2025 News and Events
Spring 2025
On Thursday, April 10, History alum Daniel Mandel will be visiting UMass Lowell to give a talk about his career teaching history. He graduated from UMass Lowell with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History in 2021 and a master's in Education in 2022. He completed his student teaching at Lowell High School in spring 2022 before beginning work at the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell in fall 2022. In his talk, Dan will explain how he became a History teacher. This will be followed by time for students to ask questions as they think about their own lives after UMass Lowell. The talk will take place in Coburn Hall, Room 150, from 5-6 p.m. For more information, please contact Professor Abby Chandler via email at Abigail_Chandler@uml.edu.
In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Return of the King," the third book in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Medieval and Renaissance Studies will be hosting a "Return of the King" book club on Thursday, March 27, from 4-5:30 p.m. in Coburn Hall, Room 275. All are welcome to participate in an open discussion about the book and the March 24th lecture by Tolkien scholar Professor Michael Drout. This event is free and open to the public, and is being co-sponsored by Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the English Department, and the History Department. For more information, contact Professor Katie Shrieves (English) by email at: Katherine_Shrieves@uml.edu or Professor Andrew Drenas (Medieval and Renaissance Studies/History) by email at: Andrew_Drenas@uml.edu.
In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Return of the King," the third book in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Medieval and Renaissance Studies will be hosting a special lecture. On Monday, March 24, Professor Michael Drout (Wheaton College), an expert on the works of Tolkien, will come to UMass Lowell to give a talk entitled "Making I = Eye: How the One Ring Works in J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings.'" In this lecture, Professor Drout will explore how the One Ring is an object of enormous but evil and corrupting power. This event will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. in O'Leary 222. It is free and open to the public. It is being co-sponsored by Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the English Department, and the History Department. For more information, contact Professor Andrew Drenas, coordinator of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, by email: Andrew_Drenas@uml.edu.
On Thursday, March 20, Professor Gregory Callaghan (Union College) will come to UMass Lowell to give this year's Zamanakos Lecture. Professor Callaghan's talk, "Seeking Sponsors in Hellenistic Greece: Why and How Greek Communities Embraced Attalid Patronage," will explore how the Attalid dynasty of the new and rising Kingdom of Pergamon used the metric of "status" to achieve an authority within the Greek world that far exceeded its military and territorial power. The lecture will take place in Coburn 255 from 6-7 p.m., with a reception to follow from 7-8 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. For any questions, please contact Professor Jane Sancinito via email at: Jane_Sancinito@uml.edu.
On Friday, March 7, Adjunct Professor Shawn Driscoll, a doctoral student in UMass Lowell's Global Studies Program,successfully defended his dissertation: "Funding the Fight: The History of the United States Servicemen's Fund." The United States Servicemen's Fund (USSF) provided significant financial support to the Vietnam antiwar movement during the early 1970s and helped shift public opinion about the war. Professor Driscoll's dissertation traces the creation, actions, challenges, disbanding, and legacy of the USSF from the late 1960s through the late 1970s. While completing his doctoral program, Professor Driscoll taught several History and Political Science courses: US History to 1877, US History since 1877, The American Presidency, The Age of Nixon, United States in the 1960s, The Vietnam War, and Introduction to American Politics.
On Friday, January 31, Visiting Faculty Lecturer Christine Su attended the Cambodian American Studies Conference (January 31-February 1) in San Jose. This was part of a series serving to introduce the new Cambodian American Studies Model Curriculum (CASMC), of which Professor Su is one of the writers, to K-12 teachers in California. Su's presentation, "Reconstructing Identity and Community: Cambodia's Tangible and Intangible Heritage," focused on the importance of both tangible and intangible heritage for Cambodians in rebuilding and healing in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge genocide. It also addressed the looting of thousands of statues from the monuments of Angkor that have ended up in museums around the world, and recent efforts to repatriate them to Cambodia.
In anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, Associate Professor Abby Chandler has been editing an essay collection for H-Net called "Remembering the American Revolution at 250." On January 23, two more essays were published: G. Patrick O'Brien's "'Men Who Deserve Nothing Better from a Wronged and Insulted Country than Exile': The Loyalists and Popular American Misunderstanding," as well as "A Living Classroom: Ongoing Revolutions at Boston's Old North Church and Historic Site," by Jaimie Crumley, Catherine Matthews, and Emily Spence. "Remembering the American Revolution at 250" is bringing together historians, public historians, and other practitioners from around the world to consider this moment in American history in an ongoing collection of research essays, reflective essays, and lesson plans that will be published over a multi-year period.