Donald D. Horward Graduate Fellowship in Napoleonic Military History
On March 4th, at the annual banquet of the Massena Society, a new graduate fellowship in the Institute was announced. Founded in honor of Dr. Donald D. Horward, founder of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution, it will provide an annual stipend to graduate students working on aspects of Napoleonic military history. The new fellowship was funded by generous gifts from numerous alumni of the Institute and friends of Dr. Horward. The fund is still accepting new gifts, which will receive a 50% match from the State of Florida. Anyone interested in contributing to this award, which honors Dr. Horward while advancing historical inquiry, can contact Jeffrey Ereckson at jereckson@foundation.fsu.edu.
Weider Invited Professorship
In October 2010, the Institute welcomed its first Weider Invited Professor, Dr. Annie Jourdan from the University of Amsterdam. One of the world's leading specialists in Napoleonic history, Dr. Jourdan spent the month teaching the graduate seminar on “War and Society in the Early Modern Period”. Her courses centered on the relationship between war, revolution, and terror – a topic as pertinent during the Age of Revolution as it is now. Dr. Jourdan also conducted research on this subject in the Strozier Library's Napoleon Collection. Drawing on both her courses and her research, she recently published an article on the explosive blend of war, revolution, and terror.
Visiting Graduate Researcher from Norway
The following month, November 2010, the Institute was joined by Morten Ottosen, a Ph.D. student at the University of Oslo. His soon-to-be-completed dissertation is on the Napoleonic Wars in Scandinavia. He presented his research in two lectures in the “War and Society” graduate seminar. In addition, he conducted research for his dissertation in the Strozier Library's Napoleon Collection. In it, he found rare works on Scandinavian military history which he had been unable to obtain in Scandinavia itself! This is a real testimony to the quality of the Collection and its value to researchers all over the world.
Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, March 3-5, 2011
Professors Blaufarb, Horward, and McMahon organized and hosted the annual meeting of the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era. Held in the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Tallahassee, the meeting brought together 175 participants from 10 different countries. Highlights included the opening keynote speech by Dr. Donald Horward, an often hilarious exploration of the foibles of the subordinates on whom Napoleon had to depend, and the closing talk by Dr. David Geggus (University of Florida), a humorous exploration of the many ways Toussaint Louverture has been depicted by portraitists. Special thanks go out to all the Institute graduate students who helped out with the organization, especially to Cindy Ermus who coordinated all their activities.
Incoming Institute Students
Four new students (3 Ph.D. and 1 MA) have been accepted for admission to the Institute in Fall 2011. One of them, Arad Gigi (BA and MA University of Jerusalem), will be coming to Tallahassee from Israel to be the first recipient of the Donald D. Horward Fellowship in Napoleonic Military History.
Graduate Student Milestones
2010-2011 was a banner year for the Institute graduate students. Dr. Eman Vovsi defended his doctoral dissertation on October 26, 2010. Entitled “Law and Order, Accountability and Control – Napoleon's Project for the Military Code, 1805”, it is the most in-depth study of administrative procedure in the Napoleonic army ever written. In addition, Dr. Vovsi wrote two articles, edited a primary-source book, and gave a conference paper at the Consortium in Tallahassee. In March 2011, Richard Byington defended his MA thesis on the officers of the French navy, “The Grand Corps”. In the same month, Bryan Banks defended his MA thesis on the politics of Protestantism in the French Revolution. He also presented two conference papers, one in October 2010 at the annual meeting of the Western Society for French History in Lafayette, Louisiana, the other in March 2011 at the meeting of the Consortium in Tallahassee. Two doctoral students, Shane Hockin and Erica Johnson, both defended their dissertation prospectii. Shane also conducted research for his dissertation on early atheism in Paris, and Erica went on to France to conduct archival research on white participation in the St. Domingue revolution. Generous support from the Ben Weider bequest made her travels and research possible. Joshua Meeks presented a paper at the annual meeting of the Western Society for French History and was also nominated for the Most Outstanding Teaching Assistant award. Finally, Cindy Ermus, Tim Best, and Jonathan Deverse successfully completed their comprehensive exams and became ABD. Jonathan gave a paper at the CRE this year, and Tim will be giving a paper this May in Amsterdam, at an international conference on Napoleon's Continental System. All of them, along with Tarah Luke and Joshua Meeks, will be conducting their dissertation research during the coming academic year (2011-2012). Joseph Horan published an article in the International Review of Social History on the Famine Plot persuasion in 18th century Saint-Domingue and also gave talks at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, as well as at the Consortium. A new generation of Institute students is on the point of completing its studies and emerging into academia.
Activities of the Institute Professors
During the 2010-2011 academic year, Dr. Darrin McMahon had many stellar achievements. In January 2011, he began his Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers and accepted an appointment as Guest Professor at the Historisches Institut at the University of Potsdam. In addition, he gave numerous talks (at Stanford University, the Tulane University Honor's College, and the University of Pennsylvania), as well as an address to the FSU leadership council. He also delivered the keynote address (“Pursuing Happiness”) for the 2010 State of Florida, Department of Health and Human Services, Dependency Summit, Orlando Marriot Hotel, August 26, 2011 (est. audience 3,000). During the 2010-2011 academic year, Dr. Rafe Blaufarb published two books, Napoleonic Footsoldiers and Civilians (Bedford/St. Martin's) and Contester le droit d'exemption nobiliaire d'impôts (Presses Universitaires d'Aix-Marseille). He also published articles in the Journal of Modern History and Past and Present and presented conference papers at the annual meetings of the Western Society for French History and the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era.
All told, 2010-2011 was a very productive year for the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution. In particular, the graduate students passed many key milestones (comprehensive examinations, prospectus defenses, MA defenses, and Ph.D. defenses). The success of Weider Visiting Professor program augurs well for the future, as does the prospect of reinforcing the Institute's strength in Napoleonic military history through the new Donald D. Horward fellowship.