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History Department Co-Sponsors Upcoming Talk with BU Global Security Initiative

In cooperation with the BU Global Security Initiative, the History Department is co-sponsoring a lunch talk by David Engerman (Yale University) on April 13, entitled “Apostles of Development: Six Economists and the World They Made.” The talk will be held from 12-1:30pm at 121 Bay State Road. Apostles of Development uses the lives and work […]

Prof Arianne Chernock Featured in The Colin McEnroe Show

Professor Arianne Chernock was recently interviewed for an episode of The Colin McEnroe Show, titled “Americans love the idea of royals. So why do we hate the idea of kings?” You can click here to access the episode.

Prof Benjamin Siegel Publishes New Book, Markets of Pain: Opium, Capitalism, and the Global History of Painkillers

Associate Professor Benjamin Siegel’s new book, Markets of Pain: Opium, Capitalism, and the Global History of Painkillers, will be released by Oxford University Press on April 15, 2026. The book traces how opioids became central to modern medicine and state-making, spanning Indian farmers, Turkish bureaucrats, American pharmaceutical executives, and Tasmanian poppy growers. Learn more at […]

PhD Candidate Aixin Yi Selected as Finalist for BU’s 3MT Competition

Please join the department in cheering on PhD candidate Aixin Yi, who is a finalist for BU’s 3 Minute Thesis competition. 3MT is a university-wide event where PhD students present their research to a general audience in just three minutes. It’s a rare chance to showcase historical research in a public-facing format. The final competition […]

Prof Jonathan Zatlin Publishes New Article

Professor Jonathan Zatlin recently published an article in the German Studies Review, titled “History as Mourning, Memory as Melancholia: Weimar, Past and Future.” Click here to access the article.

Prof David Mayers Publishes New Book

Professor David Mayers recently published a new book, Seekers and Partisans: Americans Abroad in the Crisis Years, 1935-1941. This book recounts the tales of individual Americans, some well-known and some not, who strove to understand their nation and its place in the world in the roiled years 1935–41. David Mayers identifies these individuals as ‘seekers’ and […]

PhD Student Omotolani Onike Participates in Roundtable

PhD student Omotolani Onike participated in a roundtable at the African Studies Association in Atlanta, Georgia in November 2025. He spoke alongside Professors Nancy Jacobs from Brown University, Tasha Rijke-Epstein from Vanderbilt University, and Admire Mseba from the University of Southern California. The title of the round table was “Cross the Species Boundary: What Animal […]

Prof Sarah Phillips Publishes New Article

Professor Sarah Phillips has just published a new article, “Indian Landlords and Socialist Votes,” in Agricultural History. Given as a presidential address last year, it’s part of her current book project on the intersection of leftist politics and Indigenous dispossession. 

History Department Co-Sponsors Upcoming Event with Pardee School of Global Studies

On Tuesday, February 3, Elena Kempf (MIT) will give a talk on “New Weapons, Old Debates: A History of Weapons Prohibitions in International Law, 1868-Present.” This event, which is co-sponsored by the History Department and the Pardee School, will be held from 12:30 to 2pm at 121 Bay State Road. Please register at this link.