Chaos and clamor resist our analytical grasp. They invoke a liminality that can be disruptive of, and also a provocation to, stability and order. Yet their outcomes are seldom predictable. It is precisely as threshold moments that they acquire their historical charge. Chaos and clamor, a public outcry or protestation, brings into focus the challenge of historical change: the often unexpected manner in which seemingly stable political and social orders can be suddenly made, unmade, and re-made. This theme invites us to offer new inflections on long-standing debates about the nature of history itself, the relative weight of individual and collective actions, of discrete events and moments, and of longer-term historical trends. This semester we explore the disorganization that propels history and our approach towards it.

Panelists:

Howard Brick (Louis Evans Chair in US History, University of Michigan)
Katherine French (J. Frederick Hoffman Professor of History, University of Michigan)
Ellen Muehlberger (Professor of History and Middle East Studies, University of Michigan)
Mrinalini Sinha, chair (Alice Freeman Palmer Professor of History, University of Michigan)

Note: This event was rescheduled from September 11 to October 23.

Free and open to the public. This is a remote event and will take place online via Zoom. Please register in advance here: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vHFO9O5MQgu1gSdTR5IJ_Q

This event is part of the Friday Series of the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.