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332 results

Professor Thomas Noel Bisson, In Memoriam
We are saddened to share that Thomas Noel Bisson, one of the leading historians of medieval Europe, passed away on June 28, 2025 at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, following a brief illness. He was 94. Bisson was the loving husband of Carroll (Webb)...
Portrait of Thomas Noel Bisson, an older man in a suit with silver hair, sitting with his hands clasped thoughtfully. The text above reads ‘Thomas Noel Bisson’ and below it states ‘March 30, 1931 – June 28, 2025.

Five History Concentrators Win 2024-2025 Hoopes Prize
2024-25 Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize Winners Cayla Coleburn for her submission entitled “Behind Bars and Beyond Brown: The NAACP’s Campaign for Civil Rights in Criminal Courts, 1910–1964”—supervised and nominated by Professor Evelyn Higginbotham Shruti...
Hoopes Prize logo. The words “Hoopes Prize” appear in black serif font above the Harvard shield, which is crimson with three open books spelling out “VERITAS”

2024-2025 History Department Prize Winners
History Department Prizes Franklin and Eleanor Ford Prize Established in 2021 by Charles Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Emeritus , this prize is awarded for the best senior thesis in the Department of History on the history since 1500...
Logo of the Harvard History Department. A crimson shield on the left contains the white letters “HH” stacked over “D”. To the right, black text reads “Harvard History Department” in three lines.

Kelly Minot McCay Awarded the Harold K. Gross Dissertation Prize
Congratulations to Dr. Kelly Minot McCay for being awarded the Gross Prize for her 2024 dissertation entitled “'A writing by strange markes': The Invention of Shorthand in Early Modern England, 1588–1700.” The Harold K. Gross Dissertation Prize is...
Kelly Minot McCay, wearing a straw hat with floral embroidery and glasses sits in a boat on a river, gazing toward the sky, with the historic Bridge of Sighs and red-brick Gothic buildings of Cambridge University in the background.

Is a Chat with a Bot a Conversation?
Professor Jill Lepore explores the history of artificial intelligence that speaks and interacts with humans in her latest New Yorker piece, entitled “ Is a Chat with a Bot a Conversation?”
Picture of Jill Lepore

In Memoriam: Professor Roy Parviz Mottahedeh
The History community mourns the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Professor Roy Parviz Mottahedeh ’60, Gurney Professor of Islamic History, Emeritus, on July 30, 2024. Professor Mottahedeh was a renowned scholar of Islamic history and a member of...
Picture of Professor Roy Parviz Mottahedeh