History Department News and Research

“The whole huachicolero [fuel theives] phenomenon, it’s been in play for a long time in Mexico,” explains Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history and Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations.

Gladys McCormick, Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations, says Lopez Obrador’s recent actions reflect the “sort of populist demagogue persona that he’s carved out for himself,” and that it’s all been part of a perfect recipe “for him to be go out there in public and remind people that he is, above all, for Mexico.”

“If the U.S. dismissed him wholeheartedly, it’s going to make these conversations—and again some of these are happening behind closed doors—a hell of a lot more difficult to be had,” says Gladys McCormick, Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair on Mexico-U.S. Relations, regarding the immigration talks between the U.S. and Mexico as Title 42 lifts this week.

“The Remembrance Scholars represent the future while honoring the past, which is both a great privilege and a great responsibility,” says Vice Chancellor and Provost Gretchen Ritter. “This year’s students, who have demonstrated strong leadership skills and a commitment to service, are up to the task. As with those who were tragically lost nearly 35 years ago, we are proud that these students are members of our University community.”

The honor is presented to faculty members who have a significant, positive influence on graduate education through their commitment to superior graduate teaching, dedication to departmental and community presence and work in research initiatives.

"The royal family always tries to tread this difficult line between appearing to maintain a kind of continuity with the past but also not seeming to be completely out of date and irrelevant either," says Alan Allport, Dr. Walter Montgomery and Marian Gruber Professor of History.

Associate Professor of History Mark Schmeller's article, titled "Public Opinion," was included in "Democracies in America: Keywords for the Nineteenth Century and Today" (Oxford University Press, 2023).

"Constitutionalists, Despots, Whigs, and Revisionists: Tudor Parliamentary History in the 20th Century," written by Associate Professor of History Chris Kyle, was published in Parliamentary History.

“This is not the end of what may happen,” says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science. “It may in fact be the beginning. We've never seen this before, and I don't think we can dismiss it as a partisan political act. Certainly, there have been other presidents who have had strong opposition in the past and yet they have not faced this kind of jeopardy.”

The associate professor of history is working on a book and publicly accessible database of people who were enslaved in British Crown colonies in the Caribbean. 

Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history, says Mexico already has a significant police and military presence on its side of the border and efforts to confront the cartels militarily have not solved the problem. “It’s been tried and it has failed colossally,” McCormick says. “So the idea to sort of try it again to me sounds utterly irresponsible.”

"Nikki Haley has to negotiate the very thin line between differentiating herself from Donald Trump and still appealing to—or not alienating herself from—his supporters, who still constitute the vast majority of CPAC activists and GOP primary participants," says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science.

The Forum on Early-Modern Empires and Global Interactions (FEEGI) awarded its 2022 book prize to Tessa Murphy, associate professor of history, for her book "The Creole Archipelago: Race and Borders in the Colonial Caribbean."