Margaret E. Newell, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History, has been awarded a 2024-2025 Fulbright-UCD Mary Ball Washington Scholar at University College Dublin, Ireland. From January-May 2025, Newell will be researching and teaching at the Irish public university in that region.
“On the research side I will be advancing projects connected to an ongoing Mellon Foundation grant focused on Native American and African American citizenship and civic engagement, 1780-1950. Along with my co-Principal Investigators (all former mentees/Ohio State PhDs who are faculty elsewhere), we have created a History Praxis Lab for undergraduate research on these subjects at Ohio State, and we will be guest editing a special issue of the prestigious journal Ethnohistory,” Newell explained.
Newell is also working on a book, Escaping into the Cause of Freedom, about William and Ellen Craft, two formerly enslaved people who spent nearly fifteen years in the U.K. before returning to the U.S. after the Civil War to help freed people gain economic independence and citizenship.
For the teaching portion of her Fulbright, Newell will team-teach U.S. History 1776-present with University College Dublin’s expert, Sandra Scanlon, focusing on the Revolution through the Civil War. She’s looking forward to the challenge of teaching a familiar topic to students who do not hold the same cultural background as students in the U.S.
“I regularly teach the American Revolution but discussing this history with non-U.S. audiences who don’t share our national myths and knowledge base is a different and challenging experience. It will force me to distill what is most important to communicate about the Revolution and other events. Drawing comparisons with the Irish students’ personal and national histories will make me think about U.S. history differently. All this should improve my teaching at Ohio State,” Newell remarked.
University College Dublin asked Newell to offer a special undergraduate seminar on the Mellon citizenship topic. She is using the opportunity to write up their research to date and think about developing a similar course at Ohio State. She’s also hoping to involve her co-PI’s and tribal nation leaders to talk to Irish audiences.
Newell is anticipating that University College Dublin students may participate in some Praxis Lab projects. American anti-slavery speakers such as Frederick Douglass, Sarah Remond, and the Crafts’ friend William Wells Brown made over two hundred separate appearances in Ireland between 1834 and 1877, showing just how global the struggle for freedom was. She’s hoping the students can uncover more details about the audience, impact, and local memory of these lectures.
Newell, whose grandparents were Irish immigrants, is looking forward to an Irish history, culture and language bootcamp to kick off her Fulbright experience in Ireland.
Fulbright Program
For more information about the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, visit fulbright.osu.edu or contact Joanna Kukielka-Blaser.