Darlene Clark Hine, a leading historian of the African-American experience who helped found the field of black women’s history, has been appointed Visiting Hannah Distinguished Professor for this academic year, the most prestigious faculty appointment at the university.
The appointment is in the Department of History within the College of Social Science at Michigan State University. Hine will engage in research and other activities such as collaborating with MSU scholars and students.
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Hine back to our community of scholars,” said Provost June Pierce Youatt. “Her renowned scholarship and collaborative engagement with our faculty and students will provide insight and guidance in the coming academic year.”
Hine returns to MSU where she held the title of John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of American History from 1987 to 2004. At MSU, she established the Comparative Black History Ph.D. Program and mentored over 20 doctorate students.
Hine was most recently on the faculty of Northwestern University from 2004 to 2016 where she was the Board of Trustees Professor of African American Studies and History. At Northwestern she served for three years as the chair of the African American Studies Department and was the leading mentor of graduate students.
Rachel Croson, dean of MSU’s College of Social Science, noted Hine’s positive impact on every program in which she works. “MSU’s African History program is ranked third nationally,” she said in reference to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Grad Schools ranking, “and the return of Dr. Hine to MSU will allow further collaboration and growth for this research area.”
Hine has published numerous books and scholarly monographs, and she has edited several anthologies and encyclopedias. She has received fellowships and grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Humanities Center. She has been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2003) and the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University (2011). She was a Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston in South Carolina (2007). Hine is completing her manuscript on the “History of the Black Professional Class in South Carolina.”
“History is thrilled to welcome home our dear friend, Dr. Darlene Clark Hine,” said Walter Hawthorne, chair of the MSU Department of History. “She is the world's foremost scholar of African-American women’s history. She is also an outstanding undergraduate and graduate student teacher and mentor to faculty of all ranks. Her return will inject further energy into our vibrant History Department and African and African American Studies Program.”
SOURCE: MSU Today
