History Newsletter - Summer 2025
Greetings from the Department of History at the University of Minnesota,
We continue with dedication to our mission of research, teaching, and service, and have many stories to share from this past academic year. We celebrate the many accomplishments of our faculty and staff, students, and alumni.
Alumni & Student Connections
13 students have completed their PhD degrees this past year, along with 79 history majors and 34 minors graduating with BAs. 37 majors were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
We’re pleased to share a few highlights:
- Jess Farrell (PhD ’25) received the University’s Best Dissertation Prize in Arts & Humanities for "Abolition through Recapture: Unfreedom, Necromancy, and Re(-)formation in Nineteenth-Century Liberia."
- John Little (PhD ’20) was named a 2025 Bush Fellow for his accomplishments as Director of Native Recruitment and Alumni Engagement at the University of South Dakota.
- Heather Bailey (PhD ’01) was named University Scholar of the year for 2024 at the University of Illinois in Springfield.
For a list of many other accomplishments of students and alumni, read about recent accolades linked above. The fall schedule for our History Book Club is also up.
We invite you to get involved:
- Donors make it possible for us to support our students and programming. Consider making a gift.
- What have you been up to? How has your history degree informed your career and adventures? Share your news with us!
Faculty Achievements
In addition to the faculty publications and awards on our Accolades page, here are a few highlights:
- Tracey Deutsch received the 2024–25 President's Award for Outstanding Service for her outstanding contributions to the University.
- Kirsten Fischer received the Arthur "Red" Motley Exemplary Teaching Award for 2024–25. Watch this video to hear the nominators talk about Professor Fischer.
- Aaron Hall was selected as a McKnight Land-Grant Professor for a two-year term (2025–27). He will be working on his second book project: The Public Institution: Slavery and the State in Plantation America.
- Jean O’Brien was awarded the Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Distinguished Service from the Organization of American Historians in 2025
- Zozan Pehlivan published The Political Ecology of Violence Peasants and Pastoralists in the Last Ottoman Century (Cambridge University Press, 2024) and was promoted to associate professor with tenure.
Farewells & Welcomes
We welcomed new faculty member Llana Barber as the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History and director of the Immigration History Research Center.
We’re happy to announce that Andrew Kobayashi Deckrow, Public History Postdoctoral Fellow, and our Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows will be transitioning to positions as tenure-track assistant professors: Joo-hyeon Oh this fall and Iman Mohamed in fall 2026.
We congratulate Professor MJ Maynes on her retirement after an extraordinary career of almost 50 years.
We also congratulate Professor Daniel Schroeter, Deinard Chair in Jewish History, whose retirement we will be celebrating next fall.
Two other faculty members have moved on to new positions. We’ll miss them but we wish them well:
- Saje Mathieu was appointed Chair of Black Canadian and Diaspora Studies at the University of Ottawa.
- Giancarlo Casale was appointed Head of the History Department at the European University Institute.
On a sadder note, we mourn the passing of Professor Michael Lower.
We also mourn alumni and donors:
- Catherine Lauritsen
- Robert Meyerson (PhD ‘72)
- Thomas Schoonover (PhD ‘70)
The Department of History at the University of Minnesota sadly shares the news of Professor Michael Lower's passing.
With a mixture of sadness for the end of an era and gratitude for her career of almost fifty years in the Department of History, we announce the retirement of Professor Mary Jo Maynes.
New director of the Immigration History Research Center Llana Barber shares her vision for the Center.
Regents Professor Jean O’Brien of the Department of History discusses how studying history can change your perspective of the world
Read “‘Everything connects to the future’: Jean O’Brien on Studying History”
Visiting professor Oleksandr Komarenko offers students and faculty a unique lens on history. He brings invaluable global insights that enrich the university community.
Read “Q&A with Visiting Professor Oleksandr (Alex) Komarenko”
King Felipe VI of Spain presents the History Prize to Professor Emerita Carla Rahn Phillips.
Read “Carla Rahn Phillips Received Prestigious Spanish History Prize”
David M. Perry, associate director of undergraduate studies, writes about the value of a liberal arts degree in the job market today. Moreover, he writes about the importance of studying what is important to you.
Read "Opinion: College students, go ahead and major in what you love"
Postdoctoral Fellows
We currently have two Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows, who will both continue with our department in positions as tenure-track assistant professors.
Iman Mohamed brings expertise on the Horn of Africa and insights into imperialism and law from her Harvard PhD and JD.
Joo-hyeon Oh is a cultural and intellectual historian of early modern China specializing in natural history and philosophy.
Graduate Student Research
We are proud to showcase and support the research of our graduate students as they move history forward.
Through in-person examination, history PhD candidate Alex Magnolia found new discoveries and new conclusions in the correspondence of Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos.
After attending the Austrian Studies Centres Conference in Budapest, PhD candidate Erin Smith traveled to the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin as well as the Ravensbrück Memorial and Museum.
Celebrating our 2025 graduates!
Congratulations to the graduating class of 2025! Recent graduates Rachel Huberty and Teagan Londo reflect on their future plans and how studying history enhanced their college careers.
Rachel Huberty pursued majors in both political science and history, finding they are “deeply interwoven.”
History minor Teagan Londo deepened her love of art history while building community and finding modern meaning in the field.
