About

This seminar is a forum for scholarly conversations and works-in-progress in early American history, broadly defined. It seeks to support scholarship on the Anglo-American colonies and the early United States (pre-Civil War) and situate these political entities within broader frameworks (e.g., global history, early modern history, the Age of Revolution, hemispheric history, and the Atlantic World). The seminar aims to involve a wide range of historians (including specialists in Native American history, Caribbean history, and Latin American history) in this discussion about early America. Scholars of literature, religion, slavery and the African diaspora, Native American studies, anthropology, sociology, and related fields are also encouraged to attend.

The Seminar on Early American History and Culture was established in 1966 as a part of the Columbia University “University Seminar” movement, which began in 1945. There are now 75 University Seminars hosted by Columbia on topics ranging from Modern China to Ancient Medicine. To learn more about other University Seminars, contact the University Seminars Office.