To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the discipline of history at the University, the department of history has invited its alumni from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to return to campus Friday-Sunday, March 27-29, for a weekend of colloquia and conversation on the theme "Who Owns History?"
This is the first time that the history department has held a reunion since 1984, when it was the first department featured in what has since become the Graduate School's annual reunion program. Unlike a college reunion, these gatherings are intergenerational, with all alumni from the 1930s through the 1990s invited. The reunions offer alumni an opportunity both to socialize and to reflect upon the state of their particular field and the impact that the Yale department has and continues to have on it.
This history department reunion will combine both broad reflections on the field and its place in the academy and society, with a more detailed look at the development and current state of the various subfields.
The event will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday with a reception hosted by Robin Winks, the Randolph W. Townsend Jr. Professor of History and chair of the department, at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, corner of Wall and High streets. Following the reception, alumni will be welcomed by Graduate School Dean Thomas Appelquist and President Richard Levin at a dinner in the Presidents Room of Woolsey Hall, corner of College and Grove streets.
Keynote speakers. Three keynote speakers will be featured during the reunion weekend. Peter Gay, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History, will present "Answer to the Question: Who Owns History" on Friday; Gaddis Smith, the Larned Professor of History, will review the department's history and influence in "Yale in History and History at Yale" on Saturday; and Jonathan Spence, Sterling Professor of History, will offer "Personal Reflections on Being an Historian Today" on Sunday morning.
Throughout Saturday and Sunday, there will be panel discussions moderated by current senior faculty and featuring history department alumni from both inside and outside the academy. These will include "Historians of America and the American National Myth," exploring the role that historians have played in shaping and critiquing that myth (moderator: John Faragher); "Historians as Discoverers, Interpreters and Advocates of Voices Unheard," examining the growing role of the histories of excluded or overlooked groups (moderator: Nancy Cott); and "History in the Wider World," featuring Yale history Ph.D.'s in area studies beyond the bounds of the United States (moderator: Robert Harms).
On Saturday, current Graduate School students will reflect on their research and their future role as historians in "Young Historians at Yale Today" (moderator: Frank Snowden), and on Sunday, an alumni panel titled "Graduate Study in History, a Dynamic Profile" will explore the ways historians have used their training in non-academic settings. The latter will be moderated by Eugene Policelli, director of the Graduate Career Services Office.
The weekend will also include an opportunity for alumni to reminisce and share stories at a dinner on Saturday and a farewell brunch on Sunday.
For a schedule or further information, call Judith Young, assistant to the dean at the Graduate School, at 432-2166 or 432-2755.
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