On February 17, Matthew Guariglia contributed to Slate Magazine with an article titled “Facial Recognition Technology is the New Rogues’ Gallery.” Using his historical training and interest in surveillance in the United States, Guariglia considers the similarities between the current debate over privacy and the previous one from the turn of the twentieth century.
Matthew received his Ph.D. from UConn in 2019 with a dissertation that “explored how U.S. colonialism, immigration, migration, and demographic shifts in New York City changed the way the state learned about urban subjects, and triggered a shift in the way police understood their jobs.” Currently, he serves as a visiting scholar in the Department of History at the University of California-Berkeley, and as a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
Did you know that UConn is one of the few institutions in the US where students can study Old, Early Modern, and Modern Irish language and culture? Or that, thanks to the hard work of Professor Brendan Kane, UConn is leading a multi-institutional and international initiative to recover and codify the Irish language through the website Léamh.org?
On February 12th, CLAS’ Literatures, Cultures, and Languages (LCL) Department blog featured the exciting initiatives that are being undertaken by UConn to keep traditional Irish language and culture alive. The well-detailed post features the work of Professor Brendan Kane (Department of History and LCL) and Professor Mary Burke (Department of English), as well as the involvement of students, such as History graduate student Emmet de Barra, in Léamh and campus organizations.
Brendan Kane, Associate Professor of HistoryEmmet de Barra, History MA Student
To read LCL’s excellent summary, please click here!
On February 12th, Professor Helen Rozwadowski will be taking the podium at Memorial University to deliver the Henrietta Harvey Distinguished Lecture. Established in 1964, the lecture series invitees “highly-regarded scholars” to deliver a lecture, and spend time with faculty, students, and staff through panels and discussion. Sponsored by the Department of Sociology, the Department of Classics, the Department of History, and the Maritime Studies Research Unit, Professor Rozwadowski’s is titled “Writing Ocean Histories”.
For an interview between Prof. Rozwadowski and Memorial University’s Gazette, please click here.
The Senate’s acquittal of President Trump kept media outlets, and Professor Manisha Sinha, busy during the week of February 5th. TIME Magazine‘s article, “Where Trump’s Acquittal Fits Into the History of Impeachment, According to Historians,” features Professor Sinha’s view of the Senate vote, its place in American history, and the future of the Republican Party. Democracy Now! also interviewed Professor Sinha for the second time this year to receive her follow-up remarks on the impeachment process.
Professor Sinha is the James L. and Shirley A. Draper Chair of American History at the University of Connecticut. She currently is on leave as a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University.
On February 4th, Jane C. Hu published an article titled “The Panic Over Chinese People Doesn’t Come From Coronavirus” in Slate. The article includes thoughts from Professor Jason Oliver Chang on the history behind the racialized thinking of Asians as disease carriers. Professor Chang is an Associate Professor of History and Asian American Studies, and Director of UConn’s Asian and Asian American Institute. To read the article, click here.
On January 27th, Inside Higher Ed helped recognize the first year of Contingent Magazine, an online history publication written and edited by trained historians for the public, by publishing an article titled “1 Year Down“. The feature highlights the inspiration behind the creation of Contingent Magazine, the experience of its first year, and where the magazine is heading. As described by Inside Higher Ed, “Contingent Magazine had a lot of doubters when it debuted 12 months ago. But it’s still going strong and earning a reputation as a place where historians can engage the public with the ideas that have always interested them.”
Erin Bartram, 2015 History Ph.D., Contingent Magazine Co-Founder
The detailed feature includes interviews with UConn History Ph.D. Erin Bartram and Ph.D. Candidate Marc Reyes. Bartram serves as Contingent‘s co-founder and Reyes an editor. According to Bartram, an “advocate for the field she loves,” but not the larger structural problems, she asked herself in 2018: “‘What can I do? I can start a magazine with my friends and edit and pay scholars for their work… I don’t necessarily think it will change things structurally, but it matters to the people who get $250 per piece.”
Marc Reyes, Ph.D. Candidate, Contingent Magazine editor.
According to Reyes, he is most “proud of the types and topics of the articles we have run so far, including features, photo essays, and a cartoon. Most recently, in parallel with the 2019 release Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Contingent released Star Wars-inspired features, “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Batuu” and “Sacred Objects,” which investigates how the medieval era inspired the Star Wars universe. In December, during the release of the Star Wars features, the website received 23,000 views. Funded entirely by its loyal readers through small donations, Contingent continually has provided enticing, intellectually provocative features and “postcards” from conferences.
To read more about Contingent Magazine and its successful first year, please click here.
Matthew McKenzie, Professor of History at UConn-Avery Point, recently presented as a speaker in the World Fish Migration Day Lecture Series (sponsored by The Wildlands Trust) in Pembroke, Massachusetts. Professor McKenzie’s talk was titled “Old Friends in a New World: Early English Settlers’ Annual Calendars of New England Fish Arrivals.” Although World Fish Migration Day is not until May 16th, there is no question that Professor McKenzie’s lecture and research helped kick off the celebrations!
A video recording of his lecture can be found here.
On January 22, Draper Chair and Professor Manisha Sinha was interviewed by Democracy Now! to discuss the similarities between President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate and historical similarities to President Andrew Johnson. An 18 minute recording of the interview can be found here with the title of “‘Andrew Johnson Was A Lot Like Trump’: Echoes of 1868 in Trump’s Impeachment Trial”.
Contingent Magazine recently featured Nick Hurley, UConn History B.A. ’13 and M.A. ’15, in his fascinating role as Curator at the New England Air Museum. As part of the magazine’s series on how trained historians “do history,” Nick shared what a “typical day” is like for him (hint: it varies greatly and can include inspecting donated aircraft) and shared how his family’s German origins sparked his interest in history.
Nick also shares how his historical training in Wood Hall and at the UConn Archives & Special Collections helped prepare him for this role. He says: “I knew very little about aircraft and aviation history before starting this job. What I did have, however, was a firm grasp on the fundamentals of historical research thanks to my work in graduate school, as well as an understanding of collections management, access, and care thanks to my time with UConn Archives & Special Collections. Put simply, I knew how to read, write, and speak effectively, and I could draw on my own experiences from both sides of the reference desk to help figure out what visitors (to both our research library and the museum itself) expected and wanted to see.”
On December 25, 2019, Connecticut Public Radio (WNPR) featured an interview with American Girls Podcast hosts (and UConn PhDs) Mary Mahoney and Allison Horrocks. The feature, titled “How The American Girl Dolls Inspired a Cult Podcast,” shares the history behind the podcast, the creation of the American Girl empire, and the large impact that the podcast is having on its loyal listeners. To read, or listen, to the feature, click here.
On February 17, Matthew Guariglia contributed to Slate Magazine with an article titled “Facial Recognition Technology is the New Rogues’ Gallery.” Using his historical training and interest in surveillance in the United States, Guariglia considers the similarities between the current debate over privacy and the previous one from the turn of the twentieth century.
