Syracuse University History Department

10/08/2026

Prof. Nicola Di Cosmo from the Institute of Advanced Study (Princeton) presented a fantastic talk on “A World Transformed: Venice and the Mongols from Marco Polo to the Ottoman Conquest,” to a crowd of faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students today. Our thanks to our co-sponsors, East Asia Program, Early Modern Connected Histories (CNY Humanities Corridor), and Global Premodern Studies for helping us host Prof. Di Cosmo at Syracuse!

10/08/2026

Professor Tessa Murphy represented Maxwell in Philadelphia, where she spoke at an event with our alumni to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Thank you Dr. Murphy!

10/07/2026

Profs. Brian Brege, Giorgio Riello, Francesca Gallori (Director of the Laurenziana), and Paula Findlen held a press conference and gave a preview tour to the media for Firenze globale: Il mondo di Francesco Carletti, c. 1573-1636 / Global Florence: The World of Francesco Carletti, 1573-1636 at the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence, Italy. The exhibition builds on their volume Trading at the Edge of Empires: Francesco Carletti’s World c. 1600, and follows the trajectory of Francesco Carletti’s circumnavigation - the first by a private citizen on existing routes of which we have an extensive account - showcasing objects, drawings, maps, paintings, and atlases from the Africa, the Americas, Japan, China, India, Russia, Iran, and more. The entrance to exhibition is by way of Michelangelo’s staircase and through the historic reading room of the Laurenziana, a storied library home to such treasures as the Florentine Codex. The formal opening events begin tomorrow morning and the exhibition opens to the public on October 9; it will remain open until January 9, 2027!

10/06/2026

Professor Mark Schmeller is on History Channel's History This Week podcast to talk about the 1826 kidnapping and (probable) murder of William Morgan, a freemason who had threatened to reveal the secrets of the nation's most prominent fraternity. You can read more about it next fall when his book -- A Man Cried Murder: The Masonic Conspiracy that Transformed American Politics -- is published by the University of Chicago Press.
https://historythisweekpodcast.substack.com/p/the-freemasons-get-away-with-murder-a23?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web&fbclid=IwdGRjcAUx3p9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mBWZkaWQWUPy0Hnkb2EzXaPRExZvr0ZqINmxiwXNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7Spo29qvHcpA2nPII3HpGQ1-zXv6hGsmLG7kqiAcf5KMgsBmecXpcV88Ymcw_aem_U6i827QxoWShGwC6EAoDgw&utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1dennhbds112f

Listen now (32 mins) | A man vanishes from jail, and the cover-up leads to America’s first third party.

09/30/2026

Save the date! Thursday 10/8 at 3:00pm in Eggers 151, we will welcome our first guest speaker of the semester: Dr. Nicola Di Cosmo from the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton! He will be speaking about Venice and the Mongols from Marco Polo to the Ottoman Conquest. Co-sponsored by History, Global Premodern Studies (GPS), the East Asia Program, and Early Modern Connected Histories (EMCH). All welcome!

09/30/2026

Congratulations to Julian Schlemmer, who passed his comprehensive exams with Professors Albrecht Diem, Brian Brege, and Robert Terrell. Here he is with our graduate students in HST 600 Global Age of Revolutions. Congrats, Julian!

09/28/2026

Dr. Semaj Campbell-Blakes, our recent PhD graduate in History, and her twin sister, Dr. Symone Campbell, were featured as special guests on The Jennifer Hudson Show on September 28! The segment highlighted their journey as twin Ph.D. holders, and their commitment to giving back to the city of Syracuse through their community work with The Image Initiative, Inc.
A shortened version of the segment can be viewed here:

https://youtu.be/yLHmLmMaLA0

Congratulations, Semaj! We are so proud of your accomplishments!

09/27/2026

It was a rainy Sunday, but our History Department community of faculty, staff, graduate students, and their friends and families had a fantastic time at our Back-to-school Fall celebration! Thank you to Meier’s Creek Brewing Co in Cazenovia for the fantastic venue and food, and our gratitude to Christina Cleason, our academic coordinator, for all the arrangements today!

09/25/2026

Maxwell Prof. Emeritus Sean O’Keefe, former Secretary of the Navy and Deputy Director of OMB, shared his wisdom with Prof. Peggy Thompson’s Modern American Presidency class!

09/25/2026

HST 360 students in Prof. Junko Takeda’s French history class experienced Hyacinthe Rigaud’s Louis XIV 👑 up close this week and learned about the political symbolism captured in the absolute monarch’s garments. They had a great time at SU Art Museum and several stayed after class to check out this semester’s migrations and recology exhibitions!