University of Georgia May 21-22, 2021

The University of Georgia Department of History and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is pleased to announce its second Capitalist Souths interdisciplinary graduate student conference to be held May 21-22, 2021. Because of the ongoing pandemic, it will be held virtually. This conference is part of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts Global Georgia Initiative.

The history of the university is intertwined with the lives of African Americans — and we are committed to investigating that past, even when the campus landmarks don't adequately commemorate it.

The history department presents a doctoral dissertation defense of, "Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park: Memory, Commemoration, and the Making of Our National Narrative". The major professor is Dr. Stephen Berry. Members of the university community are invited to attend the presentation part of the defense. Please contact the graduate program at history@uga.edu if you wish to attend, to ensure adequate seating.

Bryant Barnes (MA '17, PhD '25) has won the Southern Historical Association’s 2026 C. Vann Woodward Award for the best dissertation in Southern History! The award is given for a dissertation defended in the previous year. Bryant's work is entitled, "Bonded by Debt: Interracial Politics, Railroads, and Capitalism in the Gilded Age South."

The history department is excited to announce that our very own Dr. Jennifer Palmer has been awarded the 2026 Albert Christ-Janer Creative Research Award! The award is one of the highest research honors at the University of Georgia and is given to recognize an outstanding body of internationally recognized scholarly activities in the creative arts and humanities. The award is given not just for Palmer’s current research, but for the plethora of work she had done throughout her career.

UGA hosts a screening and discussion of In Search of Phillis Wheatley Peters, a new, thirty-five minute documentary about America’s first published Black poet. Produced by Askew Pictures, the film illuminates a largely overlooked chapter of Wheatley Peters’ story: her marriage to John Peters and the radical choices she made in pursuit of autonomy, dignity, and love.

Our history graduate 1st year students in Dr. Palmer's GradFirst class will meet for a local tour of Athens colonial and African American history, led by the Historic Athens Welcome Center guide, Luis Vicente-Vazquez. 

We'll meet for ice cream in the LeConte Hall plaza area outside at the end of the tour.

Reprinted from the UGA School of Graduate School website at https://grad.uga.edu/scholarship-and-fellowship-awards/graduate-school-masters-fellow-awards/

Congratulations!

If you’ve visited the department’s office, you may have met Yaretzi! Yaretzi Garcia is a first-year student majoring in history who also happens to be one of our essential front-line workers in the main office. In fact, her work is one of her favorite things about the department; she has “felt welcomed ever since the first day.” She has also remarked on all the amazing opportunities for history majors, extending from clubs to study abroad programs.