Graduate News Archive - Department of History

Congratulations to Sarah Miles on Dean’s Distinguished Dissertation Award!

Congratulations to graduate student Sarah K. Miles, who received the 2024 Dean’s Distinguished Dissertation Award in the area of the Humanities and Fine Arts for her dissertation entitled “One and the Same Struggle: Francophone Intellectuals, Global Solidarity, and Third Worldist … Read more

Thomas-Patterson’s Summer Research leads to new conclusions

MA Candidate Mark Thomas-Patterson was the recipient of the Rose Library Short-Term Award Fellowship from the Rose Library at Emory University to conduct research over the course of summer 2023. With the support of this grant, Thomas-Patterson was able to … Read more

Piskačová wins Jung Paper Prize

UNC PhD student Zora Piskačová has been awarded the prestigious Anthony Jung Award for Best Graduate Student Paper at the 48th Annual European Studies Conference, sponsored by the Unviersity of Nebraska at Omaha. Piskačová, who studies modern East Central Europe … Read more

UNC PhDs Offer Support for Rob Waters’ Groundbreaking Book

Dr. Rob Waters, a historian of Modern Britain at Queen Mary’s University in London, has just published his second monograph with Oxford University Press: Colonized by Humanity: Caribbean London and the Politics of Integration at the End of Empire. In 2021, … Read more

3 UNC PhDs win Michie Award

This year, three UNC History graduate students have been selected to receive the Sally Markham Michie Award from the Orange County chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Cristian Walk, Nick Sifford, and Skye Brenner will be honored at … Read more

13th Annual UNC-KCL Graduate Student Workshop on Transatlantic Approaches (September 11-12)

Update Thanks to everyone who joined for the 2023 UNC-KCL Graduate Student Workshop! Our panelists learned so much from their peers and faculty participants and we were thrilled to host our friends from King’s College London here in Chapel Hill! … Read more

PhD Candidate Sarah Miles Interviews UNC Alumn Nicole Bauer

Sarah K. Miles, currently in her last year as a PhD student at UNC, is a host for the New Books Network channel in French Studies. Her most recent episode is an interview with Nicole Bauer, who graduated with her … Read more

PhD Candidate Mira Markham Awarded Konrad H. Jarausch Essay Prize

Congratulations to Mira Markham, 2023 recipient of the Konrad H. Jarausch Essay Prize for Advanced Graduate Students in modern Central European history, awarded by the North Carolina German Studies Seminar and Workshop Series (NCGS). With her submission entitled “Operation Velehrad, … Read more

PhD Candidate Alison Curry featured on R.UNC

Alison Curry, currently an ABD student in the History Department, was recently featured in a Research UNCovered post for the fascinating work she’s doing on Jewish cemetaries in Poland in the interwar period and during World War II. Her work … Read more

UNC PhD Nurlan Kabdylkhak Awarded Newcombe Fellowship

We are so incredibly proud of Nurlan Kabdylkhak, UNC History PhD Candidate in late imperial Russian and Central Asian History, who has been awarded a Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for 2023. Nurlan’s dissertation is entitled “Muslim Institutions and … Read more

Graduate Student Hooper Schultz Featured in Carolina Graduate School Magazine

PhD Candidate and UNC ’14 alum Hooper Schultz is featured in the April edition of Carolina Graduate School Magazine. Read about his journey to graduate school, his research through the Southern Oral History Program, and his important work on gay … Read more

Çaşkurlu & Turkish Student Association Fundraise for Earthquake Relief

A UNC History PhD student was featured in today’s issue of The Well for the incredible work he has done fundraising for those effected by the recent earthquakes in Turkey. Ahmet Tarık Çaşkurlu, himself a survivor of the devastating 1999 … Read more

Digital History Lab Podcast: The Past Presented

UNC History Department’s Digital History Lab is very excited to announce the first episode in their new podcast, “The Past Presented.” The podcast aims to examine the tools, techniques, and technologies that historians use to study the past through interviews … Read more

UNC Alumnus Milteer wins SHA Prize

At this year’s Southern Historical Association conference, UNC History alumnus Warren Eugene Milteer Jr. (PhD, 2014) was awarded the 2022 Sydnor Award for best book in southern history published last year. Milteer’s book, Beyond Slavery’s Shadow: Free People of Color in … Read more

Graduate Student Mira Markham featured in Contingent Magazine

PhD Candidate Mira Markham recently penned an insightful essay about her experiences in the archives for her dissertation research. Read her essay in Contingent Magazine.

Congratulations to Lindsay Ayling, Frederick Cochran, and Marlon Londoño, 2021 Teaching Assistant Award Recipients

On April 14, the Committee on Teaching honored graduate students Lindsay Ayling, Frederick Cochran, and Marlon Londoño with the 2021 teaching assistant awards. Read about their respective awards below: UNC History Department Peter Filene Award for Creative Teaching: Lindsay … Read more

Department Alumni Appear in Media Discussing Ukraine

Multiple department graduate program alumni have recently appeared in various media outlets discussing the historical context of the war in Ukraine. Here are some of their appearances. Virginia Olmsted McGraw – NPR: Putin’s puffy coat and Zelenskyy’s T-shirts show the … Read more

Graduate Student Cristian Walk Receives Tanner Award

Congratulations to department graduate student Cristian Walk on receiving a Tanner Award for Graduate Teaching Assistants. Read more about Cristian and his philosophy on teaching here.

Graduate Student Alexandra Odom In Carolina Arts & Sciences Magazine

Alexandra Odom won a Graduate School Impact award for her role in a documentary film focusing on the achievement gap between white and Black students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. The Carolina Arts & Sciences Magazine wrote about Odom … Read more

Five Graduate Students Awarded Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships

Congratulations to five history graduate students on being awarded the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Laura Cox, Arianne Ekinci, Cody Love, Emily Taylor, and Abigail Warchol will use their fellowships to travel to the areas they study and conduct research. You … Read more

Prof. Shannon Eaves (PhD ’15) Wins Prestigious Fellowship

Shannon Eaves, PhD’ 15 and current Assistant Professor of African American History at the College of Charleston, recently received a prestigious Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). You can read more about Professor Eaves’s … Read more

Elizabeth Ellis, PhD’15 is Honorable Mention for Cappon Prize

Elizabeth Ellis, PhD’ 15 won Honorable Mention for her article “The Natchez War Revisited: Violence, Multinational Settlements, and Indigenous Diplomacy in the Lower Mississippi Valley” published in the William & Mary Quarterly in July 2020. The annual Cappon Prize recognizes … Read more

Graduate student, Emma Rothberg, Featured in Graduate School Magazine

PhD candidate, Emma Rothberg, was interviewed in the Carolina Graduate School Magazine about her Ruth Bader Ginsburg Predoctoral Fellowship with the National Women’s History Museum. Read more about Rothberg’s fellowship and the full interview.

May 2021 Graduate Program Graduation Celebration

Last month, the department celebrated the achievements of those who graduated with their MAs and PhDs this spring. Professor emeritus, Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, spoke at the virtual event which can be viewed in full on YouTube. The program for the … Read more

Graduate student, Zardas Lee, featured in UNC Endeavors article

PhD candidate Zardas Lee was interviewed in Research UNCovered, a recurring feature for UNC Endeavors that “delves into the lives of UNC researchers from all disciplines and career levels, showcasing not only their research prowess but personal experiences in academia and … Read more

Rachel Hynson’s (PhD ’14) book included on Contingent Magazine’s list of recommended books by first authors

Contingent Magazine recently included Rachel Hynson’s Laboring for the State: Women, Family, and Work in Revolutionary Cuba, 1959-1971 on its list of recommended history books by first authors. Hynson (UNC PhD, 2014) is currently Director of the Creating Connections Consortium in Middlebury, Vermont. A … Read more

Congrats to Rachel Cochran on Fulbright-Hays!

Congratulations to PhD Student Rachel Cochran for receiving a 2020 Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellows Program! See the announcement here. Cochran’s dissertation, titled “Political Thought in the 18th century Persian Cosmopolis,” will explore how cosmologies, epic narrative traditions and … Read more

Donny Santacatarina, PhD candidate, awarded Adams Fellowship for the Public Humanities

Donny Santacatarina, a 5th year PhD candidate, has been awarded the Maynard Adams Fellowship for the Public Humanities. In his cohort, he’ll conduct public humanities work through the comparison of Chinese and American news systems. Congratulations, Donny, we can’t wait … Read more

Jessica Wilkerson (Ph.D. ’14) Wins H.L. Mitchell Award

Jessica Wilkerson, who earned her Ph.D. from the history department in 2014, has won the Southern Historical Associations H.L. Mitchell Award for her book To Live Here, You Have to Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice. The award recognizes … Read more

PhD Candidate Lucas Kelley and Recent PhD Garrett Wright (PhD ’19) Write for Scalawag Magazine

PhD Candidate Lucas Kelley and Recent PhD Garrett Wright write how “stolen Indigenous land built universities across the United States” in a new article for Scalawag Magazine. Using maps made by Adrienne Hall, Wright and Kelley show that “so-called land-grant … Read more

Allison Somogyi (’19):” Why Do Women Change Their Stories of Sexual Assault?”

Allison Somogy, PhD ’19 writes for The Conversation about “the circumstances that can prompt victims to change their stories about sexual assault.” Read here.

PhD Candidate Alyssa Bowen: We Need an Academic New Deal

PhD Candidate Alyssa Bowen co-wrote an insightful article for The Nation with William Horne, entitled “We Need an Academic New Deal.” In this thoughtful and timely article, Bowen and Horne analyze the current crisis facing higher education and state demands to … Read more

Robert Colby (PhD ’19) Wins the Allan Nevins Prize for Best Dissertation

Robert Colby, who received his PhD from our department last year, recently won the Society of American Historians’ Allan Nevins Prize for Best Dissertation in American History. Dr. Colby’s dissertation, “The Continuance of an Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the … Read more

John “Rocky” Rhodes (PhD ’16) Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel

John “Rocky” Rhodes, who received his PhD from the Department of History in 2016, received his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in a ceremony at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In Rocky’s dissertation, “Agents of Empire: The Frontier U.S. Army and the Transition … Read more

DTH Interview with Caroline Newhall on Black POWs in the Confederacy

PhD candidate Caroline Newhall was featured in a recent interview with the Daily Tar Heel ahead of her public “Tell about the South” talk next Wednesday, April 17, hosted by the Center for the Study of the American South. In the … Read more

Mark Reeves receives 2019 SERSAS Graduate Student Paper Prize

Mark Reeves received the 2019 Graduate Student Paper Prize from the Southeastern Regional Seminar in African Studies (SERSAS), for his paper entitled “A Gilded Cage? Nnamdi Azikiwe’s Pan-Africanism as Governor-General of Nigeria, 1960-1963.” This prize recognizes the best paper from the recent … Read more

Liz Lundeen Receives UNC Graduate School’s Impact Award

Liz Lundeen received the UNC Graduate School’s Impact Award, an annual honor for graduate students whose research “contribute to a better future for people and communities in North Carolina.” Congratulations, Liz! Read more about her research and the award here.

Lucas Kelley Publishes an Op-Ed on Borders and Immigration in the Knoxville News Sentinel

UNC-Chapel Hill PhD candidate Lucas Kelley recently published an op-ed in the Knoxville News Sentinel. Using his expertise in early American history, Lucas explained the history of borders and immigration in Tennessee to provide context to ongoing conversations about the United … Read more

Daniela Weiner (PhD student) publishes article in the Journal of Modern Jewish Studies

Daniela R. P. Weiner, a Religions and Public Life Graduate Fellow and PhD student in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recently published an article titled ‘Tendentious texts: Holocaust representations andnation-rebuilding in East … Read more

Jacqueline Whitt (PhD ’08) is producer and editor of new podcast

Jacqueline Whitt (UNC PhD ’08) is producer and editor of “A Better Peace: The WAR ROOM Podcast.”

Ethan Kytle (PhD ’04) and Blain Roberts (PhD ’05) in the New York Times

Denmark Vesey’s Garden: Slavery and Memory in the Confederacy, by Ethan J. Kytle (UNC PhD ’04) and Blain Roberts (UNC PhD ’05), was mentioned as one of “17 Refreshing Books to Read This Summer” by the New York Times.

Christina Snyder (PhD ’07) wins Parkman Prize

Christina Snyder (UNC PhD ’07) won the 2018 Francis Parkman Prize for Great Crossings: Indians, Settlers & Slaves in the Age of Jackson (Oxford University Press).

2018-2019 awards

Congratulations to three of our doctoral students who won competitive 2018-2019 awards from the College of Arts and Sciences as part of its new initiatives to support graduate education: Aubrey Lauersdorf, a Kenan III Graduate Fellowship; Kirsten Cooper, a Druscilla French … Read more