Memphis Historians

Please check out our spring edition of History Happenings, the department newsletter😄:https://www.memphis.edu/history/newsletter/pdfs/historyhappenings_spring2026.pdf

A big thanks to everyone who contributed to the issue!

Department of History Newsletter Archive - Department of History December 2025 | May 2025 | November 2024 | April 2024 | November 2023 | March 2023 | December 2022 | April 2022 | October 2021 | March 2021 | October 2020 | April 2020 | Sept 2019 | March 2019 | September 2018 | February 2018 | October 2017 | February 2017 | September 2016| February 2016...

A message from Professor Daniel Unowsky, Chair of the Department of History.

Dear Graduating History Students:

On behalf of our entire faculty and staff, congratulations!

I hope you and your families take this as a moment to celebrate what you have accomplished, to reflect on all you have done and experienced. At the same time, this is of course a new beginning, the commencement of the next stage in your life. Whatever you do and wherever you go from here, you will take with you what we have learned together: not only your knowledge of the complexity of human experience in the context of the past and how the past has shaped our present, but also the realization that the past will influence, though not determine, the future. You have a say in what happens. You, as a life-long student of history, have a role to play in shaping that future. Knowing this gives me great confidence and optimism.

I have taught at the University of Memphis for more than a quarter of a century. I continue to be energized and excited to learn with each class of students. I thank you for this, and I hope you will think of us as you move forward. Send us a line now and then. Let us know about your achievements and how your degree in history informs your path beyond U of M. Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/memphis.historians/); follow us on Instagram (uofm_history). And remember: HISTORY MATTERS!

Please join us this Thursday, 3/26, in the UC Fountain View Room for the Women’s History Month Lecture, given by our own Dr. Selina Makana! The reception begins at 3:30, and the lecture will start at 4pm. Dr. Makana’s talk is titled: “Thirty Years On: Mapping Transnational Feminist Engagements Since the Fourth World Conference on Women.” ✨✨✨

Check out the guest column in The Daily Memphian by Dr. Amanda Gaggioli and Dr. Benjamin Graham: “Memphis, are you still thinking about the Roman Empire (and Yellow Fever)?”

Guest Column: Memphis, are you still thinking about the Roman Empire (and Yellow Fever)? “Historian Kyle Harper is coming to the University of Memphis to ask a chilling question: Are we, like the Romans, on the cusp of societal collapse — or even mass extinction?”

Upcoming event reminder! ✨✨✨

Please join us for the Memphis Sesquicentennial Lecture on Thursday, February 26. This year’s guest speaker is Dr. Kyle Harper.

Dr. Kyle Harper is the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty, Professor of Classics and Letters, Senior Advisor to the President, and Provost Emeritus at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma.

The event is free and open to the public and is jointly sponsored by the History Department and the Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities. There will be a reception at 5:30PM in the River Room of the Maxine Smith University Center.

The Hooks Institute for Social Change is proud to share the program for the 2026 GAAAH Conference - "Roots and Routes: African Heritage and the Diasporic Journey."

The University of Memphis Graduate Association for African American History will host its annual conference on February 25-27, 2026, at the University of Memphis Maxine A. Smith University Center - check the program for room numbers.

The keynote address and reception, "Lessons from the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement," will feature Dr. Robert Luckett from Jackson State University. It will be held in the University Center, Fountain View Room (UC 350), on February 26, 2026, at 3pm.

All conference sessions, panels, and lectures are free and open to the public.

"Hooks Institute: Advancing Social Change Through Scholarship in Action.”

Please join us for the Memphis Sesquicentennial Lecture on Thursday, February 26. This year’s guest speaker is Dr. Kyle Harper.

Dr. Kyle Harper is the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty, Professor of Classics and Letters, Senior Advisor to the President, and Provost Emeritus at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma.

The event is free and open to the public and is jointly sponsored by the History Department and the Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities. There will be a reception at 5:30PM in the River Room of the Maxine Smith University Center.

Dr. Caroline Peyton was recently interviewed by Dr. Miranda Melcher for the New Books Network about her recently published book: Radioactive Dixie: A Nuclear History of the American South (UGA Press, 2025).

Caroline Peyton, "Radioactive Dixie: A Nuclear History of the American South" (U Georgia Press, 2025) - New Books Network Support Kritika | Support H-Net | Buy Books Here | Join the NBN and NBN en Español on Patreon | Visit New Books Network en Español!