Historical Studies

By Jonathan Haslam, past George F. Kennan Professor (2015–21) in the School of Historical Studies:

"Are sanctions against Russia working? Two months on from the first targeting of Russian banks and oligarchs, Putin's grip on power remains as firm as ever. This shouldn't come as a surprise: restrictions on Iran, Venezuela and North Korea have impoverished their populations, but haven’t led to political revolutions."

Seven scholars across all four Schools—Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Historical Studies, and Social Science—have won 2022 Guggenheim Fellowships, one of the most remarkable honors for mid-career researchers, artists, and writers. 

Winners from the...

By Angelos Chaniotis, Professor in the School of Historical Studies:

"For years the European Union has been confronted with visible threats to its cohesion: Brexit, populist anti-European rhetoric, the violations of democratic principles and corruption in former socialist countries, the widening economic gap between member-states, the different reactions to the refugee crisis and to climate change."

By Jonathan Haslam, past George F. Kennan Professor (2015–21) in the School of Historical Studies:

"Just a few weeks before Vladimir Putin launched what he intended as a two-day Blitzkrieg in Ukraine, taking by surprise even some of his inner circle, he met Xi Jinping for a summit in Beijing. It appeared to the world as if the Chinese might have been implicated in what is the foreign policy gamble of Putin’s political career."

A cross-discipline analysis of ancient genomes by a team of geneticists, archaeologists, and historians from institutions across Europe, Asia, and North America—with Professor Emeritus Patrick Geary as one of four principal investigators—has answered questions about the mysterious Avar population whose origins have remained enigmatic for 1,400 years. 

The Institute for Advanced Study is pleased to announce the establishment of the Albers-Schönberg Professorship in the History of Science in the School of Historical Studies.

“The Albers-Schönberg name is illustrious in the history of science, with important contributions across three generations of scholars and researchers. It is an honor to have it now permanently connected to the Institute. And it is for me a joy and a privilege, in one of my first announcements as IAS Director, to express the Institute’s gratitude for this visionary gift,” remarked David Nirenberg, IAS Director and Leon Levy Professor.

Aaron Michael Butts, past Member (2019–20) and Visitor (2020–21) in the School of Historical Studies, has been awarded a consolidator grant by the European Research Council for his project entitled "Beyond Influence (BeInf): The Connected Histories of Ethiopic and Syriac Christianity."

By Angelos Chaniotis, Professor in the School of Historical Studies:

"The war in Ukraine has brought ghosts of the 20th century hovering over Europe: the leveling of cities by Russia, millions of Ukrainian refugees, the mass exodus of Russian dissidents to neighboring countries, the armaments race, and the risk of nuclear conflagration."

Sir John Huxtable Elliott, Professor in the School of Historical Studies from 1973–90, died at Oxford Hospital at age 91. He leaves a vast legacy of scholarship, beginning with his 1955 Ph.D. thesis, subsequently published under the title of The Revolt of the Catalans (1963).