In addition to a wide variety of workshops, symposiums and other special events, the Department of History hosts several seminar series.
The Black History Speaker Series
The Black History speaker series began in the fall of 2020. Its goals are to bring more diverse speakers to Auburn’s campus, in order to expose the campus community to the breadth and diversity of historical scholarship about Africa and the African diaspora. Past and upcoming speakers are listed below. Details about the talks, including zoom links to join remotely, can always be found on the website of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities.
2020-21 Speakers
Dr. Nicole Ivy, Assistant Professor of American Studies, George Washington University
Dr. Ellen Spears, Professor of American Studies, University of Alabama
2021-22 Speakers
Dr. Amira Rose Davis, Assistant Professor of History, Penn State University
Dr. Joshua Rothman, Professor of History, University of Alabama
2022-23 Speakers
Dr. Stanford Angion, President, Selma University
Rev KG Jones, Senior Pastor, Bethel Baptist Church
The Southern Seminar is held twice per semester in the Bond Library located on the third floor of Thach Hall. Works-in-progress by faculty and graduate students on a wide range of topics in Southern history are discussed. Recent seminars have included discussions on race, immigration and industrialization in late 19th-century Alabama, gender and Native American law in the 1820s and 1830s, and Southern Living magazine's reactions to 1970s feminism.
The European Studies Seminar is held several times per semester in the Bond Library. Following a traditional seminar format, participants present a formal full-length paper and take questions from the audience. Conversations continue afterwards at a dinner. The seminar hosts a mix of graduate students and faculty, united by their interest in European history. Papers range from medieval to modern topics. Recent seminars have explored the cultural history of Victorian zoos, civilian mobilization in the World War II Battle of Kursk, conflicts between Charles I and the English East India Company, and the evolving attitude to the Alto Adige in Fascist Italy.
The Alabama Seminar on Early America (ASEA) is an interdisciplinary community of scholars in Alabama who study the peoples and cultures of North America and the Caribbean before 1850. Founded as a consortium of Alabama colleges and universities, the ASEA connects students and faculty to the deep expertise and intellectual enterprise across the state. Scholars at Alabama institutions studying North America and the Caribbean, the British colonial world, and the early American republic from the beginnings of European colonization through the 1840s are invited to attend.
ASEA sponsors a seminar series hosted by member institutions on a rotating basis. Pre-circulated papers and other works-in-progress are read and discussed, giving members the chance to share their work and receive feedback from Alabama’s broad community of early American scholars.
Member institutions include Auburn University, University of Alabama, Tuskegee University, and University of Alabama, Huntsville. ASEA is supported in part by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities at Auburn University and the Southeastern Conference Travel Grant Program.
For more information, please contact Dr. Adam Jortner.