has often been a contentious relationship over the centuries. In this episode, Peter, Ed, and Brian […]

Environmental historian describes legacy of 40-year old policy Prof. Peter Alagona was recently interviewed for his views on the history of the Endangered Species Act. Alagona appeared in a variety of national and regional venues including National Public Radio’s weekly show Science Friday as well as KQUED’s Forum and Minnesota Public radio. December 2013 marked the 40th anniversary of the […]