History/Art History Dept., Villanova University

Professor Timothy McCall, the Art History Program Director, joins historian, Jana Byars in a podcast to discuss his latest book, "Making the Renaissance Man, Masculinity in the Courts of Renaissance Italy."

Listen to it here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/making-the-renaissance-man

Ferdie has questions. The latest, "What line from a song or poem moves you"?

Congratulations to the new MA in History graduates! We are so proud of all of you and wish you great success in the future.
Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat! ✌️💙🎓

The Graduating Class of 2023!
The History Department's undergraduate and graduate classes gathered together with faculty to celebrate this great event! Wishing each student all the best in the next exciting chapter of their lives!

1st image Graduate Class with Drs. Bailey and Hartnett
2nd image Undergraduate Class with Drs. Bailey and Hartnett

Check out what History major Alex Morrow (’19), has been up to!

He just completed his first year at East Carolina University’s Maritime Studies Program.

He went as part of a joint ECU-POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)-Task Force Dagger mission to Saipan. TFD is a non-profit that helps Special Forces veterans find a renewed sense of purpose and rehabilitation through service and SCUBA diving. They were in Saipan to excavate a submerged F6F-Hellcat that had been shot down during the battle. There they discovered fascinating aircraft wreckage that he will study as part of his thesis. They spent 2 weeks excavating the site with perfect diving conditions.

This June, he will be spending time in Antigua to study sunken vessels in English Harbor for their summer field school.

Tommy DeStefanis, a double Art History and Biochemistry major (May '23) presented at the Philadelphia-Area Undergraduate Art History Research Symposium at Temple University. The event included students from Temple, Bryn Mawr, University of Pennsylvania, St. Josephs', and LaSalle. His paper was titled "Constructing Public Consciousness: Representation and Authority in AIDS Visual Culture."

Congratulations to Gabriel Morbeck, MA '23 for publication of his article in 'Concept'! Great job!

Read Dr. Lynne Hartnett's piece in the Washington Post!

The article is titled “Navalny will miss the Oscars red carpet, but his courage is on display.” You can read it here:

Perspective | Navalny will miss the Oscars red carpet, but his courage is on display The Academy Award-nominated documentary “Navalny” situates his actions in a long tradition of self-sacrificial activism in Russian history.

Congratulations to Calvin Burnett who was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy this afternoon! Cal will graduate from Villanova this December with a history major. Way to go, Cal!

Kudos to Alivia Lanoue for her wonderful presentation -
“Something Borrowed, Something New: Development of Diplomacy in the Sino-American Relationship, 1989 – 1996.” - at the 2022 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Alivia is shown here with her faculty research advisor, Dr. Marc Gallicchio.

Congratulations to Lena Lannutti on a wonderful presentation today in Connelly Cinema! Her research on the Lincoln Institute was presented at the Villanova 2022 Graduate Student Research Symposium. Great job!

Dr. Judy Giesberg and Dr. Julia Mansfield led an enthusiastic group of history students to The Gettysburg National Military Park where they toured the battle field and visited the museum and Cyclorama. A reenactment of Pickett's charge by the students was a part of the day’s activities!!

Read Kelsey Hibbard’s new piece in Historically Speaking.

"Complicating Edward Said: British Imperial Identity Construction in the Eighteenth-Century."

Complicating Edward Said: British Imperial Identity Construction in the Eighteenth-Century by Kelsey Hibbard As eighteenth-century empires expanded, the insular realm of British identity adapted to encompass their new place on the global stage. Britons’ local and regional identities deve…

Graduate student, Carly Beehler, reviews Megan Kate Nelson’s new book, “The Three-Cornered War.” Check it out here:

Reviewed: The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West by Megan Kate Nelson by Carly Beehler Megan Kate Nelson, The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West. New York, NY: Scribner. 2020. Pp. 1, 352. $28.00 (Hardcover). M…

Director of the Art History Program, Dr. Tim McCall's newest book, "Brilliant Bodies: Fashioning Courtly Men in Early Renaissance Italy," is given some positive attention in Art in America.

Read about it here!

Bulging Codpieces & Multicolored Tights: Renaissance Men’s Fashion Today An exhibition and a scholarly book explore the fluid parameters of masculinity over centuries.

Ever wonder about the Lincoln Institute? Grad student Lena Lanutti did the research for you. Read about it here!

What was the Lincoln Institute?

What Was the Lincoln Institute? by Lena Lannutti The Lincoln Institute was an orphanage established in Philadelphia by a wealthy philanthropist, Mary McHenry Cox in 1866. It originally cared for the children of deceased Union sol…

Grad student, Chris Del Santo reviews Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic, by Rosemarie Zagarri.

Read about it here!

Reviewed: Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic by Rosemarie Zagarri By Chris Del Santo Rosemarie Zagarri. Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. 2007. Pp. 1, 233. $39.95. Rosema…

Graduate students remain busy despite lazy summer days. Brianne Branco reviews, “The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law,” by Charles Hobson.

Reviewed: The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law by Charles Hobson by Brianne Branco Charles Hobson. The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1996. Pp. 1, 272. $21.95. Political experimentation characterized…

Graduate student, Marissa Ivie, reviews, “Collecting Music in the Aran Islands: A Century of History and Practice,” by Deirdre Ní Chonghaile.

Read it here:

Reviewed: Collecting Music in the Aran Islands: A Century of History and Practice by Deirdre Ní Chonghaile By: Marissa Ivie Deirdre Ní Chonghaile. Collecting Music in the Aran Islands: A Century of History and Practice. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2021. Pp. 1, 352. $79.95. Col…

Historically Speaking!

Graduate student, Tripp Wright reviews, “Sensing the Past: Sensing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting and Touching in History,” by Mark M. Smith.

Read it here!

Reviewed: Sensing the Past: Sensing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting and Touching in History by Mark Smith by Tripp Wright Mark M Smith. Sensing the Past: Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, and Touching in History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Pp. 1, 180. $19.95. Human experience is …

Graduate student, Elizabeth Miner, writes a new piece in Historically Speaking. "Review of the Fort at Number Four Museum (Charlestown, NH) . Read it here:

Review of the Fort at Number Four Museum (Charlestown, NH) by Elizabeth Miner Image: View from one of the western-facing gunports in the watch tower at the Fort at Number Four Museum. Photo taken by author. The Fort at Number Four in Charlestown, New Hamps…

We pleased to announce that Dr. Catherine Kerrison’s prize winning book, "Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black," in a Young America (2018), has been published in Chinese translation. Congratulations, Dr. Kerrison!!!

Colin McCrossan has been busy! Check out his piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Slavery is a part of the history of Philadelphia’s suburbs | Opinion

Slavery is a part of the history of Philadelphia’s suburbs | Opinion We need to reckon with a history that’s hidden in plain sight, writes Colin McCrossan.

Grad student Colin McCrossan's latest contribution to graduate blog, Historically Speaking, is out! "Profiling Ceasar and Phebe Waters: Black Lives in Slavery and Freedom near Villanova." Read it here:

Profiling Ceasar and Phebe Waters: Black Lives in Slavery and Freedom near Villanova by Colin McCrossan Image: “Excerpt from Charles Humphreys’ will in which he frees Ceasar Waters, Thomas Craill, and Judy Miller whom he refers to as ‘Cezar’ ‘Tom& #8217…

Conor Coffey, ‘2021, will be attending the Georgetown University Law Center in fall 2022. Congratulations Conor!

Be sure to stop by the opening reception for Dox Thash: Painted, Not Printed, an exhibit curated by our History graduate students in the public history practicum.

A debate of art historians is investigated in Graduate student, Bella Kolic's piece on the artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder's timeless painting from 1565, "Hunters in the Snow." One in a series of paintings marking the changing of the seasons. Read about it here:

Seasonal Realism in Bruegel’s Hunters in the Snow (Image from Wikipedia) by Bella Kolic The changing of the seasons marks the physical and imagined cycles of lifetime that sway human emotion, movement, and survival. Connotations of the winter of o…

Hannah Pfeifer, graduate student, reviews "Absolute Destruction: Military Culture and the Practices of War in Imperial Germany," by author, Isabel Hull. You can read it here:

Reviewed: Absolute Destruction: Military Culture and the Practices of War in Imperial Germany by Isabel Hull By Hannah Spring Pfeifer Isabel Hull. Absolute Destruction: Military Culture and the Practices of War in Imperial Germany. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 2005. Pp. 1, 384. $25.51. The subjec…

Graduate student, Kristin Bridges, reviews "The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies." Read about it here:

Reviewed: The War for the Common Soldier by Peter S. Carmichael Review by Kristin Bridges Carmichael, Peter S. The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018. 392 …

Historically Speaking, the History Graduate Student blog, published a new post by James Alfano! Check it out here:

Memories of Trauma & Travel: The Battle of Guningtou and Kinmen’s Path to Military Tourism by James Alfano Introduction In Kinmen (金門) County, sandy white beaches are home to relics of a bloody past. Anti-landing spears and abandoned tanks protrude from the islands’ coastline, serving as…