2023 AHA Election: Committees
Committee on Committees
The Committee on Committees nominates individuals to fill vacancies on all regular Association committees. Returning members are Julie Hardwick, Univ. of Texas at Austin (early modern Europe, social/legal/gender); Rashauna Johnson, Univ. of Chicago (Atlantic slavery and emancipation, 19th-century African diaspora, US South, urban and regional); and Franziska Seraphim, Boston Coll. (modern Japan, global and comparative, historical memory, social politics).
Julio Capó Jr.
Florida International University (associate professor; 20th-century queer Miami, transnational Caribbean–US sexuality)
Candidate Statement
The study of history—and the humanities at large—is under attack in aggressive and accelerated ways. So too is public education. While not new, countering today’s attacks requires creative measures and solidarity across a wide range of organizations and people. I would work to make sure that what has been too callously termed the “culture wars” (but is indeed an attack on individual freedoms, collective bargaining, and equal access) remain at the fore of all decision-making. I’d seek guidance from those on the frontlines—from students to faculty and contingent laborers to administrators to union representatives to those doing public-facing work. I would build stronger alliances across our discipline and beyond our traditional networks, such as with media, school boards, cultural institutions, and small businesses. We are tasked with making sure people understand that rigorous historical work is vitally important to the practice of our fragile democracy.
Patrick J. Iber
University of Wisconsin, Madison (associate professor; 20th-century Latin America, US foreign relations)
Candidate Statement
I am a historian of Cold War Latin America and US foreign relations. My first book, Neither Peace nor Freedom: The Cultural Cold War in Latin America, described the intersections of the work of artists and writers with various Cold War political projects. I am a member of the editorial board of Dissent magazine and a contributing editor to the New Republic. I have also been a teacher in many circumstances: K-12, contingent, and tenure-track. As such, I have a deep appreciation for the labor and the brilliance of people working in all sorts of professional circumstances. The next years are likely to be complicated ones for historians, and for the AHA. Part of the work of the Committee on Committees is to make sure that the amazing work being done is honored and recognized, in all of its diversity. I will be particularly interested in looking for opportunities to act in a way that defends the importance of what we do through our scholarship, teaching, and outreach. A priority for me will be attending to the conditions—including the working conditions and the place of historians in society—that we need to remain vital.
Nominating Committee
The Nominating Committee makes nominations for all elective posts in the AHA, oversees the counting of ballots, and reports the results of the election to the membership. Returning members are Carlos K. Blanton, Texas A&M Univ. (Chicana/o, education, civil rights, Texas); Lisa Leff, US Holocaust Memorial Museum and American Univ. (Jews of modern France); Bianca Murillo, California State Univ., Dominguez Hills (modern Africa, global capitalism/economies/markets, race and gender studies); Kaya Şahin, Indiana Univ. (early modern Ottoman Empire, history writing, governance, religious/confessional identity, ceremonies and rituals); Melissa N. Stuckey, Elizabeth City State Univ. (African American migration to Oklahoma, African American history, Black freedom struggles); and Philip Thai, Northeastern Univ. (modern China, legal, economic, diplomatic).
Slot 1
Anthony Steinhoff
Université du Québec à Montréal (associate professor; modern Germany/France, modern European religion, Wagner/operatic culture in German-speaking Europe, urban)
Candidate Statement
I am a historian of modern Europe, with special interests in France and Germany. My current research focuses on the evolution of operatic culture in German-speaking Europe, using Wagner’s Parsifal as a point of departure. But I continue to pursue research into urban, regional, and transnational dimensions of 19th-century Europe’s religious history. Over my career, I have taught Western civilization but also world history courses; I have worked at teaching-focused and at research universities. For over 10 years, I have been collaborating with high school teachers in the context of the AP European History reading. In addition, my work with H-France Review and as the Central European History Society’s Executive Director puts me in contact with historians of varied backgrounds and disciplinary interests. If elected, I aim to draw on these experiences and networks to help identify candidates whose nomination will promote diversity, equity, and access within the AHA.
Edward Westermann
Texas A&M University–San Antonio (Texas A&M Regents Professor; perpetrator motivation and the Holocaust, comparative genocide)
Candidate Statement
As an educator at a majority-minority public regional university, my experience at Texas A&M University-San Antonio provides me with a unique and important perspective concerning the contemporary challenges facing our profession, whether in the form of establishing educational opportunity for underserved and underrepresented populations, defending tenure and academic freedom, or the accelerating contraction of the professoriate. While my research focuses on the Holocaust and genocide, teaching at a public regional university requires expanding one’s expertise and teaching portfolio. As a result, I have taught the Civil War and Reconstruction for the last 12 years, and doing so continuously reminds me of the value of placing issues of race, prejudice, and violence in a transnational perspective. Public regionals are at the frontlines in dealing with cultural, social, and institutional challenges within the profession, and I intend to be a voice for my peers as we approach an uncertain future.
Slot 2
Matthew Restall
Penn State University (professor; colonial Latin America, Maya history)
Candidate Statement
I am a historian of Latin America during the colonial period. I have written books on topics ranging from the Spanish conquistadors to popular music in late 20th-century Britain. But most of my work has focused on the life experiences of Indigenous and Afro-descended peoples in Mexico and Central America, 15th to 19th centuries. Their repositioning at the center, rather than on the margins, of historical study has transformed the field in the last few decades. At the same time, our discipline has been transformed by sustained attention to issues of diversity, equity, and representation. As a member of the nominating committee, I will be committed to working with my colleagues to maintain the widest possible range of voices on AHA committees.
Camilo Trumper
University at Buffalo, State University of New York (associate professor; Latin America, urban)
Candidate Statement
I am a historian of urban politics in Latin America, with a focus on Cold War Chile. I am also a child of Chilean exiles. My current project is a history of writing in the Chilean dictatorship and abroad. My personal and academic interest in displacement, exile, and diaspora has also informed my leadership roles in different professional and community organizations, where I have helped build and nurture inclusive spaces for historically marginalized students. I am, for example, currently chair of the Conference on Latin American History’s nominating committee, which has taught me how to tap into diverse networks. I would bring this experience and commitment to equity to the AHA. If elected, I would work to build an inclusive community of historians and foster structures supportive of a broader range of students and scholars.
Slot 3
Amanda Moniz
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (David M. Rubenstein Curator of Philanthropy; early America, humanitarianism)
Candidate Statement
As a historian with diverse career experience, I am committed to helping our professional organizations deepen their work serving historians on a range of career paths. The AHA has been a leader in this regard, as it also has in defending the integrity of history education. Both are priorities I would work to support if elected to serve on the nominating committee. In particular, I would draw on my experience working at public history institutions, a scholarly society, and as an adjunct in higher ed to recruit inclusive slates of candidates from a range of professional backgrounds. Through this work, I aim to contribute to our abilities to support viable career paths for historians and to engage a range of audiences in exploring history in all its complexity.
Brett Rushforth
University of Oregon (associate professor; early American slavery, French Atlantic, Indigenous America)
Candidate Statement
I am a historian of the Indigenous Americas, with a research focus on how Native communities creatively adapted to, constrained, and shaped European colonialism during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Much of my scholarship focuses on the intersection of Indigenous history with histories of the African diaspora. I would be honored to work with other members of this committee to continue the AHA’s efforts to become a more representative and responsive organization. This means nominating a diverse pool of candidates from varied institutions to ensure broad representation of the members’ needs and interests.