UC Davis Department of History

The History Department awards the Emile G. Scholz Prize, generously sponsored by alumnus Bret Hewitt, to the most outstanding paper completed in the second year graduate research seminar, History 203. This year's winner of the Scholz Prize is Titas Ganguly, for a paper entitled 'Amphibious lives, security markets and policing the colonial Bengal delta, 1860-1880'. Advised by Prof. Sudipta Sen, Titas conducted research in Kolkata and London for his paper, a sensitive and rigorous exploration of the changing nature of police work in the shifting environment of the Bengal delta under British rule. Congratulations, Titas!

Come hand out with the History Club May 13!

Please join us on Thursday, May 21 for the Puerto Rico & the Diaspora Symposium. Along with the research of faculty and graduate students from across campus, the event will feature the research of History majors! The artwork for the attached flyer was created by history major Samuel Cervantes.

Join the History Club TOMORROW, May 6, to hear Professor Joshua Shanes lecture on "Zionism: Ancient Dream or Modern Revolution?" 3:45 PM, SSH 4217.

TOMORROW!
"Legend of the Nine Cauldrons: The Afterlife of Ancient Chinese Bronzes" with Dr. Chris Kim.

Ancient ritual bronze vessels were one of the most potent symbols of power and legitimacy in Chinese civilization, not only in its classical age but also across subsequent periods of Chinese history. This lecture introduces the story of the life and afterlife of these venerable objects, first by exploring their origins in the Bronze Age, then examining their rediscovery in the Song period (960-1279). During the Song, ancient ritual bronzes resurfaced as the focal point of antiquarian interest and practices (collecting, displaying, copying, preserving, and so forth) for emperors and scholars alike. Such engagement with antiquity through material culture both shaped and was shaped by the social, cultural, intellectual, and political climate of the time. It furthermore lay the foundations of epigraphy and archaeology, two important avenues through which we in the present study China’s rich history.

Chris Kim is a historian and archaeologist of ancient China, currently a visiting assistant professor at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. He received his PhD from Columbia University, MA from Harvard University, and BA from Brown University. His current research focuses on statecraft and political economy in China’s classical age through the interdisciplinary analysis of ancient inscriptions, material culture, and transmitted texts.

Congratulations to Stacy D. Fahrenthold! Her book Unmentionables won the 2026 David Montgomery Award, sponsored by the Organization of American Historians with co-sponsorship by The Labor and Working-Class History Association

Professor Stacy Fahrenthold's _Unmentionables_ was awarded the 2026 David Montgomery Award, given by the Organization of American Historians (OAH) with co-sponsorship by the Labor and Working-Class History Association for the year's best book on a topic in American labor and working-class history. The award committee cited the book as an "evocative and multisited story of early twentieth-century Syrian immigrants that reframes iconic moments of U.S. labor history through these workers but also weaves the work, mobilities, and labor activism of the Arab diaspora through global linkages to Beirut, Madeira, and Mexico." Learn more here: L&S Magazine story: https://lettersandsciencemag.ucdavis.edu/news-noteworthy/stacy-fahrenthold-receives-david-montgomery-award-book-syrian-american-labor

Cole Manley, PhD candidate, has accepted a two year position as a full time lecturer at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Cole's dissertation analyzes the urban history of San Francisco and Oakland during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focused on struggles for transit access, housing, and mobility. Some of his most recent writing can be found in the Journal of Urban History. He is excited to teach United States and California history, and get to know SLO. Congratulations, Cole!

Check out this article at the link below in which
UC Davis Chancellor's Fellow Amy Fallas discusses the history of Israel's strikes on Lebanese universities and the implications of scholasticide on the Middle East region.
https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1658896