“The great force of history,” wrote James Baldwin, “comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it; history is literally present in all that we do.” Looking back over the past year and half, who could argue?
We all remember when the pandemic shut down the university in March 2020, for two weeks, or so we thought. Classes went online, temporarily. As the lockdown continued, temporary got an extension, and we never made it back to the classroom. One semester of remote teaching gave way to two, and by Spring 2021 we transitioned again to a hybrid form of half in-person, half-online instruction. Now, at the beginning of a new term in Fall 2021, we are back in person, but with masks, vaccines, social distancing and quarantines still part of our lives.
Meanwhile, over the past eighteen months, nearly 700,000 Americans have died from Covid, Black Lives Matter protests have again forced social justice issues into the nation’s consciousness, protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington to overturn the certified results of a Presidential election, and the nation’s longest war has ended, untidily. Could students of history have stronger reminders of its implacable life force all around us?
Through it all, students, faculty and staff in the History Department have carried on their work under trying circumstances. Yes, there were research trips postponed, deadline missed, conferences cancelled or moved online. Professors and students alike missed the energy of the face-to-face classroom. But faculty continued to publish books and articles, give papers, write opinion pieces for major news outlets, win grants and teach hundreds of students. History majors wrote research papers, experimented with digital history methods, collaborated on projects, spearheaded campus initiatives for racial justice, wrote and edited our prize-winning history journal, Alpata, compiled oral histories, and finished brilliant honors theses. Graduate students taught classes, launched research, and presented at conferences; five defended dissertations. Despite a difficult job market, our graduate alumni teach in dozens of colleges and universities across the country. U.S. News & World Report has ranked our department 24th nationally among public universities.
This year, we welcome Visiting Assistant Professor Jennifer Morgan, a recent Ph.D. from Emory University, who will teach classes in the Civil War, women’s history and early America. Natalia Aleksiun has recently been hired as Harry Rich Professor of East European Holocaust Studies; she’ll begin teaching in Fall 2022. Long-time faculty members Alice Freifeld and Matt Gallman have retired, and Sue O’Brien has left the department. We thank them for their years of dedication to teaching, scholarship and service and will miss their contributions to the life of the department.
We also welcome an experienced departmental leadership team. Undergraduate Coordinator Ben Wise, Graduate Coordinator Mitch Hart and Associate Chair Nina Caputo have all served in those capacities in the past, and I’m grateful for their willingness to do so again. Steve Noll will continue as advisor for Phi Alpha Theta, the student history society that sponsors events throughout the year. As I begin my term as Chair, I thank the former Chair, Elizabeth Dale, along with former Associate Chair Jessica Harland-Jacobs and former Undergraduate Coordinator Heather Vrana for their leadership, as well as all the staff, faculty and students who work hard to make the History Department a vibrant place. We look forward to a safe and productive year.
Jon Sensbach
Professor and Chair
jsensbach@ufl.edu
Why Get a History Major?
Ever wondered what you can do with a major in history here at the University of Florida? The quick answer is that you can do anything you want. History majors can be found everywhere, not just libraries and classrooms, and being a history major puts you in pretty interesting company.