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Home > People > Faculty : JB Shank

JB Shank

612-624-7323
Department of History 922 HellerH
Curriculum Vitae

Department Affiliations


Specialties

  • Enlightenment science and Newtonianism
  • European intellectual history, especially 17th and 18th centuries
  • Renaissance science and culture
  • Old Regime France and the French Revolution
  • the history of Silicon Valley

Publications

  • "'There was no such thing as the 'Newtonian Revolution,' and the French initiated it:' Eighteenth-century Mechanics in France Before Maupertuis". Shank, JB, Author, 2004.
  • "Fontenelle's Calculus: The Cultural Politics of Mathematics in Louis XIV’s France". Shank, JB, in David Glimp and Michelle Warren eds, Arts of Calculation: Numerical Thought in Early Modern Europe, Palgrave/McMillan, Author, 2004.
  • "On the Alleged Cartesianism of Fontenelle". Shank, JB, Author, 2004.
  • Review: "J.A. English-Lueck, Cultures@Silicon Valley (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002).. Shank, JB, Author, November, 2003.
  • Review Essay: "Descartes in the Age of Jurassic Technology: A Review of Recent Scholarship,". Shank, JB, H-France http://www3.uakron.edu/hfrance/reviews/shank2.html, Author, May, 2003.
  • Before Voltaire: Newton, "Newtonianism," and the Beginning of the Enlightenment in France. Shank, JB, University of Chicago Press, Author, 2005.
  • Neither Natural Philosophy, Nor Science, Nor Literature: Gender and the Pursuit of Nature in Fontenelle' s Entretiens. Shank, JB, 2005.

Research Activities

  • Beyond the Two Cultures: the Arts and Sciences Before the Modern Disciplines: Book project, 2004
  • Book Manuscript: Before Voltaire: Newton, "Newtonianism," and the Beginning of the French Enlightenment, 1995 - 2005

Awards

  • Fullbright Fellow, France, 1995 - 1996
  • Fellow in the Humanities, Stanford University, 1999 - 2000
  • McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, 2004 - 2006

Courses Taught

  • Hist 5621 - Proseminar: The French Revolution
  • Hist 5649 - Ideas in Context: Making Early Modern Knowledge, 1500-1800
  • Hist 3281 - Modern European Intellectual History I, 1500-1750
  • History 5650 - The European Enlightenment
  • Humanities 1003/3003 - Thought and Culture in the West 1400-1600
  • History 3900 - The Origins of Global Revolution, 1660-1848
  • History 3842 - The History of Silicon Valley
  • History 3709 - Science and Enlightenment: European Thought and Culture 1550-1750
  • History 1032 - "Western Civilization:" 1500 to the Present
  • Hist 8960/ArtHist 8956 - Arts of Discovery: Science and Visual Culture in the Age of of Exploration, 1500-1800
  • Humanities 1004/3004 - Thought and Culture in the West 1600-1800
  • Hist 3282 - Modern European Intellectual History II, 1750-Present
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Featured Faculty

  • Gary Cohen Awarded Austrian Medal of Honor

    CohenMedl02-thumb-350x262-20924.jpg
    Gary Cohen has been awarded the Austrian Medal of Honor (Verdienstkreuz) for Science and Arts, First Class. The ceremony was held at the Austrian Embassy in Washington. He was presented the award by Dr. Christian Prosl, the Austrian Ambassador to the United States.

    Congratulations to Gary! This is a much-deserved recognition of Gary's scholarship on the Habsburg Empire and his leadership of the Center for Austrian Studies.

    November 17th, 2009

  • Regina Kunzel, Lambda Literary Award Recipient

    Regina Kunzel has been awarded the Lambda Literary Award in the category of LGBT Studies for her book Criminal Intimacy: Prison and the Uneven History of Modern American Sexuality. Congratulations Regina.

     June 5th, 2009

  • Donna Gabaccia, Fesler-Lampert Chair

    Tthe Graduate School has appointed Donna Gabaccia to the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Public Humanities for 2009-2010.

     June 5th, 2009

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