Studying European History with Dr. Horowitz (Daniel Leopold)

After studying history throughout my life in the United States, I’ve come to realize that our approach to history is America-centric. Even when studying World or European history, all events are filtered through an American lens, almost as if the world functions as a reaction to what we do. Such a geopolitical vacuum does not exist. The beauty of one class in particular that I am taking, “Europe Since 1815”, is that it completely challenges this misconception. Focusing on the dynamic events in history during that specific time and space period, its lens is not tinted with red, white, and blue, but rather targets what the title of the course promises.

Dr. Payne on CSpan

My talk at the Kansas City Public Library has been airing on C-Span. I've gotten some nice emails from folks who have seen it. Here is the link to the video on the CSpan web page.

Upcoming Talk on Abraham Lincoln, The Emancipation Proclamation, and Spielberg's Lincoln

Professor Paul Finkelman, PhD., the President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law School and the Justice Pike Hall, Jr. Visiting Professor at Louisiana State University Law School will speak on how Abraham Lincoln came to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. In his talk, titled “How a Railroad Lawyer Became the Great Emancipator:  Abraham Lincoln, The Emancipation Proclamation, and Spielberg's Movie,” Finkelman will show the evolution of Lincoln's thinking on freedom and the changing constitutional understandings during the Civil War. He will also explain why the central moment of the Civil War and American history since the Revolutionary Period was the Emancipation Proclamation, and not the debate over the Thirteenth Amendment, as portrayed in the movie "Lincoln." Dr. Finkelman will be speaking at 7:00 on January 29 in the Walsh Theater. 

Join the History Club at the Movies!

The History Club and Mock Trial invite you to attend the showing of Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln with Daniel Day-Lewis. The event will be on Wednesday, January 22 in Walsh Theater at 06:30pm. Refreshments will be provided. Don't miss it!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes from the SBU History Department!

Historic preservation and the moon

Those who know me will realize why I can't resist sharing this story.
How Can the Apollo Landing Sites be Preserved?

Freshmen History Majors Hard at Work in the University Archives (by Marshall Rice)

The freshman history majors in Dr. Marinari’s History 100 class have been busy doing research on friars' missionary work in China from 1939 to 1952. The Shashi mission that these friars embarked on saw monumental changes from the Japanese occupation to the communist regime coming into power in China. The adjustment for the friars is well noted in the provincial annals from their treatment by each group to their ability to complete their work. For the freshmen already to be able to experience archival research at the SBU university archives is a tremendous opportunity. The first challenge these students faced was to divide up the research evenly and construct a full annotated bibliography of every source to use as a reference. Once that was accomplished, each student had to use their research to come up with a thesis to propose. Using multiple sources from the provincial annals, obituaries, and other information identified with the help of senior archivist Dennis Frank and assistant archivist Amber Cheladyn, each student backed up their proposal with primary sources. The next task for these freshmen is to make an attractive and engaging website to display their research paper. All the student pages can be found on the course webpage. Students are responsible for their own page, bringing together effective use of pictures, videos, and graphics to make their page unique. They will then give a formal presentation to the rest of the class, showcasing their hard work and new-found knowledge. This presentation will serve as a chance to receive feedback from their peers and another opportunity to present in front of people, thereby giving the students a chance to professionalize themselves and be better prepared for their life in college and beyond.