Learn what's new with our students, faculty, upcoming events and our department's impact on the community.
Zombek Named Chief Historian at Emerging Civil War
Angie Zombek, associate professor of history, was named Chief Historian at Emerging Civil War, a nonprofit public history platform for sharing original scholarship related to the American Civil War. As chief historian, Zombek will continue to share her expertise with the public and play a key role mentoring the next generation of Civil War historians.
Professor Emerita Invited to National Ceremony Honoring Biography Subject
Carole Fink, professor emerita, was invited to attend the Pantheon ceremony honoring Marc Bloch, who was executed by the Nazis in 1944. Fink wrote the first biography of the French historian, soldier, and patriot, titled "Marc Bloch: A Life in History," which has now been translated into six languages.
David Houpt was named as recipient of 2026 Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Award. Congratulations!
Second Annual Graduate Fellowship Awarded for Jewish History Research
Second year History M.A. student Alec Ott will continue studying history of the Holocaust in Slovakia as the second annual recipient of the Block Graduate Fellowship in Jewish History. Awarded annually with a renewable $10,000 stipend, the Block Fellowship supports graduate students in pursuing research and writing a master’s thesis on a topic related to Jewish history and culture. The fellowship was made possible through the generosity of donors from the Wilmington Jewish community, who also endowed the distinguished professorship in Jewish History, currently held by Jarrod Tanny.
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Sherman Emerging Scholar Lecture Series
This annual lecture series was established to honor two lifelong learners and friends of the department, Virginia and Derrick Sherman. It is one of the History Department's premier events each year.
On June 30, Dr. Angie Zombek appeared on a Fox 13 Tampa Bay News report covering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's unveiling of a statue honoring Abraham Lincoln in honor of America's 250th birthday. Zombek also appeared on Emerging Civil War News discussing 14th Amendment's history in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship that was handed down on June 30.
Dr. Jarrod Tanny's co-edited volume with Jennifer Caplan and Avionoam Patt, Wit Happens: Global Jewish Humor, was published on February 17, 2026 with Wayne State U Press. Most of the essays are based on presentations that were given at the 2020 Jewish History Conference held at UNCW
Graduate student Skylar Holland was awarded a Strong Fellowship. which allows her to spend June 2026 at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. She will be doing research for her thesis, "Playing with Pleasant Company: Domesticity in the American Girl Doll Collection."
Dr. Kim Sherman was invited by the African Studies Center at UNC-Chapel Hill to speak on slavery and the save trade in early North Carolina for their annual K-12 teacher's retreat.
Dr. Michael Seidman gave a radio interview on Spanish National Radio and Television to Silvia Tarragona's De nit (in the Night) on his new book, "Esclavos en la Europa del siglo XX, 1914-1945."
Michael Seidman, professor of history, has announced publication of his new book, "Esclavos en la Europa del siglo XX, 1914-1945." It offers a reinterpretation of the period of the world wars by examining the reinvention of labor compulsion on the European continent wherein nationalists, communists and fascists revived the militarism, torture, and mass murder that characterized previous slave societies in Africa, the Islamic world, and the Americas. Seidman spoke about his book on Spanish National Radio and Television, sitting for an interview in Spanish and Catalan.
