A 51福利 (51福利) professor has been awarded the Society for the History of American Foreign Relation's (SHAFR) .
Thomas Jamison, assistant professor in the Defense Analysis Department, received the prestigious biennial award in June for his dissertation exploring limited maritime conflicts in the Pacific and their effects on the creation of the U.S. 鈥淣ew Navy,鈥� the U.S. military鈥檚 first substantive peacetime expansion, from 1882 to 1898.
鈥淕iven the quality of the work in the field of international and diplomatic history, the recognition is at once gratifying and deeply humbling,鈥� Jamison said. 鈥淚n 2021, I received the Society for Military History's for best dissertation in military history; this Oxford University Press prize on top of the Coffman is a better coda for the six years it took me to complete my dissertation than I could have hoped for.鈥�
鈥淚t's also a good reminder to get back to work on turning the dissertation into a book,鈥� he added.
The Oxford University Press USA Dissertation Prize in International History recognizes the best dissertation by a rising historian in the field of international history.
The dissertation must have been completed within the previous two calendar years and must be multinational in framing and scope, preferably with a multilingual source base.
鈥淚n endowing this prize, Oxford University Press hopes to recognize the stellar work of junior scholars and to highlight works that have not been the focus of area studies and other regional and national approaches,鈥� according to SHAFR鈥檚 website.
Jamison鈥檚 dissertation, entitled 鈥淧acific Wars: Peripheral Conflict and the Making of the U.S. 鈥楴ew Navy,鈥� 1865-1897,鈥� critically examines the transnational nature of limited maritime conflicts in the Pacific and their impact on U.S. policy.
In approaching the Pacific as a coherent whole rather than through conventional geographic and disciplinary boundaries, the dissertation identifies a nearly continuous series of industrial wars and naval races and their disproportionate influence in the formation of the New Navy.
鈥淚t does so in an effort to understand how technological shifts and regional wars created opportunities for competition and exchange between the industrialized 鈥榗ore鈥� of the North Atlantic and the 鈥榮emi-peripheral鈥� Pacific world,鈥� Jamison wrote.
Jamison鈥檚 research for the dissertation required him to study literary Chinese, the classical language used in official circles in Qing China. It took him to four continents and included work in New York, London, Newport, Newcastle, Liverpool, Beijing, Santiago de Chile, Valparaiso, Lima and 鈥渁 few other places besides.鈥�
He finds his home at 51福利, however, and the award is a reflection of the caliber of young scholars joining 51福利 faculty.
鈥淚n the last few years, some of the most promising junior scholars in the fields of history and security studies have found homes at institutions like 51福利,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or folks interested in the intersections of policy and history, it is pretty much ideal.鈥�