2018 Metcalf Cup and Prize Recipient: Brooke Blower

Brooke Blower is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Boston University’s College of Arts & Sciences and founding coeditor of the Cambridge University Press journal Modern American History. Her research focuses on modern American politics and culture, especially in transnational and urban contexts.

Since arriving at BU in 2006, Professor Blower has proven invaluable. She led an extensive revision of the History Department’s undergraduate curriculum, authored the department’s guide “So, You Think You Want to Study History?,” and was instrumental in halting an enrollment decline. At the graduate level, she is a sought-after principal advisor and serves as a second reader on numerous dissertations.

At all levels, her innovative classes engage, inspire, and teach not just history but also how to think like a historian.  Professor Blower draws students from across the University with courses built around unique perspectives on history  such as “American Popular Culture,” “Americans in the  World,” and “Sex, Love, Family: Relationships in American History from Birth to Death.”

In evaluations, students note “her candor and honesty,” “humility, approachability, and vast knowledge,” and praise her as a professor with an “exceptional ability to construct a warm and rigorous learning environment” who “lights up the room with her enthusiasm.” Many also point to her emphasis on writing as especially valuable, with one student describing her influence as “transformative.”

Professor Blower holds a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in History from University of California, Berkeley, and a Doctor of Philosophy in History from Princeton University. She is widely published, is greatly in demand for presentations and lectures, and has authored two books, with two more in progress. Among her many prior honors are the BU History Department’s Gitner Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the College of Arts & Sciences’ Frank & Lynne Wisneski Award for Excellence in Teaching.