Jason Zeledon

My Barbary Wars Lecture from History 17A is Now on YouTube!

Check out my website about America's conflicts with the Barbary pirates!
www.barbarywarfare.com

Early U.S. Republic

Ph.D. Student
M.A. American University (History); B.A. University of California, Berkeley (History and English)

Office: HSSB 3212
Hours:

Advisor: Patricia Cohen

My passion is the early U.S. republic, although I enjoy learning about all eras of American history. Patricia Cohen and John Majewski are the co-chairs of my dissertation, which explores the cultural and political significance of America’s conflicts with the Barbary States (Algiers, Morocco, Tripoli, and Tunis) from 1784-1815. In particular, I demonstrate how U.S. gendered perceptions of the (non-white) Barbary "pirates" as effeminate, indolent, lazy, and militarily inept reinforced desires to resist them militarily and helped create an early (and enduring) form of American exceptionalism. (more...)

In addition to the early republic and American history more generally, my comprehensive exam fields include U.S. foreign relations (supervised by Salim Yaqub) and West African history from the 18th century through the present day (supervised by Mhoze Chikowero).

I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for the Barbary Wars with a wider audience and created a website, www.barbarywarfare.com, because no other one discusses these events accurately and thoroughly. Through this website I share my ongoing research, provide resources for others (particularly high school students and undergraduates), and dialogue with other people interested in the Barbary conflicts. Feel free to contact me at jzeledon@umail.ucsb.edu