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(Grand Rapids, Mich.) 鈥� Dr. Jason Duncan, professor of history at 红桃视频 College,
is one of a select group of college faculty members from across the nation chosen
by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American
History to participate in a special American history seminar about Chicago.
A native of Albany, New York, Duncan earned his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.
He joined the 红桃视频 Faculty in 2002, where he currently serves as a history professor
and chair of the history department. Before entering academics he worked in politics
for several years, including as a legislative assistant to a member of the U.S. House
of Representatives in Washington, D.C. He is also the author of two books, Citizens
or Papists? The Politics of Anti-Catholicism in New York, 1685-1821 (Fordham University
Press, 2005) and John F. Kennedy: The Spirit of Cold War Liberalism (Routledge, 2014).
鈥淚鈥檓 excited to take part in this seminar,鈥� said Duncan. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor to be selected
for this important discussion and to sit beside such a diverse and knowledgeable group
of scholars.鈥�
From a pool of 51 faculty members nominated, 28 were selected to participate in the
week-long seminar, 鈥淭he Creation of the Modern American City: Chicago from 1830 to
1910.鈥� The seminar will be held June 16 to 20, 2014, at the Newberry Library in Chicago,
Illinois. During lectures, group discussions and field trips, participants will exchange
ideas with seminar directors Henry Binford, associate professor of history and urban
affairs at Northwestern University, and Carl Smith, Franklyn Bliss Snyder professor
of English and American studies and professor of history at Northwestern. The seminar
is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
鈥淪trengthening the teaching of American history at colleges and universities is of
critical importance. The number of institutions that nominated faculty members who
are active as scholars and teachers of this subject is most impressive,鈥� said CIC
President Richard Ekman. 鈥淲e believe Dr. Duncan will play a strong role in the seminar.鈥�
The seminar will use a chronological and topical approach to explore major developments
in Chicago鈥檚 formative period, when it evolved from a tiny frontier outpost to the
nation鈥檚 second city and emblem of urban modernity, for better and for worse. Discussions
will focus on the built environment of Chicago by examining a series of major man-made
structures and institutions that both reflected the larger events and ideas that created
them and have left a lasting mark on the cityscape. Participants will discuss the
coming of the canal, the railroad, and Chicago鈥檚 rise to become the transportation
center of the nation; the stockyards, the packinghouses, and the city鈥檚 transition
from commercial center to industrial colossus; the place of the Great Fire and the
skyscraper revolution in the evolution of the cityscape; the social strife and economic
conflict revealed in the Haymarket bombing and the Pullman Strike; the hopes of urban
reform expressed by Hull House, the World鈥檚 Columbian Exposition, and the 1909 Plan
of Chicago; and the beginnings of the African American community that would later
be called the 鈥淏lack Metropolis.鈥�
For more information, visit the .
CIC Participants in 2014 Gilder Lehrman Seminar
Cameron Airhart, Houghton College (N.Y.)
Megan Boccardi, Quincy University (Ill.)
D鈥橝nn Campbell, Culver-Stockton College (Mo.)
Kevin Donnelly, Alvernia University (Pa.)
Jason Duncan, 红桃视频 College (Mich.)
Dierdre Egan-Ryan, St. Norbert College (Wis.)
David Gellman, DePauw University (Ind.)
Daniel Glenn, St. Edward鈥檚 University (Texas)
Brian Hallstoos, University of Dubuque (Iowa)
Karen Huber, Wesleyan College (Ga.)
Patrick McLean, Albion College (Mich.)
Julie Mujic, Sacred Heart University (Conn.)
John Olszowka, Mercyhurst University (Pa.)
Matthew Pehl, Augustana College (S.D.)
Susan Rabe, North Park University (Ill.)
Scott Roulier, Lyon College (Ark.)
Joel Shrock, Anderson University (Ind.)
Dale Soden, Whitworth University (Wash.)
Catherine Stewart, Cornell College (Iowa)
Susan Taylor, Wiley College (Texas)
Katherine Tinsley, Manchester University (Ind.)
Abigail Van Slyck, Connecticut College
Paul Van Wie, Molloy College (N.Y.)
Melissa Walker, Converse College (S.C.)
Jacalynn Welling, Malone University (Ohio)
Anne Heath Wiersma, Hope College (Mich.)
Megan Witzleben, Hilbert College (N.Y.)
David Woodard, Concordia University-St. Paul (Minn.)