Prof. Manisha Sinha’s recent talk at the event “The Past, Present, and Future of American Democracy” was discussed in the Harvard Gazette under the headline: “Historian sees a warning for today in post-Civil War U.S.”
Event
Prof Ogbar’s “America’s Black Capital” Talk Broadcast Over C-Span
Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar gave a talk on his new book, America’s Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy at the Atlanta Center in January.
The event was then broadcast over C-Span.
America’s Black Capital chronicles how African American’s pushed back against Confederate ideology and transformed Atlanta into today’s “Black Mecca.”
Manisha Sinha on American Democracy April 4th
Prof. Manisha Sinha will take part in a panel titled “The Past, Present, and Future of American Democracy,” on Thursday, April 4th at the Thompson Room, Barker Center at Harvard University from 4:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. 
The event will be moderated by Lisa McGirr (Warren Center Director). The panelists are: Carol Anderson (Emory), Daniel Ziblatt (Harvard), Gary Gerstle (Cambridge University), Manisha Sinha (Univ. of Connecticut). There is no paper or supplemental reading for this event.
This is co-sponsored by the Warren Center, American Studies, Department of History, Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, and the Center For American Political Studies.
What is a Disaster?: Andy Horowitz and Jacob A. C. Remes
On Thursday, April 4th at 6 p.m. Connecticut State Historian and UConn History Professor Andy Horowitz will be in conversation with Jacob A. C. Remes at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History titled “What is a Disaster?”
From the event site:
“Floods and earthquakes, wars and famines, engineering failures and economic collapses — these frightening events seem to define modern life. We name them “disasters.” But what makes a disaster different from other periods of time? In a freewheeling conversation, two leading scholars in the field of disaster studies will consider events in Connecticut history and beyond, thinking out loud together about why some kinds of bad news are considered disasters while others are not, and what difference it makes.”
Find more information here.
Prof. Rozwadowski to give Sidore Lecture on March 19th
Professor of History and founder of the Maritime Studies Program at the University of Connecticut, Helen Rozwadowski will give the Sidore Lecture at Plymouth State University on March 19th at 7:00 p.m titled, “Fathoming: How Curiosity Can Help Save the Oceans.”
Prof. Rozwadowski recently discussed her work for the NOAA which can be found here.
Frank Costigliola on George Kennan, with Kai Bird November 9th
University of Connecticut Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of History, Frank Costigliola will discuss his most recent book, Kennan: A Life between Worlds, with the Executive Director of the Leon Levy Center Kai Bird. The hybrid event will occur Thursday, November 9th, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. in-person at the CUNY Graduate Center’s Segal Theatre and online via Zoom.
Fiona Vernal to Present for Hartford Lecture Series on Oct. 5th
Hartford Lecture Series brings local organizations and their histories to light. UCONN’s Fiona Vernal, Director, Engaged, Public, Oral and Community Histories (EPOCH), convened the series in collaboration with CT State Community College, the Hartford Heritage project, and series founder Bill Hosley. Vernal will deliver her lecture (in person and live stream) on Hartford’s ethnic heritage on October 5th at 5:45 p.m. at CT’s Old State House.
For streaming information, please see the attached poster.
Nuchi nu Miji – Okinawa’s Water of Life Screening at Avery Point
The UConn Avery Point Campus will host a special screening of the film, Nuchi nu Miji – Okinawa’s Water of Life at the Avery Point Campus in the auditorium on March 21st from 3-6 pm, organized by UConn History Prof. and Maritime Studies Affiliate Faculty member, Alexis Dudden. The film portrays Okinawans’ struggle for justice in one of the worst environmental catastrophes in modern Japanese history, where since 2016 nearly one-third of the population’s drinking water has been contaminated with military PFAS “Forever Chemicals.” It features interviews, archive footage and documents obtained via the US Freedom of Information Act, to uncover the truth of what has been happening in Okinawa, and the struggle of residents who feel ignored by both Tokyo and Washington.
Both of the filmmakers, Shimabukuro Natsuko and Jon Mitchell, will also be present to meet.
- Shimabukuro Natsuko is a director with Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting Corporation. Her documentaries about Okinawan history, politics, and environmental problems have won Japan’s top TV prizes, including the prestigious Galaxy Award. She is a member of Waseda University’s Institute for the Next Generation of Journalism and Media.
- Jon Mitchell is a correspondent with Okinawa Times and the author of four books about Okinawa’s environment, including Poisoning the Pacific (Rowman & Littlefield), a winner in the 2021 US Society of Environmental Journalists’ book awards. He is a visiting researcher at Meiji Gakuin University’s International Peace Research Institute, Tokyo.
Prof. Dudden’s research includes work on modern Japan, modern Korea, and international history and she is currently writing a book, The Opening and Closing of Japan, 1850-2020, about Japan’s territorial disputes and the changing meaning of islands in international law.
Find more information about the event here.
Brendan Kane Presents Kelleher Lecture at Harvard
This Thursday Professor Brendan Kane will be giving the 18th John V. Kelleher Lecture in Celtic Studies at Harvard University, on the topic of “Paleography and Power: Irish Political Thought in a Multi-Lingual Archive.” There is an associated display of the Irish manuscripts held by Houghton Library which have been key to his research. Congratulations to Professor Kane on this latest achievement in his broader efforts to recast our understanding of early modern Irish and English history based on the close reading of long-undervalued Irish-language sources.
Prof. Fiona Vernal Participates in Hartford Heritage Series
UConn History Professor Fiona Vernal delivered a talk on Shade Tobacco Stories: Land, Labor, and Immigration in the CT Tobacco Valley. As a part of Capitol Community College’s virtual history heritage series, Prof. Vernal gives us a deeper appreciation of the local histories that go forgotten between the larger national stories that influence yet take center stage in the narratives we tell about the past. She illustrates the connections and collaborations that people of West Indian, Caribbean, and African descent fostered as they labored and organized to create political communities and social networks. The making of tobacco culture in CT is one that Prof. Vernal details with passion and dedication.
Listen to her talk on the CT Old State House page and read this Hartford Courant article that chronicles the work of historians throughout the region laboring to bring the history of Hartford and its surrounding areas to the fore. The whole series is on the CT Old State House page!