Brown University History Department

05/20/2026

This past semester, History Ph.D. Candidate Ebru Erginbas had the pleasure of working with a talented group of students in her TA section for The Viking Age course taught by Professor Jonathan Conant. Students developed a range of final projects that reflected extensive research, thoughtful planning, and the historical themes and methodologies explored throughout the semester. “It was inspiring to witness the level of effort and creativity my students brought to their work,” Erginbas said.

Chris Parvarkin ’26 crafted an original Viking shield by sawing rectangular pieces of wood and assembling them into a circular design. He covered the shield with faux leather to make it as historically accurate as possible.

Classmate Ryan Duong ’28 developed a Viking Age-themed video game inspired by a longtime personal passion, grounding the current version in the historical context explored throughout the course.

Zohar Slave ’26 and Ömer Kızıl ’27 created a Viking Age board game called Hnefatafl, which is comparable to chess.

Read the full story and explore more final projects from HIST 1210A:

This past semester, History Ph.D. Candidate Ebru Erginbas had the pleasure of working with a talented group of students in her TA section for The Viking Age course taught by Professor Jonathan Conant. Students developed a range of final projects that reflected extensive research, thoughtful planning...

05/19/2026

from the Graduate School ♻️

Huge congratulations to Sarah Christensen, recipient of the Joukowsky Outstanding Dissertation Prize in the Social Sciences!

Her groundbreaking dissertation, Intimate Histories of Enslaved Women in Early Medieval Europe, 400–1200, challenges how we look at historical evidence by recovering the voices of women and girls systematically erased from the archives.

By reading between the lines of Norse sagas, Arabic traveler accounts, and Byzantine texts, and pairing medieval studies with Black feminist scholarship, Sarah brings the lived experiences, trauma, and resilience of these overlooked women to light.

Sarah completed her Ph.D. at Brown University and is currently inspiring the next generation of scholars as a Lecturer in the Writing Program at Princeton University.

04/28/2026

Scoop there it is 🍦🍦🍦

Thanks to all who joined us yesterday for our annual ice cream social at Peter Green House! It was the perfect day for a sweet treat and a little break in the sunshine 🌞

04/20/2026

Spring blooms > winter gloom 🌸

04/10/2026

Join us on Friday, April 24th at 5PM for a book talk by Linford Fisher, Associate Professor of History and the Faculty Director for the Center for Digital Scholarship at Brown University.

Professor Fisher will discuss his book “Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History” (Liveright, 2026) in conversation with Philip Deloria (Harvard University) and Paula Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag).

Co-sponsored by the Department of History and the John Carter Brown Library.

A reception will follow. Please register to attend in person or via Zoom:

“To create American colonies and, later, the United States, settlers stole thousands of people as well as millions of acres from Native Americans...

03/27/2026

Next Week: 4/3 at 5PM — "Cross Talk on Labor"

To bring more attention to our distinct disciplinary approaches, Brown 2026 is convening Cross Talk, a series of moderated conversations in which faculty from across the university explain their approaches to a subject or issue. The first Cross Talk takes on an enduring aspect of the human experience: labor.

Moderated by Seth Rockman. Sponsored by Brown 2026 and the Discovery through Dialogue project. Learn more and register to attend!

Join Brown 2026 and the Discovery Through Dialogue project for Cross Talk: A Whole Campus, Distinct Disciplines Approach April 3, 2026, at 5pm:...

03/26/2026

In anticipation of warmer days and greener grounds 🍃

03/18/2026

Late last month, the Department of History hosted a talk titled “The Historian and the Historian-ish.” The talk explored how people today are stepping into the role of “historian”—whether by creating and sharing archives online, challenging how institutions present history, or posting educational content on social media.

Presented by M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, Ph.D. ’12 (American Studies), the event also examined how this shift is changing who gets to tell history—and why it matters.

Thank you to all who joined us!

03/10/2026

Graduate Student Spotlight: Aaron Stark

In a recent spotlight with the history department, Aaron Stark highlights his History Advanced Teaching Fellowship and undergraduate seminar entitled “On the Move: Problems and Histories of Tourism and Mobilities.” The course examines how tourism and human movement reshape places, identities, and global power relations.

“The inspiration for this seminar draws from a portion of my dissertation ‘Naturalizing Empire: National Parks and Environmental Curation in Imperial Japan’ in which I examine how tourism entrenched certain modes of spatial understanding and experience by presenting the empire as a singular, cohesive, and natural unit in the social imagination.”

Read the full spotlight to learn more:

In this graduate student spotlight, Aaron Stark highlights his History Advanced Teaching Fellowship and undergraduate seminar entitled "On the Move: Problems and Histories of Tourism and Mobilities." The course examines how tourism and human movement reshape places, identities, and global power rela...

02/26/2026

Graduate Student Spotlight: Ria Modak

In this spotlight, Ph.D. Candidate Ria Modak shares her research on linguistic nationalism and cultural politics in postcolonial India. As a composer and musician, Modak’s work explores the connections between history and performance through collaborations and live music.

"This semester, I’m thrilled to have organized a performance and conversation on March 17 from 6-8:30PM at the Watson School with Sangat, a rabab/trumpet and voice/percussion trio which draws inspiration from the mystical poetry of Sikh, Sufi, and radical bhakti traditions to center oneness and connection."

Read the full spotlight and learn more about Modak’s upcoming event:

In this graduate student spotlight, Ria Modak shares her research on linguistic nationalism and cultural politics in postcolonial India. As a composer and musician, Modak's work explores the connections between history and performance through collaborations and live music.