H-HistGeog: New posted content
H-Net Job Guide Weekly Report for H-HistGeog: 10 February - 17 February [Announcement]
The following jobs were posted to the H-Net Job Guide from 10 February to 17 February. These job postings are included here based on the categories selected by the network editors for H-HistGeog. See the H-Net job guide web site at https://www.h-net.org/jobs/ for more information. To contact the Job Guide, write to jobg...@mail.h-net.org or call +1-517-432-5134 between 9 AM and 5 PM US Eastern time.
GeographyGeography
Ohio State University - African American & African Studies Postdoctoral Fellow to Assistant Professor Faculty Position in Global Black Studies
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68565
CFP Edited Collection: Imagining Explorers: From National Narratives to Public History, Explorers and Exploration in the Public Realm [Announcement]
TX
United States
Imagining Explorers: From National Narratives to Public History, Explorers and Exploration in the Public Realm (edited collection)
Few historical icons have captured the public imagination and stirred patriotic fervor as enduringly as the Explorer. Individuals setting out into the great unknown for God, Glory and Gold have often been portrayed in history as heroic individuals who became masters of their own fate and paved the way for national or imperial greatness on the part of whichever nation sent them out. The images of European explorers planting a national flag on a new shoreline, claiming the land for both god and king, has long been associated with European imperialism. During the nineteenth century these images bolstered both national identity and narratives of imperial triumphalism, blending with concepts of manifest destiny and the march of progress. National origin stories, such as Joel Barlow’s 1807 The Columbiad, which presented Columbus’s narrative in the form of a full-scale founding epic for the United States, co-opted Explorers to create a sense of national narrative and triumphalism, while pseudo-histories like Washington Irving’s History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, presented explorers as harbingers of progress. As a result, the public perception was shaped in such a way that Explorers became national heroes, icons of community and national identities, to the extent that when evidence began to emerge in support of a Norse discovery of North America, many viewed this as an attempt to subvert Christopher Columbus’ place in history and destroy their culture. By the time the nineteenth century drew to a close, and the quatercentenary celebrations of Christopher Columbus’ voyage drew a near patriotic fervor that became entangled with Columbus celebrations, particularly among the Catholic and Italian communities in the United States, who used the Italian Catholic Columbus to assert their own place in American culture during a time of increasingly exclusionary, anti-Catholic nationalism. Similarly, the quatercentenary celebrations of John Cabot’s expeditions resulted in debates over who discovered and thus deserved credit for the “founding” of Canada, with the Anglo and Francophone communities dividing between Cabot and Jacques Cartier.
As the twentieth century progressed and a post-colonial world began to emerge, this image of European Explorers as harbingers of European triumphalism no longer rang true, resulting in new, more critical works on explorers being produced. As a result of these new studies, and the growing awareness of Indigenous studies, Explorers fell from their position of mythic heroes to conquering interlopers, if not villains. Celebrations of explorers now came into question, with public debates over the justification of erecting monuments to men like Juan de Oñate or public holidays dedicated to Christopher Columbus. Yet despite the criticisms, in other ways Explorers and exploration in general remain closely tied to national identities for certain communities, and continue to fascinate historians and the public alike. While some communities seek to affirm their identity and place in the national narrative in opposition to iconic explorers, others co-op explorers as symbolic of their place in society.
This volume seeks to tackle this varied response to the history of exploration by analyzing the ways in which Explorers and exploration in general have been represented in the public realm through Public History, Cultural history, art, and media, as well as how they have in the past and continue to be interpreted in public memory. From the nineteenth century celebrations of explorers and adoption of specific explorers in the creation of national identity and origin story to their depiction in art, monuments, and locations of collective identity, such as government buildings, to the twentieth century debates over the ethical legitimacy of these same monuments and continued celebrations, this volume seeks contributions that will help dissect and unpack exploration in the public realm.
Areas of particular interest include:
- Origins of monuments and anniversary/commemorative celebrations and/or the evolution of these over time, particularly those that have in the past or continue to attract public discourse
- Explorers and exploration in art or film and the relation to cultural identity
- Commemoration of exploration in national parks: i.e., Louis and Clark trails, Appellation trails, Oregon Trail, Cabot trail, and parks dedicated to landing sites or commemorated in memory
- Role of monuments and ethical forms of commemoration in the 21st century
- Appropriation of Explorers for national identities
- Exploration in public exhibits/living history through recreations
We welcome chapter proposals between 300-500 words for chapters of 6,000-8,000 words by April 15, 2025, along with a brief academic CV (max 3 pages). All proposals are to be sent to both of the volume editors, Lauren Beck lb...@mta.ca and Lydia Towns Lydia...@sfasu.edu Acceptance letters will be issued in early May, 2025. Full drafts will be due November 15, 2025, with a projected final submission to the publisher in Spring 2026.
Lydia Towns
Hagley History Hangout Podcast - New Episode - The Nature of War: Environment and Industry in the U.S. During WWI with Gerard Fitzgerald [Announcement]
Hagley History Hangout Podcast - New Episode
The Nature of War: Environment and Industry in the U.S. During WWI with Gerard Fitzgerald
Tune in here or wherever you find podcasts: https://www.hagley.org/research/history-hangout-gerard-fitzgerald
Far from the battlefield the First World War spurred a massive increase in industrial output in the United States. Arms and armaments, ships and steel, a vast stream of materiel poured from American factories, mines, and mills to feed the insatiable maw of war. The consequent strain placed on American railroad infrastructure left it vulnerable to environmental disruption, such as that caused by the great blizzard of 1916-17. These developments marked a significant chapter in the environmental history of American industry.
In this episode of the Hagley History Hangout we chat with Gerard Fitzgerald, visiting fellow at the Greenhouse Center for Environmental Humanities at the University of Stavanger and lecturer in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia, whose latest research considers the environmental context of industrialization in the United States during World War One.
In support of his work Fitzgerald has received funding from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library. For more information, and more Hagley History Hangouts, visit us online at hagley.org.
Dr. Gregory A. Hargreaves
Assistant Director
Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society
Hagley Museum and Library
The 