Research and Engagement

A Humanist in a Science Museum

While scientists study the workings of the natural world, history professor Paul Brinkman studies scientists — what they did and how they did it. The sole humanist out of six joint-appointed NC State faculty at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, Brinkman specializes in studying the history of late 19th and early 20th century natural sciences, particularly geology and vertebrate paleontology. Brinkman also studies the history of museums themselves and serves as curator of NCMNS’ special collections.

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History Faculty interviews

Dr. Alicia McGill

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and I contribute to the Ph.D. program in Public History. I have always been fascinated by human diversity in the past and present and the ways that people connect with history and have conducted archaeological and cultural anthropology research in Cyprus, Honduras, Belize, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.

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Dr. Xiaolin Duan

I am an Assistant Professor of Chinese history in the Department of History at the North Carolina State University. I study socio-cultural history in medieval and early modern China, particularly urban history, popular religion, and visual/material culture.

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Researching, Sharing Histories of Marginalized People in the South

While earning her master’s degree in public history, graduate student Sarah Waugh honed and practiced her skills through several community roles. She worked as a docent at the Burwell School Historic Site, a school for girls from 1837 to 1857, in Hillsborough, North Carolina. She also studied southern African Americans during the Jim Crow era while interning with the Behind the Veil Collection at Duke University Libraries, where she helped digitize oral histories. And she researched bilingual education for Spanish speakers in the North Carolina Migrant Education Program from the 1970s to the 1990s.

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Faculty Fermentology Webinars

Fermentation in Ancient Mesopotamia, Beer, Bread and More Beer

In this talk, Tate Paulette explores the foods and, especially, the fermented foods of ancient Mesopotamia. He looks at ancient recipes, royal inscriptions, administrative records, archaeological remains, artistic works, and more on a culinary tour through the famous “land between the rivers.” Particular attention is devoted to beer, the beverage of choice in ancient Mesopotamia.”

Why Do People Care for Sourdough? 

Using one family’s story and survey responses from hundreds of Sourdough Project participants, Matthew Booker speculates about why people carry sourdough cultures with them around the world and down through generations. Maintaining sourdough in our kitchens pairs human and microbial cultures in a multispecies community with intriguing implications for both human history and biological diversity.

Nationalizing Nature

Today, one-quarter of all the land in Latin America is set apart for nature protection. In Nationalizing Nature: Iguazu Falls and National Parks at the Brazil-Argentina Border, Frederico Freitas uncovers the crucial role played by conservation in the region’s territorial development by exploring how Brazil and Argentina used national parks to nationalize borderlands.

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