News

History

Noted life of an “Atlantic Creole” focus of Becker Lectures

4/24/2023 A&S Communications

This year's Carl Becker Lectures, April 25-27, will illuminate the extraordinary life of Captain Francisco Menéndez.

Four people confer over notes — Cornell University Students engage in Active Learning

History

History department begins three-year active learning initiative

3/14/2023 Department of History

Active learning methods encourage students to engage in their learning by thinking, discussing, investigating, and creating in their courses.

Sports history

Acclaimed sports historian to speak on 'the NFL’s Most Important Game'

9/27/2022 A&S Communications

Louis Moore, history professor and co-host of The Black Athlete podcast, will give this semester’s Seymour Lecture in Sports History on Oct. 6.

person walks past a puddle that is reflecting a campus building — Jason Koski/Cornell University Cornell's Arts Quad in early spring

History

American slavery focus of Becker Series in History

3/11/2022 Cornell Chronicle

The lecture series will link the economic relationship between the northern and southern United States, following 'plantation goods,' in three talks by Seth Rockman, associate professor of history at Brown University.

highway surrounded by smouldering brush; a white pickup truck — Marcus Kauffman/Unsplash Fire near Lowell, Oregon in 2017

History

Environmental degradation focus of LaFeber-Silbey lecture March 10

3/3/2022 Cornell Chronicle

Historian Daniel Immerwahr will re-establish the central importance of forests and fire to the settlement of the American West in the nineteenth century during this year's LaFeber-Silbey Lecture.

History

'Staying Real: The War on Truth—And How to Win It'

10/26/2021 Department of History

Brookings Fellow Jonathan Rauch will address misinformation in his talk "Staying Real: The War on Truth—And How to Win It."

History

Seymour lecture focuses on Japan’s Olympic history

10/4/2021 Department of History

Historian Ken Ruoff will discuss the Japan that was on display during the Olympics in 1940 and 1965 at this year’s Harold Seymour Lecture in Sports History.

A woman standing with her fist upraised at a protest at the White House — Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

History

Should hatemongers and extremists have free speech rights? Cornell lecture

9/13/2021 Department of History

Hate speech is increasingly discouraged, even banned, by many institutions and media platforms. But allowing open forums for all speech -- including hate speech -- is essential to democracy.

Student Research

Researching the cultural impacts of climate change on Italy

3/30/2021 Department of History

Kevin Bloomfield, a Ph.D. candidate in history, publishes the paper - Beyond One-Way Determinism: San Frediano's Miracle and Climate Change in Central and Southern Italy in Late Antiquity, which examines the cultural impacts of climate change in Italy during the first millennium by studying scientific data and historical records.

History

Ottoman history video reaches hundreds of thousands

2/19/2021 Department of History

Faculty member Mostafa Minawi collaborated with the TED_Ed team to create a short primer for students.

History

LaFeber-Silbey Lecture: 'California Dreaming'

9/27/2019

Historian Francis J. Gavin will present this year’s LaFeber-Silbey Lecture, “California Dreaming – The Crisis and Rebirth of American Power in the 1970s”. The talk is Thursday, October 3, at 4:30 p.m. in the Kaufmann Auditorium/Room G64 in Goldwin Smith Hall. Sponsored by the Department of History, the talk is free and open to the public.

History

New York Times columnist to speak on meritocracy

4/18/2019 A&S Communications

Our contemporary power structure claims to be based on merit and aims for diversity, but it has lost a sense of duty and responsibility that the traditional aristocracy represented, says author and political essayist Ross Douthat. In “Meritocracy and the Public Good: Who Wins? Who Loses?” Douthat will explore what the costs of this structure are to the common good. Sponsored by the program on Freedom and Free Societies, the talk will be held Thursday, April 25, at 5:30 p.m.

History

Historian Michael Kazin to discuss Democratic party history

4/3/2019

The Democratic Party began in the 1820s as an organization of and for white men who opposed a strong federal government. The party gradually wooed a more inclusive constituency, and its partisans built a national state that sought to advance the common welfare.

History

Jonah Goldberg: on populism and identity politics

11/15/2018 Cornell Chronicle

Is the fabric of our civilization being torn by identity politics, nationalism and populism? Are Americans ignoring character and competence in an “us vs. them” political landscape? Political analyst Jonah Goldberg examined divisiveness in U.S. politics and discuss possible solutions in his talk, “Suicide of the West” Thursday, Nov. 29, at 5:15 p.m. in Klarman Hall’s Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium. His lecture was free and open to the public.

History

Diplomat Fried to present LaFeber-Silbey Lecture Oct. 18

10/3/2018 Cornell Chronicle

From NATO-Russian relations to the collapse of communism in Poland to Guantanamo Bay, Ambassador Daniel Fried ’75 has been on the front lines of U.S. foreign policy. He’ll share an analysis of U.S. foreign policy informed by his 40-year career in the U.S. government as this year’s LaFeber-Silbey lecturer.

History

Military historian to speak on populism April 23

4/12/2018 Cornell Chronicle

In what seems to be a new age of populism, what does history tell us about elites and the will of the masses?Military historian Victor Davis Hanson will address these issues in his talk, “Populist Revolt: Everything Old is New Again,” April 23 at 5:15 p.m. in G10 Biotechnology Building. The lecture is sponsored by the Freedom and Free Societies program at Cornell and is free and open to the public.

Freedom and Free Societies

Historian examined today’s populist revolt in April 23 talk

4/10/2018 A&S Communications

In what seems to be a new age of populism, what does history tell us about elites and the will of the masses? Public intellectual and renowned military historian Victor Davis Hanson will address these issues in his talk, “Populist Revolt: Everything Old is New Again,” April 23 at 5:15 pm in Cornell’s Bio-Tech Building, G10

History

Student's history elective leads to first prize essay

12/19/2017

Jacob Weintraub's essay explores the failure of the U.S. to use intelligence about Japan’s naval capability in the days leading up to World War II.