UNF Department of History

08/26/2026

Meet the Professor: Denise I. Bossy is in her 20th year teaching at UNF. Her research and teaching specialties include Florida History, the Native South, Indigenous Studies, and Public and Digital Humanities. She frequently gives public talks in Florida and across the southeast. Help us congratulate Dr. Bossy on her 20th anniversary at UNF!

08/17/2026

Welcome to the fall 2026 semester! What advice would you give to our freshmen just starting college? Your advice might get featured in an upcoming post! (with first name as attribution)

08/14/2026

History majors and graduate students: here are people and resources to know for fall 2026!

08/13/2026

For a very long since (since 1591) a series of European-made engravings by Theodore de Bry have dominated the early visual history of Indigenous Florida. Until now! A collaborative art exhibition called "Utimile Nenebohauela: Visualizing Indigenous Florida" will be available at the Amelia Island Museum of History from August 21-October 4, 2026. Come and see the incredible artwork by Bobby C. Martin (Muscogee Nation), Daniel McCoy (Muscogee Nation), Alyssa Osceola (Seminole Tribe of Florida Indians), Cristina Osceola (Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida), Jessi Sands (Muscogee Nation), Chris Thompson (Seminole Nation), Jeremy Thompson (Seminole Nation). Opening roundtable with UNF professors Dr. Bossy (History) and Dr. Ashley (Anthropology) is August 21 at 6pm.

06/09/2026

Another piece from Dr. Romero:

In 1930, the United States men’s soccer team, composed mostly of immigrants and working-class amateurs from Northeastern migrant communities, reached the semifinals of the World Cup in Uruguay.

06/03/2026

Dr. E. Kyle Romero has an article out in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the history of distilling.

"By placing Bluecoat Gin or Pennsylvania rye within longer histories of slavery and freedom, immigration, labor, taxation, regulation, agriculture and urban redevelopment, historians can show that “local” alcohol was never just local color. It was produced through struggles over belonging."

By placing Bluecoat Gin or Pennsylvania rye within histories of freedom, immigration, labor, taxation and urban redevelopment, historians can show that “local” alcohol was never just local color.

05/07/2026

https://www.facebook.com/unfalumni/posts/pfbid037isp63ZuSd3YFAMCiw9VYXLNWEnDphyYXmPfDeu8QomC37nMpiuDh2BBwotnDbLSl?rdid=KTh7T4ghnalCI74z #

05/07/2026

Visualizing Indigenous Florida, a project led by Dr. Denise Bossy and Dr. Keith Ashley continues to garner significant national interest. One of the artists, Jeremy Thompson, was recently featured in First American Art Magazine. In the linked article he discusses the project in some detail.

https://firstamerican.art/chris-and-jeremy-thompson/

05/01/2026

Congratulations to the class of 2026! To celebrate today's milestone for our students, we dug into the archives of our faculty at their own graduations.

The Department of History wishes you all the best in your future endeavors. Stay in touch with us as you SOAR into the world!

04/30/2026

Three cheers for our amazing, departmental awards students!

Best Undergrad Paper: Iris Hayden, "Protecting the River of Grass: The Everglades Jetport and a Resilient South Florida Environmental Movement"

Best Grad Paper: Aiden Jones, “Working the Water: A Microhistory of the Mayport Shrimp Industry.”

Outstanding Undergraduates: Nikki Brew & Anna Hobbs

Outstanding Grad Student: Aiden Jones

Dr. Carolyn Williams Research Award: Aiden Jones & Hudson Main

Travis R. Bates Memorial History Scholarship: Poppy Aland, Lydia Lane, & Ava Banks

Jonathan Rockey Prize*: Aiden Jones, “Modern Monster Hunters: Cryptozoology, Culture, and Environmentalism in the Twentieth Century United States.”

Allen Lastinger Prize for Best Florida Paper: Avery Parker (University of Florida), “Starving in Eden: Poverty in Alachua County, 1865-1877”

*Special note: This was the first year awarding the Jonathan Rockey Prize, named for one of our graduate students who passed in fall. Jonathan was president of our Phi Alpha Theta chapter, and the award honors the best paper presented on a non-Florida topic at the Northeast Florida History Conference, which our chapter of PAT runs every year.