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Professor Downs Featured in New York Times Article

Professor Greg Dows appears in NYT Article discussing the many historians who gathered at Civil War sites throughout the country

October 1, 2020

Professor Greg Downs and dozens of other historians from around the country recently traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the 158th anniversary of Lincoln's issuing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The historians sought to highlight distortions of Black contributions in the battle over the Civil War's legacy.

Professor Holloway Wins 2020 CLAH Distinguished Service Award

Congratulations to Tom Holloway for receiving this honor from The Conference of Latin American History for his contributions to Latin American and Brazilian scholarship!

Per CLAH's announcement, "The CLAH Distinguished Service Award is meant for [historians] whose intellectual, pedagogical, and institutional work evidences significant contributions to the advancement of the study of Latin American History in the United States. In these regards, Tom Holloway has been a mentor, catalyst, and example for us all."

Professors Andres Resendez, Gregory Downs, and Colleagues Discuss the Role of Public Monuments

UC Davis researchers weigh in on the role of public monuments as protestors and public officials throughout the nation tear down statues and memorials.

Andrés Reséndez and Gregory Downs (alongside other UC Davis faculty outside the History Department) discuss the role of public monuments and offer insight on the meaning behind them--including why protestors and officials are tearing them down.

Check out the UC Davis article here.

Professor Downs' Op-Ed Published in SF Chronicle

Professor Greg Downs discusses the toppling of the Ulysses Grant statue in San Francisco and how we need to engage in more meaningful debates about history.

These past few months, protestors throughout the country have torn down problematic memorials of Confederate leaders and racist figures of our nation's past. San Francisco protestors' decision to topple 18th president Ulysses Grant confused many who have studied Grant's legacy as president and Union general during the Civil War.

New Article by Professor Baki Tezcan

Published in the Jadaliyya ezine, Baki Tezcan connects recent amendments of the Turkish Higher Education Law to the increasing authoritarianism of the Turkish government.

"The amendments to [the] infamous Higher Education Law that went into effect on 17 April include provisions that complete the transformation of university campuses into army barracks."

Tezcan warns of the Turkish government's growing intolerance to any critique, especially if it comes from its own potential constituency--conservative Muslims.

Read Professor Downs's Recent Article in Talking Points Memo

Greg Downs discusses the history of political reform in the 1860s and questions why Democrats today are so hesitant in implementing similar change.

 

Downs's article seeks to disprove the popular imagination that the American political system has always been stable and stagnant. Instead, Downs argues, "the United States has survived not by keeping the same system but by transforming its rules at crucial moments."