AHCW

American History & Cultures Workshop

The University of Chicago | Department of History

About the Workshop

The American History & Cultures Workshop–formerly the U.S. History & Culture Workshop–meets at least bimonthly, serving as a space for attendees to critically engage with a variety of projects on pre- and post-1900 U.S. & Atlantic History and its diversity of cultures. As coordinators, we are committed to providing constructive and supportive feedback on works-in-progress and aspire to build collegiality across different disciplines and subfields.

While most presenters are graduate students from the Department of History, we also welcome participation from outside students and faculty, and we are inclusive of projects which are methodologically distinct from History with the aim of strengthening academic rigor and broadening historical perspectives through wider engagement with a plurality of disciplinary and subfield specialties. This brings interdisciplinary methods and theoretical frameworks to bear on diverse historical questions and problems, while remaining mindful of their legal and sociocultural resonances in the present-day. Further, we wish to facilitate engagement and feedback between early-, mid-, and late-career scholars so that graduate students may have more opportunities for professionalization and develop skillsets which make them become more successful job candidates.

The American History & Cultures Workshop departs slightly from the traditional format of discussants and presenters in favor of more fluid mediated roundtable conversations, which encourages all attendees to participate regardless of academic rank. Finally, our workshop is distinctive because it focuses on themes and topics in North American history, serving as the primary home for the University of Chicago’s Americanists. 

 

Attend the Workshop

Schedule of Events
Autumn Quarter Lineup

MAYA UMA SHENOY

MAPSS Candidate, Social Sciences
The University of Chicago

Nov. 08

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

“Corporate Proxies: Class Organizing, Law, and Corporate Power in Deleware & the U.S. until the New Deal”

JOE RATHKE

PhD Student, History
The University of Chicago

Nov. 15

CISSR Conference Room
(Pick 105) 3PM—4:30PM

“Subversive Schools: The Chicago Police Department Red Squad & Surveillance of Black Students, 1967-1974”

MICHAEL ZAKIM

Professor of History
Tel Aviv University

Nov. 29

The Dean’s Tea Room
(SSRB 201) 4PM—5:30PM

Invited Talk, Sponsored by the Scherer Center: “The Liberal Invention of Photography”

DANIEL FERNANDEZ

PhD Student, History
The University of Chicago

Dec. 06

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

“The Growth of Prison Law in the United States, 1960-1981”

Winter Quarter Lineup

 

TBD

Jan. 17

The Dean’s Tea Room
(SSRB 201) 4PM—5:30PM

Invited Talk, Sponsored by the Scherer Center: TBD

PAMELA NOGALES

Harper-Schmidt Fellow, Social Sciences
The University of Chicago

Jan. 31

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

“The International Workingmen’s Association in the United States”

JAMES BRADLEY

PhD Candidate, History
The University of Chicago

Feb. 14

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

“The World’s Landfill is Empty: Imperial County, Garbage & the Market in Crisis California, 1980-2020”

TBD

Feb. 28

The Dean’s Tea Room
(SSRB 201) 4PM—5:30PM

Invited Talk, Sponsored by the Scherer Center: TBD

NIU NIU TEO

PhD Candidate, History
The University of Chicago

Mar. 06

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

Joint Session w/ EATRH: “Pig Building: The Construction of Price Floors for Pork in the U.S. & China”

Spring Quarter Lineup

 

ZARIA EL-FIL

PhD Student, History
The University of Chicago

Mar. 20

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

“Black Citizenship in the Texas-Mexico Borderlands, 1821-1865”

TBD

Apr. 03

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

Graduate Student Workshop

TBD

Apr. 17

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

Graduate Student Workshop

JIEMIN TINA WEI

PhD Candidate, History of Science
Harvard University

Feb. 28

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

“Junior’s Post-Ludlow Pivot: The Rockefellers’ Transition from Violence to Human Relations, 1913-1926”

TBD

May 15

The Dean’s Tea Room
(SSRB 201) 4PM—5:30PM

Invited Talk, Sponsored by the Scherer Center: TBD

TBD

May 29

The John Hope Franklin Room
(SSRB 224) 3PM—4:30PM

Graduate Student Workshop

Submit a Proposal

We are currently accepting submissions! To submit a proposal, please email the workshop coordinators with a brief abstract, bio, and preferred quarter in which to present.

Contact Coordinators

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