History Book Club
The History Book Club is a monthly event series that brings together alumni, faculty, students, and friends of the Department of History to engage virtually with our faculty and graduates, and learn about their recently published books.
History Book Club gatherings are designed to be enjoyed by any history lover, whether or not you’ve read the featured book.
The format of each gathering varies as we learn and try new things.
Upcoming Events
Kris Lane (PhD '96), Professor of History at Tulane, on "Potosi: The Silver City that Changed the World" in conversation with Carla Phillips
Past Events
Learn about past events in this series. Recordings are available for some of the sessions.
David Morton (PhD '15), Associate Professor of History at the University of British Columbia, on his book “Age of Concrete: Housing and the Shape of Aspiration in the Capital of Mozambique,” in conversation with Elliot James.
Caley Horan (PhD '11), associate professor of history at MIT on Insurance Era: Risk, Governance, and the Privatization of Security in Postwar America. This event is in conversation with Ben Wiggins.
Emily Rook-Koepsel (PhD '10), assistant director of academic affairs - Asian studies at University of Pittsburgh on Democracy and Unity in India: Understanding the All India Phenomenon, 1940-1960. Patricia Lorcin will facilitate the event.
On Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe, led by Matthew Gabriele, professor of medieval studies and chair of the Department of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech, and David M. Perry (PhD ‘06), undergraduate academic advisor for the Department of History, University of Minnesota Twin Cities. View the recording of the February History Book Club.
Allen Issacman (PhD '70), Regents Professor of Central and South African History at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and Barbara Issacman, former Hennepin County criminal defense attorney, on Mozambique’s Samora Machel: A Life Cut Short. View the recording of the January History Book Club.
Jessica Namakkal (PhD '13), assistant professor of the practice in international comparative studies; gender, sexuality, and feminist studies; and history, Duke University on Unsettling Utopia: The Making and Unmaking of French India. Ajay Skaria will facilitate the event. View the recording of the November History Book Club.
Emily Bruce (PhD '15), assistant professor of history, University of Minnesota Morris on Revolutions at Home: The Origins of Childhood and the German Middle Class. Mary Jo Maynes will be in conversation with Bruce. View October Recording of the October History Book Club.
Katrina Phillips (PhD '15), assistant professor of American Indian history, Macalester College on Staging Indigeneity: Salvage Tourism and the Performance of Native American History. Andrew Denson (West Carolina University) will engage in conversation with Phillips about her book.
Led by Nate Holdren (PhD '14), assistant professor of history, Drake University and and author of Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Law and Capitalism in the Progressive Era and Daniel La Chance (PhD '11), Winship Distinguished Research Professor in History, Emory University, author of Executing Freedom: The Cultural Life of Capital Punishment in the United States.
Led by Koni Benson (PhD '09), lecturer, University of the Western Cape, South Africa (author), and André Trantraal (illustrator) of Crossroads: I Live Where I Like: A Graphic History.
Katherine French (PhD '93), J. Frederick Hoffman Professor of History, the University of Michigan on Household Goods and Good Households in Late Medieval London.
Benjamin Wiggins (PhD '13), Digital Arts, Sciences, & Humanities Program Director, University of Minnesota Libraries on Calculating Race: Racial Discrimination in Risk Assessment AND Caley Horan (PhD '11), Associate Professor of History, MIT
Kirsten Fischer, associate professor of history, will discuss her book American Freethinker: Elihu Palmer and the Struggle for Religious Freedom in the New Nation with Jon Butler, research professor of history.
Joe Trotter (PhD ‘80), Giant Eagle Professor of History at Carnegie Mellon University, discussed his book Workers on Arrival with moderator William Jones, Professor of History at the University of Minnesota.
A conversation on God in Gotham: The Miracle of Religion in Modern Manhattan by Jon Butler (BA ‘64, PhD ‘72), Research Professor of History, University of Minnesota and Howard R Lamar Emeritus Professor of American Studies, History & Religious Studies, Yale University.
Katharine Gerbner, professor of history at the University of Minnesota, discusses her book Christian Slavery: Conversion and Race in the Protestant Atlantic World.
A conversation on A World Divided: The Global Struggle for Human Rights in the Age of Nation-States between author Eric D. Weitz, Distinguished Professor of History at The City College of New York, and Barbara Frey, Director of the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota.
A discussion on America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States Erika Lee, Regents Professor, Director of the Immigration History Research Center, and Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History.
A book talk on Monumental Mobility: The Memory Work of Massasoit was given by co-authors Jean M. O’Brien, professor, University of Minnesota and Lisa Blee, associate professor, Wake Forest University.