We’ve had a busy few months here in the History Department! Here’s a round-up of some of the individual and collective achievements of our faculty.
In October, SUNY Geneseo Provost and Professor of History Stacey Robertson opened the annual Historians Against Slavery Conference at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, England. Dr. Robertson is the co-director of Historians Against Slavery, a community of scholar-activists who contribute research and historical context to today’s antislavery movements in order to inspire and inform activism and to develop collaborations that empower such efforts.
Co-Dir of @has Stacey Robertson @RobertsonAuthor opens #has2017 pic.twitter.com/TpHVHKdrRg
— Michael Landis (@DrMichaelLandis) October 7, 2017
Chair of the Department Dr. Justin Behrend published “Expanding the Boundaries of Reconstruction“, a review essay of some of the latest work on the history of Reconstruction, in Reviews in American History.
Dr. Emilye Crosby shared her expertise in civil rights history at an October event at the Geva Theatre Center on Rochester’s history and the legacies of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass.
Geneseo's Emilye Crosby joins a panel on history, gender, & race at Geva Theatre @GeneseoHistory @SUNYGeneseo pic.twitter.com/YhMWxrkijl
— Stacey Robertson (@RobertsonAuthor) October 16, 2017
She also helped to organize the visit of Geneseo alum Dr. Ysaye M. Barnwell ’67 MS ’68 to campus in February. Dr. Crosby interviewed Dr. Barnwell for the public event “A Collision of Worldviews” about her involvement with the Civil Rights movement. Dr. Barnwell also led a Community Sing, introducing a broad cross-section of the Geneseo movement to the history and rhythms of African and African-American dance and song.
In April, Dr. Joseph Cope teamed up with Dr. Robert Doggett (English) and Veronica Taglia ’18 to give a presentation at the Livingston County Historical Society entitled “From Geneseo to Glenveagh: Contextualizing Cornelia Wadsworth Adair’s Life in Ireland.” The presentation explored the life of Cornelia Wadsworth Adair, a Geneseo native and heiress who in the late nineteenth-century managed one of the largest landed estates in Ireland.
Dr. Cope was also appointed Interim Assistant Provost for Student Success, and will transition to that new administrative position this summer.
A Global History of Sexual Science, 1880–1960, the new volume co-edited by Dr. Ryan Jones, was published in November. The first anthology to provide a worldwide perspective on the birth and development of the field of sexual science, A Global History argues that people in Asia, Latin America, and Africa were important participants in debates on topics such as prostitution, birth control, and transvestism.
Ryan Jones, co-editor of "A Global History of Sexual Science, 1880–1960" (along with @verofu and Douglas Haynes) visiting our #AHA18 booth. Theirs is the first anthology to provide a #global perspective on the birth & development of #sexualscience. pic.twitter.com/HdiI4XcNLQ
— UC Press (@ucpress) January 5, 2018
At a standing room only event in March, Dr. Jones gave a presentation on the process of research, writing, and editing such an ambitious and wide-ranging volume.
Dozens of dedicated, passionate high school social studies educators joined the History faculty in March for our fifth Annual Teachers’ Day workshops. Professors Emilye Crosby and Amanda Lewis led workshops on new methods in teaching U.S. Civil Rights history and African history in the Grades 8-12 classroom, while Professors Catherine Johnson-Adams, Michael Leroy Oberg, Megan Brankley Abbas, and Yvonne Seale participated in a panel discussion on ways to think about place and identity when teaching history.
