Florida State University will host scholars from around the world Thursday, Feb. 19 through Saturday, Feb. 21 for a conference discussing the roles that Africa and African descendants played in how World War I and World War II were fought and how they are remembered.

“Africa and the African Diaspora and the World Wars” is sponsored by the Department of History’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, the Society for Black Military Studies, and Auburn University’s Department of History. The event, which features more than 15 international speakers, is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

“The conference will feature presentations by young scholars from Africa and speakers who recently immigrated to America, considering battles and other Military engagements during the World Wars that took place in Africa, and the military history of African American participation in World War II,” said Kurt Piehler, director of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience and associate professor of history.

The event kicks off at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, at the FSU Alumni Association Center with a public keynote address by Chad Williams, the Tomorrow Foundation Chair of American Intellectual History at Boston University and the author of four books on African American history. His address will focus on World War I, Black military history and William Edward Burghardt Du Bois –– an American sociologist, writer and Pan-African civil rights activist who lived from 1868 to 1963 and initially encouraged African Americans to support World War I efforts, believing it would help earn rights for Black citizens.

“Chad Williams is a remarkable scholar; he is one of the leading historians of military history in the 20th century, particularly for African American soldiers’ experiences of World War I,” Piehler said. “We were inspired to invite him to speak at the conference after an insightful conversation with my students regarding his book, ‘Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era.’” 

Following the keynote address, five sessions will be held –– three on Friday, Feb. 20, and two on Saturday, Feb. 21 –– all at the FSU Alumni Association Center. Sessions will showcase various presentations covering themes including Black military service, military operations in Africa, social transformation under colonial rule, political communication and others.    

“Africa and the African diaspora, the voluntary and involuntary movement of African descendants across the globe, are often overlooked in military history,” Piehler said. “We hope the conference will promote scholarship in this field and encourage scholars to submit papers to the Journal of Black Military Studies, a new journal established in 2024 by one of the conference’s sponsors, the Society for Black Military Studies.” 

The Society for Black Military Studies, founded in 2022, aims to preserve and share Black soldiers’ contributions throughout history and raise awareness of the Black military experience in all its complexity.

“World War I and World War II cannot be understood without Africa and the African diaspora,” said Le’Trice Donaldson, founder and president of the Society for Black Military Studies and an assistant professor of history at Auburn University. “The World Wars were turning points in the making of modern Black politics and identities, shaping struggles such as citizenship, labor and freedom. This conference emphasizes that the World Wars were global Black history, not just European history.”

This event is funded by the George and Martin Langford Endowment and the Pearl Tyner Endowment. 

To register for the conference, contact Piehler at kpiehler@fsu.edu.  To learn more about FSU’s Department of History, visit history.fsu.edu.  

For more on the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, visit history.fsu.edu/institutes/institute-world-war-ii-and-human-experience.

The post FSU Department of History to host Africa and the African Diaspora and the World Wars Conference appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University faculty member has been awarded a highly competitive international fellowship to trace and preserve the architectural and environmental relics of slavery, ranging from presidential homes to city streets.

Assistant Professor Kathleen Powers Conti is the first researcher from the Department of History and fifth from FSU to earn a MacDowell Fellowship. Conti will spend May and June at the 450-acre MacDowell estate in Peterborough, New Hampshire, using the artist-in-residence opportunity to complete her in-progress book, “Fingerprints in Brick: Race, Memory, and Historic Preservation in the American South.”

“I was overjoyed to find out I had won a MacDowell Fellowship,” said Conti, who is also an affiliated faculty member with FSU’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Center. “This is an extraordinary opportunity, both for my research and creative practice, and I am excited to have the privilege to work among so many other artists and scholars.”

The post FSU historian earns prestigious MacDowell Fellowship to author book on architectural legacy and preservation appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University graduate student has earned a prestigious writing award for his research into Indigenous landscape histories and sacredness that informs modern land-management practices.

Dean Michel, a Department of History doctoral candidate, has earned the $25,000 Carter Manny Writing Award for 2025 from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts to support the completion of his dissertation, “A Watery Grave in the Desert: Termination, Survivance, and the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe.” He is the first student from FSU and from any Florida university to earn this award.

“The writing award will allow me to really buckle down in making sure my dissertation is ready for me to defend this spring,” Michel said. “I see it as an investment from the foundation and them saying they believe in my project and want me to give it my full attention. This is also a great way to show the significance of my research.”

“The writing award will allow me to really buckle down in making sure my dissertation is ready for me to defend this spring. I see it as an investment from the foundation and them saying they believe in my project and want me to give it my full attention. This is also a great way to show the significance of my research.”

— Dean Michel, Department of History doctoral candidate

The Carter Manny Awards, first granted in 1996, support outstanding doctoral dissertations contributing to new narratives of current interpretations and knowledge of architecture. The Graham Foundation promotes architecture’s role in culture, art and society, and the writing award recognizes emerging scholars during the writing stage of a doctoral dissertation, whose work challenges and impacts the architectural field at large.

Michel, an enrolled member of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, focuses on Indigenous studies and Indigenous knowledge related to climate, land and water management.

His doctoral research bridges Indigenous and governmental perspectives regarding land management and our relationship with different lands, such as the Acquisition of Indian Land for Parker Dam and Reservoir Project Act passed in 1940. The act allowed the U.S. federal government to acquire land owned by Native Americans to construct Parker Dam, subsequently destroying the reservation.

“My research connects Indigenous perspectives with the ideas of colonialism, built environments and architecture,” Michel said. “When we’re looking at infrastructure, there are tremendous consequences from it. Land where Native Americans are typically forced to live, such as reservations, are areas that are only meant to camp on temporarily. I’ve spoken with tribe elders that witnessed tremendous death and trauma on these lands. How do people return to these areas, build their homes there and build their lives?”

His dissertation highlights how modern resource management depends on Native Americans and the environment to sustain built environments like large cities.

One of Michel’s priorities is helping people gain a better understanding of the respect with which land should be held, along with clearer intentions for how land should be managed.

“I couldn’t be prouder of Dean,” said Andrew Frank, Native American and Indigenous Studies Center director, Allen Morris Professor of History and Michel’s doctoral adviser. “He’s tackling an important, complicated, and deeply personal project, and this award recognizes him as an emerging leader in the field. The Carter Manny Award provides more than financial support. He’ll lead scholars from various disciplines to pay attention to new paths he’s charting for scholars of Native America and to the important work being done in FSU’s NAIS Center.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of Dean. He’s tackling an important, complicated, and deeply personal project, and this award recognizes him as an emerging leader in the field.”

— Andrew Frank, Native American and Indigenous Studies Center director

A first-generation college student, Michel received his bachelor’s degree in history from Chadron State College in Nebraska in 2018. In 2022, he earned his master’s degree in history from FSU.

Michel is currently conducting research in Washington D.C. thanks to a Mellon Fellowship in Democracy and Landscape Studies presented through the Dumbarton Oaks Fellowship and supported by Harvard University. The nine-month fellowship, which began in September, includes a nearly $20,000 stipend and funds research on landscape histories and neglected or forgotten narratives.

This fall, Michel was also awarded the Department of History’s Walbolt Dissertation Fellowship, granted based on rigorous research in addressing historiographical questions.

“Dean’s work is unique because it combines the history of architecture, public policy and Native American history,” said Department of History Chair Jennifer Koslow. “In the 1930s, the federal government embarked on numerous infrastructure projects with the goal to better people’s lives, but these projects came at a cost for many Indigenous peoples. Dean’s research investigates the complexity and unexpected consequences on Indigenous peoples, such as those that stemmed from New Deal programs. His ability to tackle difficult stories and make them relevant to the present makes his project stand out.”

To learn more about Michel’s work and research conducted in the FSU Department of History, visit history.fsu.edu.

The post FSU history student receives competitive writing award to support architectural and Indigenous landscape studies research appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University’s Discovery Days continued its celebration of research excellence with the inaugural Graduate Research Showcase, where doctoral students shared insights from their academic journeys and groundbreaking research. 

Hosted by the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards, the event spotlighted the dedication and innovation of FSU’s graduate scholars.  

“This showcase isn’t just about sharing research — it’s about recognizing the drive and curiosity that define our graduate students,” said Keith McCall, acting director of the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards. “FSU graduate students are emerging experts in their fields, engaged in rigorous and deeply meaningful research that pushes scholarship forward.” 

“This showcase isn’t just about sharing research — it’s about recognizing the drive and curiosity that define our graduate students. FSU graduate students are emerging experts in their fields, engaged in rigorous and deeply meaningful research that pushes scholarship forward.” 

— Keith McCall, acting director of the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards

Attendees engaged in various disciplines during the presentations, including history, biological science and higher education, and offered constructive feedback to support the students’ continued success. 

Noah Cole, a doctoral candidate in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of History, kicked off the showcase by presenting his research on political factionalism in 15th-century Northern Italy. Cole explored how preachers of the time interpreted factional conflict not just as a social phenomenon, but as a deeply ideological and emotional force.  

His work expresses that factionalism should be treated as a conceptual category — comparable to modern political identities — and that religious leaders, through their Latin sermons, acted as political theorists shaping civic discourse. 

During his presentation, Cole shared insights from his analysis of sermons by three influential figures, showing how each grappled with the nature and impact of factionalism. He highlighted how these leaders framed partisanship as a moral and spiritual crisis. Cole’s research suggests that medieval preaching played a critical role in defining political identity and offers a lens through which to reconsider the emotional roots of modern partisanship. 

Penelope Ales, a doctoral candidate in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biological Science, presented her research on how crop arrangement affects insect herbivore behavior in agricultural systems.  

Her work focuses on intercropping, a method of planting multiple crops together, as a sustainable alternative to pesticide use. Ales presented her recently conducted field experiment using kale and elephant garlic to test how different planting patterns — monocultures, alternating rows, block mixtures and checkerboard arrangements — influence insect abundance, predator presence and crop damage. 

Ales explained how planting density and spatial arrangement can shape pest and predator dynamics, supporting the resource dilution hypothesis. Her findings suggest that small farms could benefit from exploring crop combinations that promote natural pest control and other ecosystem services. 

Johnnie L. Allen Jr., a doctoral candidate in the Higher Education program in the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, finished the showcase by presenting his research on how Black college men at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) develop leadership identity and navigate gender expression. Allen explored how students engage with leadership learning and STEM disciplines, focusing on how personal experiences and institutional environments shape their understanding of masculinity and leadership. 

During his presentation, Allen shared insights from interviews, visual mapping and photo-based reflection activities with students involved in leadership programs or STEM fields. He emphasized the importance of recognizing expressions of identity and fostering inclusive leadership development.  

Allen’s research contributes to further conversations about student success at minority-serving institutions and highlights the value of creating spaces where students can reflect on their experiences and define leadership in ways that are authentic to them. 

For more information about the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards, visit ogfa.fsu.edu. 

The post Florida State University doctoral students spotlighted at inaugural Graduate Research Showcase  appeared first on Florida State University News.

Historians, tasked with piecing the past together, often cross countries and oceans to access sources and better understand their topics of research.  

For Danielle Wirsansky, a doctoral student in the Department of History at Florida State University, this meant traveling to Israel to trace the experiences of female agents of Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE), an intelligence organization during World War II, through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.  

“I can’t speak enough about how impactful it is for my research to actually travel and go to an archive in the country that you’re studying,” she said. “This is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” 

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between U.S. citizens and people of other countries.  

Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant recipients are selected based on academic or professional merit and demonstrated leadership potential in their fields, with the program operating in over 160 countries worldwide. 

The primary source of funding is an annual appropriation made by Congress to the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments, host institutions, corporations and foundations also provide support. 

Wirsansky initially became interested in a Fulbright fellowship after witnessing its lasting impact on the career of her doctoral adviser, Department of History Professor Emeritus Nathan Stoltzfus. Stoltzfus, formerly the Dorothy and Jonathan Rintels Professor of Holocaust Studies who taught at FSU for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2024, conducted research in Germany in 1984 through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and still works with the same material from his own fellowship.  

“It was really incredible to see the longevity and effect a Fulbright award could have, and that it’s still the basis of the research and the career he’s built thirty-plus years on,”  Wirsansky said. 

Wirsansky already has undergraduate and master’s degrees from FSU. She first connected with Stoltzfus — and history — through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP).  

Pursuing degrees in creative writing and theatre, she had trouble finding arts-related UROP projects and decided to join Stoltzfus’ research on the Rosenstrasse Protest, which took place between February 27 and March 6, 1943, when approximately 200 non-Jewish German women held a non-violent protest in freezing conditions outside the Rosenstrasse detention center in Berlin, demanding the release of their Jewish family members (mainly husbands) who they feared were about to be deported to concentration camps.   

Continuing to work with Stoltzfus, Wirsansky wrote a play with musical accompaniment about the Holocaust for her Honors in the Major project. She then applied for her master’s in history at FSU to establish her credentials as a historical playwright. Falling in love with research and writing along the way, she stayed for her doctoral degree to hone in on the topics of her master’s thesis, which analyzed the evolution of women’s roles in British society through the lens of female spies. 

Eager to follow in the footsteps of her adviser and establish a similar foundation in historical research, Wirsansky started preparing her Fulbright application as soon as she began her doctoral program. 

She wanted to travel to Jerusalem, Israel, to piece together the lives of female agents in the SOE, a British intelligence agency formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe during World War II. Specifically, Wirsansky’s project focuses on the opportunity to research the experience of agents who were captured and then placed into concentration camps. 

In Jerusalem, Wirsansky had special access to materials in the Yad Vashem Museum, Israel’s official memorial institution to the victims of the Holocaust.  

“This is one of the few places where I’m able to actually access deeper information for my research, so it’s been incredible to finally get my hands on these resources,” she said. “It’s going to make my dissertation so much more rich, evocative and meaningful than it would have been if I didn’t receive this opportunity.” 

The post Fulbright Fellowship enriches academic and creative endeavors for FSU student pursuing a doctorate in history appeared first on Florida State University News.

Four recent graduates from Florida State University’s Department of History have earned prestigious scholar awards from a statewide nonprofit focused on preserving Florida’s history.

Spring 2025 master’s graduates Hope Evans, Alessio Luna, Jacqueline Vanegas and Jacob Winton were each honored with the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Preservation Scholar Award, which recognizes outstanding current or recently graduated students for early career excellence in the field.

The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, founded in 1978, promotes the protection of Florida’s heritage. The awards, which were presented at the trust’s Preservation on Main Street Conference in Fernandina Beach, Fla., were first presented in 2024. All recipients so far have hailed from FSU.

“These students have done a remarkable job at becoming both scholars and community advocates,” said Department of History Assistant Professor Kathleen Powers Conti, who nominated the students for the award. “I’m in awe of the tangible impact these students have made in their communities, and I’m excited to see their future accomplishments.”

Evans is a two-time FSU alumna who earned her bachelor’s in 2022 and her master’s in 2025, both in history. While attending FSU, she curated exhibits, guided museum tours and wrote a children’s book about Tallahassee’s historic sites for her role as an education director and curatorial assistant at the John Gilmore Riley Center & Museum for African American History and Culture. Earlier this year, she also received a fellowship from the Vernacular Architecture Forum for her research documenting Smitty’s Club, a Tallahassee hole-in-the-wall opened in 1951 to provide a safe place for Black locals during the Jim Crow South.

“In historic preservation, we protect the physical proof of a community’s history as well as its associated history and memories,” Evans said. “Preserved resources showcase the many types of histories that make up a community, whether that’s locally or nationally.”

Evans currently works as a historic preservationist for the Florida Department of State, where she evaluates and nominates Florida’s historic sites for the National Register of Historic Places and reviews historic resource surveys.

The post Recent FSU graduates earn scholar awards from Florida Trust for Historic Preservation  appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University faculty member has received a statewide teaching award for her impact as an educator in the field of historic preservation from a nonprofit that promotes the protection of Florida’s historic sites and heritage.  

Kathleen Powers Conti, an assistant professor in FSU’s Department of History, earned the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Roy E. Graham Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation Education and was honored at the Preservation on Main Street Conference in Fernandina Beach, Fla. 

“I’m honored that my colleagues nominated me for this award, and I’m so grateful I get to work with such amazing faculty and students here at FSU,” Conti said. “I love getting to show students how they can take what they’ve learned in a history classroom and apply it in a wide variety of careers including with the National Park Service, museums, and local, state and federal governments.”  

“Professor Conti implements hands-on activities that allow students to move from acquiring foundational knowledge to engaging in acts of creation. Her accolade highlights how FSU’s history program is important to Floridians who want to preserve the historic fabric of their communities.”  

– Jennifer Koslow, Department of History chair

The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, founded in 1978, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Florida’s history and heritage. The Roy E. Graham Award is named in memory of historic preservation architect and educator Roy Eugene Graham and recognizes professional educators who have made long-term contributions to historic conservation education, ensuring future generations will continue to preserve Florida’s history and most endangered places. 

“My interdisciplinary teaching style is enriched by my professional experiences as a public historian as well as my academic research on interactions between built and natural environments,” said Conti, who joined FSU’s faculty in 2022. “I love showing students how to apply classroom learning to real-world projects with community partners. This allows my students to build a portfolio of sample work projects with polished examples of their research, analysis and writing for future employers.”  

At FSU, Conti teaches courses covering historic preservation, museum studies, public history, architectural history and environmental history for both graduate and undergraduate students. In these courses, she emphasizes the importance of participating in place-based learning at historic sites and often engages students in real-world preservation projects. 

“In my historic preservation class, students research and analyze a building of their choosing in Tallahassee to create an entry for the Florida Master Site File, our state’s official inventory of historical and cultural resources, and write a nomination for the National Register of Historic Places,” Conti said. “With place-based learning, our class travels to a historic site or landscape to explore and analyze it together, ensuring students get well-rounded, real-world experiences.” 

Conti also advises student research projects as an instructor for the history department’s senior seminar, a capstone course in which students develop their own research projects and is an affiliated faculty in the Native American and Indigenous Studies Center at FSU.  

Outside of teaching, Conti’s chapter in “Architectures of Slavery: Ruins and Reconstructions” was recently published by University of Virginia Press and she serves as a co-principal investigator for a $300,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation analyzing how to better identify and protect historical and cultural resources. 

“My research helps people and communities preserve the stories and places that matter to them,” she said. “This preservation is important for us today but also to ensure these stories and places are protected for future generations.” 

The post FSU public historian earns prestigious Florida Trust for Historic Preservation education award appeared first on Florida State University News.

Two Florida State University graduate students have earned scholarships from an international women’s organization recognizing academic excellence by high-achieving doctoral students.

Clinical psychology doctoral student Morgan Robison and history doctoral student Danielle Wirsansky, both from the College of Arts and Sciences, have received 2025-2026 Scholar Awards from the Philanthropic Educational Organization, or P.E.O., a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting women through education.

“Morgan and Danielle’s success reflects the caliber of their work and the strength of FSU’s graduate programs,” said Adrienne Stephenson, director of FSU’s Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards. “By investing in these women scholars, P.E.O. empowers individual success while driving meaningful progress in research, leadership and innovation across disciplines.”

Founded in 1869 by seven female university students, P.E.O. has helped more than 125,000 women worldwide pursue their goals by providing upwards of $435 million in educational assistance. First awarded in 1991, P.E.O. Scholar Awards are highly competitive merit-based scholarships providing up to $25,000 for one year of study and research by women who will make significant contributions in their fields. Of the 776 women nominated by local P.E.O. chapters this year, Robison and Wirsansky are among only 100 honorees nationwide.

Robison, a rising fifth-year doctoral student in the Department of Psychology, conducts research on suicide risk, intervention and prevention in the Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Suicide-Related Conditions and Behaviors under the mentorship of Thomas Joiner, Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology and the director of FSU’s Psychology Clinic.

“The award brings valuable visibility to our work, which is an essential step in advancing suicide prevention research,” Robison said. “Receiving this generous scholarship is humbling and exciting. It will directly support my research and ease the financial transition into my clinical internship year.”

Robison’s work suggests that one’s perception of themselves — shaped by how they psychologically and neurobiologically interpret external, interpersonal experiences such as social exclusion — influences mental health outcomes more than the interactions themselves.

Suicide prevention research and identifying those most at risk is increasingly critical as suicide rates have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for minorities, with 2024 marking the highest rate of suicide in the U.S. since 1941, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This work is deeply informed by philosophy, social psychology, history and neuroscience with each field offering a distinct lens on how we define and express our humanity as well as how that humanity can be diminished or denied,” Robison said. “I apply these perspectives in clinical psychology to better understand how we can foster belonging through our shared human experience, ultimately preventing serious mental health outcomes.”

“By investing in these women scholars, P.E.O. empowers individual success while driving meaningful progress in research, leadership and innovation across disciplines.”

– Adrienne Stephenson, director of FSU’s Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards

Also entering the fifth year of her program, Wirsansky is a doctoral student in the Department of History working under the mentorship of Nathan Stoltzfus, an FSU emeritus professor of history.

Wirsansky’s dissertation explores the experiences of World War II spies and focuses on women who served in the British Special Operations Executive and were captured by Nazis. By examining how gender shaped their recruitment, training, treatment in captivity and postwar memory, Wirsansky’s work illuminates how female spies navigated and challenged the gender norms of their time.

“Every time I uncover a letter, a photograph or a personal story, I feel like I am restoring part of their legacy,” Wirsansky said. “I want the public to recognize and honor the courage and contributions of these often-overlooked women, many of whom risked everything in service of freedom and resistance.”

Wirsansky also earned a 2024 Fulbright Study/Research Award from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, funding her present archival research on female World War II spies at the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem, Israel. This work not only expands upon existing knowledge of the past, but it also informs current and future understanding of how gender plays into wartime dynamics.

“I was thrilled and honestly a little stunned when I found out I received the P.E.O. Scholar Award,” Wirsansky said. “Graduate school can be financially and emotionally demanding, especially in the final stages of dissertation writing. This award helps me begin my career on solid footing with fewer obstacles and greater momentum.”

For more information about graduate fellowship and award opportunities, visit the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards at ogfa.fsu.edu.

The post Two FSU doctoral students selected for competitive Philanthropic Educational Organization scholarships appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University faculty member has been honored as the 2025 Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellow by Durham University to further explore the institution’s archives, historical manuscripts and rare documents on Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.

Associate Professor of History Will Hanley’s work examines Egypt’s role in global systems, highlighting contributions from regions often overshadowed by traditional historical power centers. He will spend five weeks this spring in England at Durham University, affiliated with the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and Grey College, where he will deepen his expertise and focus on his forthcoming book “Cairo, Capital of International Law.”

“This fellowship provides me with access to an archive ideally suited for my research on Egypt from the 1890s to the 1930s,” Hanley said. “Despite the region’s significance, few historians specialize in this period, making this fellowship a perfect match for my interests. I am excited about the opportunities for discovery that lie ahead.”

While at Durham University, Hanley will engage with fellow scholars, attend lectures and take part in academic discussions focusing on areas of interest to enhance his experience.

“Being named the Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellow is a testament to Professor Hanley’s exceptional scholarship and dedication to advancing our knowledge of a pivotal moment in history, the development of international law at the turn-of-the-twentieth century,” said Jennifer Koslow, Department of History chair and professor. “This fellowship not only recognizes his past achievements but also provides a unique opportunity to further his groundbreaking research.”

Hanley emphasized the significance of this fellowship for both his role as a professor at FSU and as an educator guiding students in this field.

“A really important part of providing students with the best instruction is that I also have a vital scholarly agenda of my own,” he said. “My research infuses my teaching with enthusiasm, creating an exchange in this ecosystem of knowledge production between my primary research and the teaching of my students.”

“A really important part of providing students with the best instruction is that I also have a vital scholarly agenda of my own. My research infuses my teaching with enthusiasm, creating an exchange in this ecosystem of knowledge production between my primary research and the teaching of my students.”

— Will Hanley, associate professor of history

Having taught at FSU for 16 years, Hanley has significantly contributed to the Middle East Center in the College of Arts and Sciences  as a participating faculty member while researching legal history.

The Middle East Center, established in 2002 within the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, offers an undergraduate degree in Middle Eastern Studies that promotes interdisciplinary scholarship and fosters a deeper understanding of the Middle East through various learning opportunities such as lectures, symposiums and an annual film festival.

While in graduate school, Hanley studied Arabic in Tunisia, Jordan, Syria and Egypt, and values the opportunities for the various language studies that FSU offers its students.

“One thing you can do when you’re young is to try to acquire languages,” he said. “Our Middle East Center has excellent language training; that language training is the foundation for any work you want to do in this part of the world.”

Hanley’s dedication to uncovering the rich history of the Middle East and his commitment to academic excellence continue to inspire both his students and colleagues at FSU.

“Florida State University is one of America’s great public universities,” Hanley said. “We work to teach the citizens of the state, the children of the citizens of this state and to equip them to understand the world that we live in. We are very fortunate here to have a longstanding strong Middle East studies program.”

Hanley’s fellowship work will be published by Durham University, with the Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship. At Durham, he will deliver a lecture for the Middle East Papers Series and submit a chapter for an edited volume within four months.

For more information about FSU’s Department of History, visit history.fsu.edu. To learn more about the Middle East Center, visit mec.fsu.edu.

The post FSU historian awarded prestigious fellowship to advance Middle Eastern research at Durham University  appeared first on Florida State University News.

Honors student Kieran Stenson engages in the FSU community by serving as a mentor for incoming freshmen and conducting research. Stenson is an IDEA Grant recipient and an Engage 100 leader. He finds joy in supporting students and guiding them to research opportunities.

Why did you choose to attend FSU?

FSU was the first university I toured that felt right. The campus was beautiful, and I was impressed by the plethora of opportunities and programs offered to undergraduates. The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, the University Honors Program, Engage 100 and InternFSU—all these programs piqued my interest and showed me that FSU was an institution that offered its students the chance to make something of their college experience. The campus culture was also welcoming and felt alive in a way that other universities did not. In many ways, FSU just seemed like the right place to be for me.

What is your most significant academic achievement?

The biggest research project I have undertaken during my time at FSU has been my thesis. Working with professor Jonathan Grant, I have spent the better part of a year writing my undergraduate thesis, which analyzes the rhetoric of the Polish Constitution of 1791. It has been a fantastic experience, as I received an IDEA Grant and spent five months in Poland conducting research.

Another remarkable experience I’ve had at FSU was teaching an Engage 100 course with professor Claudia Liebeskind for incoming freshmen interested in history. Being an Engage 100 leader was a fantastic way to learn from an experienced educator and work on my lesson planning and classroom management skills. These experiences, and many others, have been pivotal during my time at FSU.

How have you served your community outside of FSU?

Outside the classroom, one of my favorite contributions to my community has been serving on the editorial board for the Florida Undergraduate Research Journal. This volunteer experience taught me about the process of editing and publishing papers for a research journal. Furthermore, it was immensely rewarding to help fellow undergraduates publish their research. It was a highly rewarding and beneficial experience for everyone involved.

How have you made an impact on the FSU community?

I have contributed to FSU through my work as a peer mentor and an honors colloquium leader. Through these mentorship opportunities, I have educated incoming freshmen about the opportunities offered to FSU students and help guide them through their first semester of college. I believe incoming students benefit from having an experienced undergraduate to use as a resource, and I have tried to be that for my students.

The post Kieran Stenson appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University researcher will use a highly competitive fellowship from the world’s largest museum, education and research complex to complete an exploration of how national security concerns — during and after the Cold War — fundamentally shaped research in the earth sciences.

Associate Professor of History Ronald E. Doel received the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM). The NASM is the preeminent American institution for commemorating flight while collecting, preserving and presenting the history, science and technology of aviation and space exploration. Since early August, Doel has been onsite at NASM in Washington, D.C., finishing his current book project, “Cold War Planet,” which covers the period between the end of World War II in 1945 through the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History is a competitive 12-month fellowship open to senior scholars with distinguished records of publication who are writing, or anticipate writing, books about aerospace history, broadly defined. This is the third time Doel has been selected for a fellowship with the institution — he held a predoctoral Guggenheim Fellowship from 1987 until 1989 and a postdoctoral fellowship from 1993 until 1995.

“Three decades later, I have the privilege of returning to the Smithsonian,” Doel said. “It is a premier research institution, and to be here is to be part of a community. I have greatly enjoyed meeting new colleagues and reconnecting with those I have not seen for a long time.”

Founded in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution is also home to the National Zoological Park and helps shape the future by preserving heritage, discovering new knowledge and sharing its resources with the world.

“As a creative scholar with a unique commitment to interdisciplinary research, Doel’s residence at the Smithsonian situates him at the center of global discussions on the history of science. This award speaks to peer recognition that he is the preeminent scholar in his field of Cold War-era science.”

—Jennifer Koslow, chair of the Department of History

“As a creative scholar with a unique commitment to interdisciplinary research, Doel’s residence at the Smithsonian situates him at the center of global discussions on the history of science,” said Jennifer Koslow, chair of the Department of History. “This award speaks to peer recognition that he is the preeminent scholar in his field of Cold War-era science.”

Following World War II, protecting the natural environment from pollution became a national priority, leading to hallmark legislation such as the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969 and the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. In the public consciousness and scholarship alike, however, there is a missing link between military interests and the type of environmental science research being conducted during the first decades of the Cold War. Doel intends for “Cold War Planet” to bridge this gap.

“Military leaders viewed the natural environment as a bounded, dynamic space through which new weapons — long-range bombers, guided missiles and submarines — would pass,” Doel said. “This perspective yielded much of the data that now constitutes our understanding of our planet’s physical environment.”

During the Cold War, a chasm emerged between the fields of ecology and physical earth sciences, with ecology largely becoming associated with environmental conservation and anti-pollution legislation. Physical earth sciences disciplines —including oceanography, geology and meteorology — emerged as heavily funded strategic areas of research as the U.S. military sought advantage over the Soviet Union through a better understanding of Earth’s physical properties. According to Doel, trust in both ecology and physical earth science experts eroded once climate change became a politically controversial issue, making it particularly important to study lesser-known aspects of science history and the political influences that shaped its origins in the U.S.

“This book is the pinnacle of my research,” Doel said. “The stories we tell about contemporary environmental knowledge will remain disturbingly incomplete if we fail to appreciate how national security requirements shaped fundamental questions asked about our planetary home.”

Doel earned his doctorate in history from Princeton University in 1990 and joined the FSU Department of History in 2008. Two years later, he also joined the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy’s Department of Geography as a faculty associate. He received an FSU University Teaching Award in 2016 and an FSU Outstanding Teaching in the Major Award in 2023.

Learn more about Doel’s research and the FSU Department of History at history.fsu.edu.

The post FSU science historian awarded Smithsonian Institution fellowship to study impact of Cold War-era national security concerns on earth science research  appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University associate professor of history has earned a competitive humanities award for the 2024-25 academic year in support of a book project on the Ottoman Empire.

Nilay Özok-Gündoğan, an associate professor in the Department of History, was elected a fellow of the Stanford Humanities Center in support of her book tentatively titled “Forging Empire: Mineral Extraction, State-Making, and the Colonization of Ottoman Kurdistan, 1720-1870.” The book focuses on the Ottoman Empire’s most significant mining area in the 18th century and how mining shaped the transition of early modern states into institutionalized modern structures.

“I’m honored to be appointed a fellow of the Stanford Humanities Center,” Özok-Gündoğan said. “It’s a very competitive and selective fellowship. This is basically a dream scenario for a historian to have undivided time to focus on writing my book while working in an active, vibrant academic setting. I’m very happy about it.”

Founded in 1980, the Stanford Humanities Center is a multidisciplinary research institute at Stanford University that supports scholarship in the humanities and the interpretive social sciences by providing resources like fellowships, workshops and lectures to advance knowledge within and across disciplines.

The SHC’s Fellowship Program has provided fellows-in-residence the opportunity to step away from their regular academic responsibilities and engage in research at the center since 1982. Fellows are encouraged to participate actively in the center’s dynamic interdisciplinary community by attending fellowship events, presenting their research and attending talks.

Özok-Gündoğan is among eight external fellows from around the U.S. selected for the 2024-25 academic year. She is the first FSU researcher to be named an SHC fellow since the program’s inception.

“I can’t think of a better ambassador to attest to the quality of our scholars,” said Jennifer Koslow, chair of the history department. “Having Dr. Özok-Gündoğan represent the history department at Florida State University raises our profile. In the world of competitive awards, this is truly one of the most prestigious to receive. Her project on mining and the political economy of the Ottoman Empire will reshape studies of the history of commodities, environment and colonialism.”

Özok-Gündoğan’s project investigates an 18th-century mining area within Kurdistan, part of the Ottoman Empire, examining its significance within the empire and the impact of mining practices on the West Asian region’s communities and environments. Through an approach that encompasses political, social and economic perspectives, she explores the previously overlooked role of mining and mineral extraction in shaping the trajectory of early modern states towards institutionalized modern structures.

While focusing on the 18th century, the project aims to prompt further research into how mining and mineral extraction has shaped the modern world, particularly for non-European scholarship. The project also centers Kurdish history in the empire, highlighting how a present-day stateless group came to be minoritized.

“When we think of Kurds and Kurdistan, what comes to our minds is mostly issues related to culture, language, assimilation and oppression within a nation-state context,” said Özok-Gündoğan. “If we expand our understanding of their history to the land and to territory, such as these specific mining areas, then we can get a broader understanding of how Kurdistan became a colony. It didn’t start as a cultural process in the 19th century, as is often suggested; it began in the 18th century as an economic process that was centered on mineral extraction.”

Several FSU grants supported early stages of research and writing for this project. In 2022, Özok-Gündoğan received the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Travel Grant to work in the National Archives in London. In 2023, she was funded by the Summer Research Support award program, formerly known as the Committee on Faculty Research Support program, from FSU’s Council on Research and Creativity, which assists faculty members with research and creative endeavors that encourage external funding.

To learn more about Özok-Gündoğan’s research and the FSU Department of History, visit history.fsu.edu.

The post FSU historian named Stanford Humanities Center Fellow appeared first on Florida State University News.