Center for Early Modern History

History

The Center for Early Modern History (CEMH) originated from a series of workshops and conferences organized by faculty in the University of Minnesota Department of History in the early 1980s. From these initiatives emerged the first center in the country to encompass a global and comparative approach to studying the early modern world. 

Thanks to a generous endowment from the Union Pacific Corporation in 1987, the Center gained a sustainable source of funding and began hosting activities on a more permanent basis, including conferences that became the source for the Minnesota Studies in Early Modern History publication series. The Union Pacific funds also support an annual lecture series, a visiting scholars program, and graduate student research through short-term fellowships.

As the Center for Early Modern History prepared to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2012, it embarked on a campaign to strengthen the program’s interdisciplinary facets. The Center placed new emphasis on being a central node for the study of the early modern from multiple perspectives. CEMH’s Advisory Board incorporated faculty from departments beyond history, and they developed an interdisciplinary graduate minor in Early Modern studies starting in 2009.

The Center for Early Modern History engaged in several key partnerships:

  • CEMH collaborated frequently with the University of Minnesota’s special collections, including the renowned James Ford Bell Library, one of the nation’s largest collections of rare books, maps, and manuscripts from the early modern period, and the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine.
  • CEMH served as the representative of the Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies Consortium, which provided access to the resources and programming of the Newberry and Folger Libraries.
  • CEMH founded the Journal for Early Modern History in 1996 through a partnership with Brill and began leading their editorial team. The first issue of the Journal was published in 1997 under the editorship of James Tracy. JEMH celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2022. 
  • CEMH was a core and founding constituent of the Mellon-funded Consortium for the Study of the Premodern World supported in two phases from 2013-2017 and 2017-2022. Under the leadership of director JB Shank, CEMH developed (in partnership with the Center for Medieval Studies and the James Ford Bell Library) the research and pedagogical possibilities of a globalized study of the Early Modern period within the context of the entire “premodern world.”
  • CEMH leadership supported the creation of the Center for Premodern Studies in 2021, which is now the home for early modern studies at the University of Minnesota and continues their academic and programming initiatives.

These activities and collaborations continue with the Center for Premodern Studies. The Center for Premodern Studies leadership team includes a Trustee of Early Modern Studies and affiliates from the Department of History who steward the Union Pacific Endowments.

Founding Members and Key Collaborators of the Center for Early Modern History

  • Bernard Bachrach, Department of History (Founding Member)
  • Edward L. (Ted) Farmer, Department of History (Co-convenor of CEMH Precursor the “Early Modern Interest Group and Founding Member) 
  • Russell R. (Rus) Menard, Department of History (Founding Member)
  • Jack Parker, James Ford Bell Library (Founding Member)
  • Carla Phillips, Department of History (Founding Member)
  • William D. (Wim) Phillips, Jr., Department of History (Founding Member and Former Director)
  • Allyson Poska, Department of History (Graduate Student Representative at Founding)
  • Kathryn Reyerson, Department of History (Founding Member)
  • Stuart B. Schwartz, Department of History (Founding Member and Former Director)
  • Lucy Simler (Founding Member and Former Associate Director)
  • Jim Tracy, Department of History (Co-convenor of CEMH Precursor the “Early Modern Interest Group, Founding Member, and Former Director) 
  • Carol Urness, James Ford Bell Library (Founding Member)
  • Ann Waltner, Department of History (Founding Member)

Past Directors and Associate Directors of the Center for Early Modern History

  • Jim Tracy, Department of History, Director of CEMH (1986 - 1989)
  • Lucy Simler, Associate Director of CEMH (1986 - 1996)
  • William D. (Wim) Phillips, Jr., Department of History, Interim Director (1989 - 1990), Director of CEMH (2001 - 2008) 
  • Stuart B. Schwartz, Department of History, Director of CEMH (1990 - 1992)
  • Jim Tracy, Department of History, Director of CEMH (1992 - 2000)
  • Marguerite Ragnow, Assistant Director of CEMH (1999 - 2000), Acting Director (Spring & Summer 2001), Associate Director (2001 - 2005)
  • Edward L. (Ted) Farmer,  Department of History, Acting Director of CEMH (2005 - 2006)
  • Sarah Chambers, Department of History, Director of CEMH (2008 - 2012), Acting Director of CEMH (2018 - 2019)
  • JB Shank, Department of History, Director of CEMH (2012 - 2021)