I'm going to meet Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed tonight!

[historyguy12485]

Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed is coming to Philadelphia tonight and I'm driving into town to see her speak. While she'll be here speaking about her forthcoming book on Andrew Johnson, I'm bringing my copy of The Hemingses of Monticello to have her sign it.

Has anyone read this book? Because of my interest in colonial American identity and whiteness her work has been eye-opening, especially the way she allows her legal background to inform her work. Law was (and still is to some extent imo) so important in creating identity in colonial America - not just along racial but also along class and gender lines. I also appreciate her work on the historiography of Jefferson and how it shows that bias can creep in to even the most objective of historians, and also how the bias that existed in the Jefferson-Hemings historiography was actually shaped by the unfair legal status of blacks and women in the 18th century.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of hers! I can't wait until tonight!

[Emerson]

So jealous. Her book was one of the best I've read in years.

[historyguy12485]

She was so chill and down to earth in person! She is such an intelligent woman. And she autographed my book!

[natsteel]

That must've been really cool. Thanks to one of my mentors I got to meet Gordon Wood last year and Eric Foner earlier this year.

[EricaMarie]

I met Eric Foner last year at the OAH annual meeting in D.C. I also got to meet, and talk at length with, Colin Calloway, who is one of the foremost Native American scholars. While I'm not a Native American historian, it was awesome to meet someone whose books I'm using for pieces of my thesis (he wrote a book called A Scratch of the Pen about the Proclamation of 1763, which is the year my thesis begins, chronologically).

It was kind of awesome.

[natsteel]

I know, right? I'm not ashamed to admit I felt a teeny bit starstruck meeting Wood and Foner. Though Foner was really nice and approachable. I met him after he gave a talk at my department, where he used to teach. Though I think learning to interact with well-known historians is a part of the socialization aspect of becoming a graduate student and then a historian.

[EricaMarie]

I wanted to apply to Brown for this application series, but with Gordon Wood's retirement a few years ago (which depressed me deeply when I found out!) Brown was definitely out. I'd love to meet him though. I don't think he's written a book that I don't have or haven't used thus far.

Colin Calloway was so shocked when I told him I loved his work; apparently history professors/writers don't believe they're superstars?

[natsteel]

I wanted to apply to Brown for this application series, but with Gordon Wood's retirement a few years ago (which depressed me deeply when I found out!) Brown was definitely out. I'd love to meet him though. I don't think he's written a book that I don't have or haven't used thus far.

Colin Calloway was so shocked when I told him I loved his work; apparently history professors/writers don't believe they're superstars?

If Wood had still been at Brown, it would have been my top choice. He seemed a genuinely nice guy, but once you've seen him give one talk, it becomes repetitive because he has a script that he's been using for the last 20 years. Still, I was a bit struck when I met him. In our field, we're about 20 years too late. I would've loved the chance to work with Bailyn or Morgan, as well.

[StrangeLight]

"Bailyn" is a dirty word in my department.

[natsteel]

"Bailyn" is a dirty word in my department.

That doesn't surprise me in the least, StrangeLight. I was speaking as though were it twenty years ago, but, by this point especially, he is quite outdated. Nevertheless, he was, arguably, the most influential early Americanist of the last fifty years. I took a graduate seminar this past semester and heard students in private conversations just ripping him apart.

When I first started reading the scholarly literature of my field over five years ago, Bailyn's work really impressed me as well as his "production" of the dozen or so students of his that became prominent historians in the field (Rakove, Maier, Wood, Kammen, Henretta, Mancall, Zuckerman, etc...). As my perceptions of the field have grown, I have found much of Bailyn's work to be quite problematic. Yet, I am not at the point of some grad students who seem to have quite a deep antipathy to both him and his work.

Edited February 13, 2011 by natsteel

[Emerson]

For those of you with interests in early British history, Steven Pincus is about to speak to my program in a few minutes. Though I'm primarily an Americanist, I have enough Atlantic interests to be excited.

[diogenes]

Am I the only person who thinks its unprofessional to talk about people by name like this? I think its fine to discuss their work, but a little creepy to write about meeting them and so on...

[qbtacoma]

Am I the only person who thinks its unprofessional to talk about people by name like this? I think its fine to discuss their work, but a little creepy to write about meeting them and so on...

Why? People are meeting them in a professional capacity. Yeah, there's a little bit of the starry-eyed going on, because we want to be like these folks eventually (TT jobs! Cool theories!), but it's not like folks are saying rude things.

[Jeppe]

For those of you with interests in early British history, Steven Pincus is about to speak to my program in a few minutes. Though I'm primarily an Americanist, I have enough Atlantic interests to be excited.

What did you think about Prof Pincus? He is a very, very cool professor, but also pretty intense.

[natsteel]

What did you think about Prof Pincus? He is a very, very cool professor, but also pretty intense.

I'd also be interested in your thoughts on Pincus, Emerson...

[Emerson]

Prof. Pincus was, as expected, brilliant and informative. The seminar he took part in is elite and intense, and he took all the criticisms and suggestions in stride. His pre-circulated paper was on the Whit/Tory debates over imperialism during the early 18th century, a brief slice of what will eventually be his next book. There were a handful of notable British historians of the period present, so the give-and-take during the Q&A portion was worth the price of admission.

Most interesting to me was the tensions between the different approaches to history amongst those in the discussion. Here at Cambridge, there is a particular methodology of intellectual history that dominates, and Pincus does not exactly fit that bill so there was some fascinating debate over how to interpret different themes; it was a general and cordial debate over political history vs. political culture. Further, Pincus represents what one of my mentors out here identifies as a "American East-Coast Whig" interpretation of British history, something that several historians out here are hesitant about, so there was some great dialogue on that. Fun times all around.

[natsteel]

Prof. Pincus was, as expected, brilliant and informative. The seminar he took part in is elite and intense, and he took all the criticisms and suggestions in stride. His pre-circulated paper was on the Whit/Tory debates over imperialism during the early 18th century, a brief slice of what will eventually be his next book. There were a handful of notable British historians of the period present, so the give-and-take during the Q&A portion was worth the price of admission.

Most interesting to me was the tensions between the different approaches to history amongst those in the discussion. Here at Cambridge, there is a particular methodology of intellectual history that dominates, and Pincus does not exactly fit that bill so there was some fascinating debate over how to interpret different themes; it was a general and cordial debate over political history vs. political culture. Further, Pincus represents what one of my mentors out here identifies as a "American East-Coast Whig" interpretation of British history, something that several historians out here are hesitant about, so there was some great dialogue on that. Fun times all around.

Wow, I wish I could've seen that. I'm gonna meet Pincus next weekend, so I'm pretty excited.

[SecondBlackPrez]

Annette Gordon-Reed is sooooo amazing!!!!! Her work is beautiful!!!!!!