Columbia University
RECENT FACULTY AWARDS
Prof. Elisheva Carlebach, Recent interview in Columbia News…
02/09 – Prof. Elisheva Carlebach Explores Women’s Power in Early Modern Jewish Communities – Columbia News.
Columbia historian Elisheva Carlebach explores the vital roles Jewish women played in early modern European communal life in her new book A Woman Is Responsible for Everything, co-authored with Debra Kaplan. Drawing on previously overlooked archival sources, the work highlights how women managed households and professions, led institutions, created texts and objects, and contributed economically and spiritually to their communities—from wealthy patrons to poor laborers. The book offers fresh insights into the kehillah, a thriving form of Jewish communal life from the early modern period. Read the full interview here.
Professor Mae Ngai interviewed on one year anniversary of the second Trump administration- 01/20
01/20 – Professor Mae Ngai interviewed on one year anniversary of the second Trump administration.
In the interview, Mae Ngai, discusses how Trump is using immigration and border issues as a political weapon, particularly by deploying ICE agents to Democratic cities and states. She highlights the potential for this tactic to intimidate voters ahead of the November midterm elections. Listen to the full interview here.
In other news, Professor Mae Ngai was chosen as a Margaret Olivia Sage Scholar by the Russell Sage Foundation for 2026-2027. MOS scholars are nominated and selected by the foundation’s board of trustees on the basis of “outstanding career accomplishments.” You can read more about the scholars here.
Prof. Camille Robcis, Chair of History department says…
Professor Camille Robcis, incumbent Chair of the History department, was featured in The Columbia News. In the piece, Professor Robcis discusses her vision for the department, emphasizing history’s dual role in documenting the past while actively engaging with the present. She reflects on the importance of public-facing scholarship, the responsibilities of historians in moments of political and social uncertainty, and the direction she hopes to guide the department during her term as chair. Read the full interview here.
Prof. Casey Blake – Keynote at annual US Intellectual – 11/07
Professor Casey Nelson Blake delivered a lecture on “Experience as Art” as the keynote address of the annual meeting of the Society for US Intellectual History on November 7th. See the full conference program here.
Professor Mae Ngai named honorary fellow of the American Society for Legal History – 11/15
Professor Mae Ngai was named an honorary fellow of the American Society for Legal History, the highest honor the Society confers, which recognizes distinguished historians whose scholarship has shaped the broad discipline of legal history and influenced the work of others, at its annual meeting in Detroit in November 15. Read the full article here.
Pablo Piccato was interviewed by El Pais on Violence in Mexico
Professor Pablo Piccato was interviewed by El País about Mexico’s justice and security system, which he argues was shaped under the PRI to fail by design—favoring corruption, discretion, and political control over real justice. He explains that violence became part of the system itself, allowing criminal and state interests to merge and sustain each other. Read the full interview here.
Hannah Farber appointed to the Lectureship Program of the Organization of American Historians.
Professor Hannah Farber is 1 of 17 U.S Historians appointed to the Organization of American Historians’ distinguished lectureship program. Read the full announcement here.
Professor Kim Phillips-Fein’s latest article in The Nation, “How the Capitalism of the 1980s Created Donald Trump’s Theory of the State,” examines the historical precedent behind Trump’s political rise, as well as the economic conditions of the 1990s that lacked the constraints of corporate capitalism from an earlier era.
Professor Kim Phillips-Fein‘s latest article in The Nation, “How the Capitalism of the 1980s Created Donald Trump’s Theory of the State,” examines the historical precedent behind Trump’s political rise, as well as the economic conditions of the 1990s that lacked the constraints of corporate capitalism from an earlier era. Read the full article here.
Professor Mae Ngai published an article in The New York Review of Books, “The End of Asylum,” which explores how the second Trump administration has eliminated the distinction between political and economic migrants and questions if this distinction was ever a sensible one.
Professor Mae Ngai published an article in The New York Review of Books, “The End of Asylum,” which explores how the second Trump administration has eliminated the distinction between political and economic migrants and questions if this distinction was ever a sensible one. Read the full article here.
Professor Lori Flores was interviewed about food labor and ICE raids on Irish National Radio’s Saturday morning show “The Business.
Professor Lori Flores was interviewed about food labor and ICE raids on Irish National Radio’s Saturday morning show “The Business.” Watch the full interview here, with Professor Flores’s segment beginning at 36:30.