By Professor Jeffrey S. Adler The scholarship on the history of racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system is often curiously ahistorical.  It is commonplace for researchers, particularly those writing about the American South, to identify modern racial biases and to project them backward, onto a static, timeless past, implying that racial disparities have always existed or have at least existed continuously since the … Continue reading Historicizing Racial Disparities in American Criminal Justice

By Dr Nick Fischer For observers of American politics, the Trump presidency is providing an exceptionally rich trove of data about the state of the union. One might indeed argue that the present is too rich in data, anecdote and outrage; it is impossible to keep up with the torrent of tweets, pronouncements, policy reverses and partisan barracking, let alone analysis. An interesting exercise to … Continue reading Star Spangled Man: Assessing the Trump Presidency

By Kate Rivington Impeccably timed, however unplanned, to coincide with the US Midterm elections, on November 7, 2018 The University of Melbourne hosted a workshop on US Economic History. The workshop, organised by Dr. Kat Ellinghaus and Professor Trevor Burnard, featured papers by scholars from The University of Melbourne, Monash University, and La Trobe University, as well as a fascinating keynote address from Professor Peter … Continue reading Review: US Economic History Workshop