While Gordon Wood (the subject of this squabble) and our beloved Michael Vorenberg continue to hold it down in Peter Green, a trendsetter has emerged from the History Department’s Sharpe House. According to a recent article in the New York Times, capitalism has become the fashionable topic for historians across the country and Brown’s own Seth Rockman is part of the vanguard. Professor Rockman, an early Americanist, has focused his research on slavery and the elaborate economic machinery that kept the peculiar institution running—incredibly interesting for history nerds, but not quite exciting for the student masses.

In a textbook case of historical contingency, however, Rockman noticed that emphasizing a trendy topic such as capitalism in his course might attract more students from other disciplines to his lectures. Subsequently, as the Times notes, Rockman’s course enrollments jumped up when he changed its title from “Capitalism, Slavery and the Economy of Early America” to “History of Capitalism.” Naturally, the lure of big ideas and power relation exploration—the opiates of undergraduate study—attracted students in droves. Capitalism, additionally, will provide the organizing theme for his introductory U.S. survey class next fall. With a couple of books in the works (including one entitled Slavery’s Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development), there is little doubt that Rockman will remain a key player in this emergent wave of capitalist historians. And long as there are new hegemonic relationships to “explode,” Brown students will be along for the ride.

With the 2013 Oscars just around the corner, many of us have been curious about the historical accuracy of films like Lincoln and Argo, both in the running for Best Picture. Luckily for us skeptical Brown students, we have an unparalleled opportunity to engage with knowledgable Brown historians about the films that fall within their respective areas of expertise. First, we had the opportunity to ask Professor Vorenberg anything about Lincoln (and we’ll have the opportunity to do so again on March 1, where there will also be cake). Now, the University presents its interactive “Ask a Professor about Argo” with beloved, no-B.S. Professor Shiva Balaghi, a jack of all trades and a master tweeter (Ed.-We’re sorry for “outing” you on Twitter back in the day, and we’re sorry for doing it again now).

Professor Shiva Balaghi is a cultural historian of the Middle East. She’s a Laya Khadjavi Visiting Professor of Iranian Studies here at Brown, teaching in the History and History of Art and Architecture departments. This semester, she’s teaching “Twentieth Century Iran,” a capstone seminar in the History department, and “What is Islamic Art?” an upper-level seminar in the History of Art and Architecture department. Additionally, she is the Vice-President of the American Institute of Iranian Studies. She left her native Tehran for the United States around the time that the events depicted in Argo took place.

Thus, a scholar of Professor Balaghi’s expertise is well-equipped to field questions addressing Argo‘s historical accuracy. You can submit questions to Professor Balaghi by commenting on this picture and choose the questions she’ll be asked by “liking” ones that tickle your intellectual fancy. If you’re interested in learning more about Argo as it relates to the reality of the Iranian Hostage Crisis, you should check out Professor Balaghi’s review of the film in India’s Frontline magazine.

Image via. 

In today’s edition of Morning Mail, we received a very exciting “SAVE THE DATE” to attend a screening of DreamWorks’ Lincoln and a Q&A with Professor Michael Vorenberg—whose book Final Freedom is believed to be a “principal source” for the film—in celebration of Lincoln’s birthday and the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Taking place on March 1st at 5:30 p.m., this event will be the most epic party of the semester: a movie, cake, and a chance to engage with a rockstar historian about said movie’s content and factuality? Psh, we’ll see you there. Tickets are required (get one here).

Oh, and just in case you weren’t convinced, there’s also this:

In an article on The New Republic website, Timothy Noah suggested that Brown University superhero history professor Michael Vorenberg and his book, Final Freedom, were likely the “principal source” for the Oscar-nominated Lincoln. Vorenberg’s book is widely regarded as the most comprehensive account of the passage of the 13th Amendment, which is the main focus of the film.

Noah also expressed dismay that Lincoln‘s screenwriter, Tony Kushner, and the film’s producers had not publicly recognized Vorenberg’s contribution. Lincoln’s promotional materials and final credits state that the film is based “in part” on Team of Rivals, the Pulitzer Prize-winning book written by Doris Kearns Goodwin, who also served as a historical advisor to Kushner. The problem, according to Noah, is that Goodwin’s book provides only a brief description of the most important historical events in the film—in particular, the legislative battles surrounding the 13th Amendment.

Vorenberg’s Final Freedom, which was a finalist for the 2002 Lincoln Prize, has been commended by many historians for demonstrating the crucial role of 13th Amendment in the abolition of slavery. Both scholarly works and popular narratives had often given the Emancipation Proclamation the principal role, though the wartime measure affected only those Confederate territories in active rebellion and outside of Union military control. It was the 13th Amendment—which, as the film shows, was from far from a foregone conclusion—that formally abolished slavery in all of the United States. (Yes, like almost everyone else at this school, I took Vorenberg’s blockbuster “Civil War and Reconstruction.”) [Read more →]

How many of you know Professor Michael Vorenberg? A member of Brown’s history department since 1999, Vorenberg has been a standout with his beloved courses on the Old South, Civil War, and Reconstruction. As an esteemed scholar of legal history, Professor Vorenberg has persistently blown minds with his legal interpretations of our overly sanitized national past. Yet while his classes are consistent hits (including his new US history survey “American Exceptionalism”), his knowledge is more vast than even his course canon would suggest—enter his Facebook Ask-Me-Anything.

Stephen Spielberg’s Lincoln, which has begun its national run this week, is a meticulously crafted historical biopic about Lincoln’s latter days between the end of the Civil War and his assassination. Full of intrigue, this film would naturally raise questions about artistic license and inquiries into the nearly impossible story of “what really happened.”

Alas, Vorenberg will be taking ANY questions regarding the film, the Emancipation Proclamation, and President Lincoln in general. Use Facebook comments, tweets to @BrownUniversity and e-mails to media_relations@brown.edu to ask and he will answer them during the coming weeks.

The Princeton Review released a new guidebook on April 3 entitled The Best 300 Professors. The Princeton Review creates books for high school students, ranking colleges based on different criteria from best campus food to happiest students (a list we occasionally top).

In its most recent book, The Princeton Review collaborated with RateMyProfessors.com, students and administrators from colleges across the nation. According to GoLocalProv, Brown is the only school in Rhode Island to have any professors mentioned in the book. With five professors on the list, Brown is one of the best represented colleges. So, as pre-registeration for next fall approaches, consider enrolling in a class with one of these professors, whose areas of specialty and Fall ’12 course offerings are listed below…

• Barrett Hazeltine, engineering (ENGN9)
• Joseph Pucci, classics (The Idea of Self, Fortunatus)
• Stephanie Ravillon, French (Fren30, Fren60)
• Robert Serrano, economics (Microeconomics I)
• Daniel Stupar, studio art (unlisted for Fall ’12)

And, if you’re a second semester senior and haven’t had the chance to take a class with any of these professors, at least make your way to Professor Hazeltine’s office in Barus & Holley, introduce yourself, and receive a legendary handshake.

Sullivan vs. Schiller: A matchup for the ages

Wendy Schiller, associate professor of political science and “president” of POLS 1130: “The American Presidency,” was one of Bill Maher’s guests on Real Time this past Friday night. She absolutely killed it while discussing Trayvon Martin, Anwar Al-Awlaki, and the role of women in politics.  Recently, Professor Schiller has appeared on Bloomberg, as well as MSNBC, discussing political topics ranging from congressional deadlock over budget negotiations to historical trends in presidential election cycles. You can watch the “Overtime” section of this week’s Real Time here, or stream the full episode here.

After taking to the streets in search of students and alums who do cool things, we have pushed forward to the new frontier: professors. Though we expect our professors to be brilliant, sometimes we don’t realize that they’re also pretty cool. 

Have you ever hesitated to dig into an appetizer at an exotic restaurant because of its odor? Sure, it looked delicious in print…but now Ratty take-out doesn’t seem so bad. Ever wonder why smell can either make or break a deal when it comes to food? Dr. Rachel Herz’s new book explores that phenomenon and more as she seeks to explain our varied reactions to the emotion of disgust. BlogDH got all the deets from Dr. Herz herself.

Dr. Herz, an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, is considered one of the world’s leading experts in the psychology of smell. Her research is focused on the sense of smell and emotion, and more recently, the emotion of disgust in particular. And if you’ve been reading the Wall Street Journal or using your nifty WashPo Social Reader recently, you’ll notice that her new book, That’s Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion, has been getting a lot of attention.  [Read more →]