Nine Outstanding Historians, Archaeologists
and Archivists Receive $300,000 (USD)
Each as the Dan David Prize Recognizes Breakthrough Research on the
Past
Winners' Work Includes Research on the
Birth of Democracy in India, the
Global Aesthetic Connections of Atlantic Slavery, the Underground
Archive Jews Kept in the Warsaw Ghetto, the Socio-Economic Role of
Epidemics in the U.S. South, Working-Class Black Women in the Civil
Rights Movement, and the Secrets Revealed by the Bones of a Viking
Army in Britain
TEL
AVIV, Israel, July 2, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The Dan David Prize, the largest history prize in
the world, today announced its 2024 winners – nine scholars whose
work illuminates the past in bold and creative ways. This year's
winners are early and mid career researchers who work in
Europe, Asia and North
America. Each will receive $300,000 (USD) in recognition of their
achievements and to support their future endeavors.
"To decode the complexities of the present and face future
challenges, we need to first of all better understand our past,"
said Ariel David, board member of
the Prize and son of Dan
David, the founder of the Prize. "By using
innovative methods and source materials, our winners have offered
us precious new historical insight, shedding light on everything
from the birth of contemporary India to the underground archive of the Warsaw
Ghetto and the deep connections of the Vikings to the East."
The 2024 Dan David Prize winners are:
- Keisha N. Blain,
Brown University - A historian of
the 20th century United States, in
particular Black history and women's history. Her research uncovers
the roles that marginalized, working-class Black women played in
the Civil Rights movement and other movements for revolutionary
social change. Blain is a columnist with MSNBC and has published
several award-winning books, including a biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, an anthology of African
American history and an anthology of Black women writers on the
future of democracy.
- Benjamin Brose,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- A scholar of Chinese religion whose work spans both the early
history of Buddhism in China and
the transmission of ancient religious narratives into contemporary
religious practices in Asia. In
his work, Brose explores the power of stories to change people's
understandings and experiences, focusing on classic Buddhist
narratives such as the travels of the monk Xuanzang.
- Cécile Fromont, Harvard
University - An art historian who explores the
visual, material and religious culture of early modern Africa, Europe and Latin
America. Her recent work has a special emphasis on the
aesthetic connections between Europe and Africa, as created and sustained by the
Atlantic slave trade. Fromont is also a commentator on restitution
questions involving museum artifacts and historical art that
conveys controversial messages.
- Cat Jarman, Archaeologist - A bioarchaeologist
and historian specializing in diet, migration and the Viking Age.
Jarman uses forensic techniques–like isotope analysis, carbon
dating and DNA analysis on human remains–to interrogate traditional
historical narratives and to highlight the lives of often
overlooked populations like women, children and enslaved people. In
her bestselling trade books, she uses these findings to tell
complex and riveting stories about Viking armies and the bones of
English kings. Jarman is also a co-host of the history podcast "The
Rabbit Hole Detectives," a frequent commentator on documentaries
and podcasts, and a former host of BBC's "Digging for Britain."
- Daniel Jütte, New York
University - A cultural historian of Europe. His work uses inconspicuous material
objects and lesser known cultural practices as lenses to understand
past societies over large swathes of time. For instance, Jütte's
most recent book explores how the theoretical idea of transparency
in Western culture was shaped by the physical experience of glass,
and particularly the architectural feature of windows.
- Stuart McManus,
Chinese University of Hong Kong
- A global historian of the early modern period whose work links
regions that are generally studied separately, such as North America, Latin
America, West Africa and
South China. A historian of the
Renaissance writ large, McManus studies both the spread of Humanism
in a global perspective, and the links between Atlantic slavery and
a much wider network of trade and human trafficking that spanned
the early modern globe.
- Kathryn Olivarius,
Stanford University - A social
historian of disease whose work highlights how past epidemics
shaped societies, citizenship and capitalism, such as the yellow
fever and syphilis epidemics in the 19th century American South.
Olivarius explores how disease intersects with broader themes in
economic and social history, and in particular how perceived
immunity to these diseases was central to social and economic
standing in these societies by conferring what she
calls"immunocapital."
- Katarzyna Person,
Warsaw Ghetto Museum - A public historian of the Holocaust
and deputy director of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum, her work focuses
on voices that had been silenced or seen as "unfit" for the
transmission of Holocaust memory, such as women, children, those
deemed "collaborators," deportees and refugees. Person also
spearheaded the publication of a new 27-volume scholarly edition of
the Ringelblum Archive – the underground archive collected by Jews
in the Warsaw Ghetto, which provides rare evidence of Jewish life
within the Ghetto.
- Tripurdaman Singh, Geneva Graduate Institute - A
historian of South Asia, Singh
explores the nature of the region's encounter with colonialism, the
process of decolonization and the birth of Indian democracy. Singh
is active in public debates and scholarship in India, and his book on the Indian constitution
provides important historical context into current political
dynamics.
"Archaeology and history offer ways into the backstories that
frame our current lives," said Professor Tim Cole, historian and Academic Advisor to the
Dan David Prize. "As well as helping us understand how we have
ended up where we are, deep knowledge of the past is a reminder
that things don't need to stay the same - and indeed that things
never stay the same. Looking to the past is also an invitation to
look to different futures."
The winners were selected after nominations from colleagues,
institutions and the general public were submitted in an open
nomination process and were chosen by a global committee of experts
that changes annually. This year's selection committee members are
affiliated with leading academic institutions in Europe, North
America, India and
Brazil. A full list of the 2024
committee is available here. The 2024 winners received the prize at
a gathering in Italy this
summer.
The Dan David Prize was first established in 2001 by the
late entrepreneur and philanthropist Dan
David, to reward innovative and interdisciplinary work that
contributed to humanity. In 2021, the Prize was relaunched with a
focus on historical research, honoring the founder's passion for
history and archaeology. It now rewards early and mid career
scholars to help them fulfill their potential at a time when
support for the humanities is dwindling. Nominations for the 2025
Dan David Prize are now being accepted online.
The late Dan David lived through
persecution in Nazi-occupied and then Communist Romania, becoming
an accomplished photographer and later an entrepreneur and
philanthropist. David was fascinated by automatic instant
photography, and he built a company that introduced countries
around the globe to the automatic photo booth. Dan had a keen
interest in history and archaeology, which feature in many of the
projects of the Dan David Foundation. His full bio is available
here.
About the Dan David Prize
The Dan David Prize, endowed
by the Dan David Foundation and headquartered at Tel Aviv University, is the largest history prize
in the world. Dan David, the founder
of the Prize, believed that knowledge of the past enriches us and
helps us grapple with the challenges of the present, and is crucial
for reimagining our collective future. At a time of diminishing
support for the humanities, the Prize celebrates the next
generation of outstanding historians, archaeologists, curators and
digital humanists. Each year, up to nine researchers are awarded
$300,000 each in recognition of their
achievements and to support their future endeavors.
To learn more about Dan David,
the Prize and the 2024 winners,
visit www.dandavidprize.org.
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SOURCE Dan David Prize