Report by Disty Mahmud and Carl Zhang
On Wednesday, March 26th, the Archives and History Initiative (AHI) organized a panel discussion inviting faculty and students to discuss books that made them passionate about history.
Professor Lei Lin started the discussion with the book Soulstealers: The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768 published in 1992 by Philip Kuhn. Set in the Qing dynasty, Kuhn’s book writes about a rumored practice of sorcerers cutting their Queue, a hairstyle to symbolize loyalty to the emperor. She found the stories interesting, especially concerning bureaucratic power in the background of the majority Han population and minority ruling class who were anxious of being subverted. Professor Lin also discussed the decision the empire had to make between killing those accused of the rumored act or suppress the agenda. The book ties together the many dynamics of China of 1768, the apex of economy and population. Professor Lin describes how Kuhn “flips the fabric of the tapestry” and shows the social phenomenons and problems that were actually brewing beneath a prosperous dynasty.
Next, university archivist, Ryder Kouba, highlighted The Rise of Universities by Charles Homer Haskins published in 1923. Kouba recalled first reading it when he was applying to college as a senior in high school. It led him to become interested in the concept of the university, as the book highlighted its beginnings from the middle ages to now. Kouba also appreciated Haskins’ writing, which took on a humorous tone in retelling many stories of universities around the world. The book had influenced how Kouba approached the archives in including details not included in official documents, such as students’ stories and interactions.
The third panelist was Professor Kolleen Guy. She presented The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History (1984) by Robert Darnton. Professor Guy first begins by telling the story of how she used to despise history because of its emphasis on memorization, patriotism, and absence of women. However, she came to like the idea of looking into everyday life and the subaltern, which the book focuses on. Darnton looks into fairytales, why we look into fairytales and where it originates. Finally, Professor Guy explains the title’s origin from a labor conflict, where apprentices were exploited by their masters, yet their cats were treated better. As a form of protest, they put the cats on mock trial accusing the cats for stealing their food in order to get to their master.
Next was Professor Hua-Henning who presented Lebensformen Europas: eine Historische Kulturanthropologie by C.H.Beck. Rather than recommend the book, he used it as a point in his story that made him realize history was the real path for him. Originally an international real estate major, Professor Hua-Henning switched to history. He found it fascinating how many stories one has access to, and the study of history also went against the dichotomy of wrong or right that he was taught growing up. Professor Hua-Henning also recommended to the audience Silencing the Past by Michel-Rolph Trouillot.
Anfield, from the class of 2026, talked about how he fell in love through fantasy books by Christopher Tolkien. He was always interested in history in high school, but didn’t like learning Chinese history but was still fascinated by the stories. His parents bought him a kindle in high school and used it for his leisure time and started reading Unfinished Tales of Numenor & Middle-Earth and The Hobbit. On the back of the book, was a timeline of the book’s lore and he started to become absorbed into the world. This influenced him to take history at DKU and uncover new truths.
Dustin, class of 2029, also recommended Lord of the Rings. He enjoyed the way the book told the story and the worldbuilding and ancient events in the book that would affect the story. Dustin also appreciated the constructed language that helped inform the fictional world and make it a believable world. It inspired him to take a closer look at history and the events that informed the modern world. It made him question what he was taught and be critical of it.
Overall, the panel discussion provided a welcoming and lively environment in discussions of history and different paths people took that led them to study it. The event saw 16 people in attendance and an energetic Q&A session afterwards.
