The Political Culture of Modern France
I have a longstanding interest in the political culture of modern France. This has been a subject of several of my books, as well as a number of journal articles. Currently, I am researching the role of theater critics in Paris in the creation of a republican political culture in the early Third Republic (1870s-1900s). An early version of this is in an article “Francisque Sarcey and French Political Culture in the Early Third Republic,” in Gilbert Chaitin (ed.), Culture Wars and Political Identity in Third Republic France (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publications, 2008).
Colonialism
My current research focuses on several aspects of European colonialism in the 19th and 20th centuries. First, I am looking at the ways in which violence was perceived in colonial culture, especially in the French conquest of Indochina in the second half of the 19th century. This violence took several forms: first, the military conquest itself involved the exertion of violent force against the Indochinese by the French. Second, the opposition to French rule took the form not only of military action by the Annamese and their local allies, but also of piracy and banditry. An essay on this, "Categories of Conquest and Colonial Control: The French in Tonkin, 1884-1914,” was published in Philip Dwyer, Amanda Nettlebeck, and Lyndall Ryan (eds.), Violence, Colonialism, and Empire in the Modern World (London: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2017), pp. 73-90.
A related project examines the history of colonialism through the history of tiger hunting in both Indochina and British India. Europeans first came to know about tigers as displays of power by European monarchs and then, in the 17th and 18th centuries, as a part of the natural world that was studied by scientists such as John Ray and the Comte de Buffon. As Europeans expanded their empires in the late 18th and 19th centuries, they came face to face with tigers in South and Southeast Asia. Tiger-hunting was the most obvious form of imperial recreation, both for colonial officials and European tourists attracted to South and Southeast Asia throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, with the wildlife of the region being mobilized for the entertainment of Europeans. It also played a part in the cultures of British and French imperialism, as tigers acted as important mediators of the relationship between colonizer and colonized, influencing not only the views Europeans took of indigenous peoples, but also in the development of European science. In the 19th century tigers became featured exhibits in European zoos, circuses, and other public entertainments, and, as such, were the object of mass leisure along with other exotic animals from the colonial empires. In the late 20th century, however, as the colonial empires in South and Southeast Asia came to an end, tigers became one of the most important topics for western organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund, for preservation. They therefore became one of the focal points for cooperation and contention between the former imperial powers and their former colonies.
A related project examines the history of colonialism through the history of tiger hunting in both Indochina and British India. Europeans first came to know about tigers as displays of power by European monarchs and then, in the 17th and 18th centuries, as a part of the natural world that was studied by scientists such as John Ray and the Comte de Buffon. As Europeans expanded their empires in the late 18th and 19th centuries, they came face to face with tigers in South and Southeast Asia. Tiger-hunting was the most obvious form of imperial recreation, both for colonial officials and European tourists attracted to South and Southeast Asia throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, with the wildlife of the region being mobilized for the entertainment of Europeans. It also played a part in the cultures of British and French imperialism, as tigers acted as important mediators of the relationship between colonizer and colonized, influencing not only the views Europeans took of indigenous peoples, but also in the development of European science. In the 19th century tigers became featured exhibits in European zoos, circuses, and other public entertainments, and, as such, were the object of mass leisure along with other exotic animals from the colonial empires. In the late 20th century, however, as the colonial empires in South and Southeast Asia came to an end, tigers became one of the most important topics for western organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund, for preservation. They therefore became one of the focal points for cooperation and contention between the former imperial powers and their former colonies.
The History of Technology at the University of Utah in the late 20th Century
The University of Utah's Computer Science department, founded in 1964, was one of the most innovative contributors to the development of computing. This project aims at recovering this history and making materials related to it available to the scholarly community. In the 1970s, the artifical heart project at the University's Medical School attracted global attention with the implantation of an artificial heart in Barney Clark. In the 1980s, the controversy over nuclear fusion also attracted attention to technological developments at the University. These three developments, and the controversies surrounding them, are the subject of this research project.
To date, I have presented two papers on this topic, both dealing with Computer Science in the 1960s and 1970s: "Computing and Technology Transfer at the University of Utah, 1965-1980," at the annual meeting of the Utah State Historical Society on September 28, 2014; and "Technological Innovation and Commercialization: The University of Utah Computer Science Department, 1965-1975," at the Special Interest Group for Computers, Information, and Society of the Society for the History of Technology, on November 9, 2014. These have been published as “Technological Innovation and Commercialization: Computer Graphics in Utah 1965-1978,” Information & Culture: A Journal of History 51,4 (November, 2016), 479-499; and “Raising the State of the Art”: Commercializing Innovation in Digital Sound.” Published online June 21, 2018 in Media History. I appeared in a documentary on Thomas Stockham, "Genesis: Tom Stockham, The Father of Digital Audio Recording" (directed by Sam Katz). 05/2015.
To date, I have presented two papers on this topic, both dealing with Computer Science in the 1960s and 1970s: "Computing and Technology Transfer at the University of Utah, 1965-1980," at the annual meeting of the Utah State Historical Society on September 28, 2014; and "Technological Innovation and Commercialization: The University of Utah Computer Science Department, 1965-1975," at the Special Interest Group for Computers, Information, and Society of the Society for the History of Technology, on November 9, 2014. These have been published as “Technological Innovation and Commercialization: Computer Graphics in Utah 1965-1978,” Information & Culture: A Journal of History 51,4 (November, 2016), 479-499; and “Raising the State of the Art”: Commercializing Innovation in Digital Sound.” Published online June 21, 2018 in Media History. I appeared in a documentary on Thomas Stockham, "Genesis: Tom Stockham, The Father of Digital Audio Recording" (directed by Sam Katz). 05/2015.