Levenson will contextualize her research as the intersection of three historical threads: the increasing importance of anatomical science to medical education, which contributed to widespread theft of bodies from public (and primarily African American) graves; the rise of a “popular anatomy,” whereby moral reformers sought to uplift the white middle-class through anatomical education; and the popularity of minstrelsy, a theatrical form that created a mockery of Black anatomy while, in some burlesques, simultaneously using the site of the dissection room as a punchline.

 

This project explores the Atlantic history of Reconstruction between 1861 and 1912. Following emancipation, planters and capitalists in the United States, Cuba, and Brazil collaborated to implement racially discriminatory legislation. This wave of state building was designed to counter a black freedom movement that threatened the survival of plantation capitalism in the Atlantic World.

 

In 1972, the authors of The Limits to Growth launched a worldwide debate by asserting that continued overuse of the earth’s resources would likely lead to environmental and economic collapse. Environmental scientists, policy makers, and economists have critiqued the authors’ assumptions and methods; from the book historian’s perspective, their work constitutes one form  of reception. In this talk, Knott explores how bibliometric methods can be used to uncover additional aspects of the reception of Limits.

 

 

This talk tells the story of the long political fight over the legal rights of accused fugitive slaves in the United States. That conflict—fought as often in Congress as before local judges—revealed fundamental weaknesses in the Constitution’s ability to keep peace in a half-slave, half-free nation. Abolitionists saw this opportunity and thrust the fight into electoral politics. It was central to the long- and short-term origins of the American Civil War.