The Annual Pierson Lecture is a Department of History tradition that spans back to 1993, when it was founded to honor Stan and Joan Pierson. The Piersons were both exemplary citizens of the community, dedicated to history and education as proven by their distinguished records of intellectual accomplishment and community involvement. This lecture series brings distinguished scholars to the University of Oregon, so that they may share their work in alignment with the Piersons’ interests in cultural, intellectual, and political life.

2024 Event

The Department of History is pleased to welcome Professor Louis Warren (University of California, Davis), presenting the 2024 Annual Pierson Lecture on February 27. The title of Louis's talk is "God's Red Son: The Ghost Dance Religion in American History". 

Past Events

2023-2024 — "The Ghost Dance Religion in American History." Louis Warren, W. Turrentine Jackson Professor of U.S. Western History, University of California, Davis. 

2022-2023 — "The Work of Wisdom in a Catastrophic World." Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, Merle Curti and Vilas-Borghesi Distinguished Achievement Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

2021-2022 — “When the Archives Don’t Easily Speak: The Life and Times of Julia Chinn.” Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, professor of history at Indiana University.

2020-2021 — “History and Modern Conscience: Evidence from the British Empire.” Priya Satia, author and professor of history, Stanford University.

2019-2020 — Rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2018-2019 — “Race and Gender in the Digital Humanities: Ethics, Algorithms, and Archives.” Sharon Block, professor of history, University of California, Irvine.

2017-2018 — “Fascism and Antifascism, 1920-2020: Slogan, Impulse, Theory, Strategy.” Geoff Eley, Karl Pohrt Distinguished University Professor of Contemporary History, University of Michigan.

2016-2017 — “Back to the Future: Scandal, Pederasty, and the Medieval Church.” Dyan Elliott, professor of history, Northwestern University.

2015-2016 — “Love and Money in the Informal Empire: The British in Argentina, 1830–1930.” Deborah Cohen, Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Humanities and Professor of History, Northwestern University.

2014-2015 — “Witch-Hunting and the Sadness of Everyday Life in Seventeenth-Century New England.” David Hall, Bartlett Research Professor of New England Church History, Harvard Divinity School.

2013-2014 — “The Work of the Dead.” Thomas Laqueur, Helen Fawcett Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley.

2011-2012 — “Marxism and the 1930’s Origins of the Social Construction of Science.” Mary Jo Nye, Horning Professor of the Humanities and Professor of History, Oregon State University.

2010-2011 — “The Stakes of Citizenship: Gender and the Crisis of Governance in Germany, 1916–20.” Kathleen Canning, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of History, University of Michigan.

2009-2010 — “Visions of Revolution: European Intellectuals and the French Revolution of 1848.” Jonathan F. Beecher, professor of history, University of California, Santa Cruz.

2008-2009 — “The Precious Raft of History: The Past, the West, and the Woman in Question in China.” Joan Judge, associate professor, School of Women’s Studies, York University, Toronto.

2007-2008 — “The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics.” Martin Jay, Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley.

2006-2007 — “Reforestation, Landscape Conversation, and Anxieties of Empire in French Colonial Algeria.” Caroline Ford, professor of history, University of California, Los Angeles.

2005-2006 — Jean Franco, Columbia University

2004-2005 — Teofilo Ruiz, University of California, Los Angeles

2003-2004 — Paul Pierson, Harvard University

2002-2003 — Sheila Fitzpatrick, University of Chicago

2001-2002 — Thomas Brady, University of California, Berkeley

2001-2001 — Roger Chartier, École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris

1997-1998 — John Toews, University of Washington

1996-1997 — Robert Nye, Oregon State University

1994-1995 — Joan Scott, Institute for Advanced Study

1993-1994 — Thomas Haskell, Rice University