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• 2009

客座教授为W&M带来了战后历史方面的专业知识

After his freshman year at Princeton University, Robert Engs spent the summer working at Colonial Williamsburg, where the mission is “That the future may learn from the past.” Engs, now a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, has spent more than 40 years of his life fulfilling that mission --  teaching and researching African-American history and the post-bellum South.

上学期，恩格斯把他多年的专业知识带到了威廉玛丽学院，担任历史系的哈里森客座教授。 In that role, he taught a seminar course and conducted research on the College’s own history.

据宾大网站介绍，恩格斯研究战后时代以及自由民和南方白人对解放的反应，他对教育、宗教和传教士在解放过程中的作用特别感兴趣。 He has written numerous articles and books, including “Freedom’s First Generation: Black Hampton, Va., 1861-1863,” and he has developed an electronic archive on the middle 19th century, titled “The Crisis of the Union Archives.” 他目前正在编辑一本内战书信集。

恩格斯于1972年在耶鲁大学获得历史学博士学位，是前古根海姆和威廉·佩恩研究员，也是林德巴克卓越教学奖的获得者。 At Penn, he directed a president’s forum titled “The Enduring Significance of Race,” and he served as undergraduate chair of the history department and co-chair of the Afro-American Studies Program. 英格斯为社区组织和历史悠久的黑人大学讲课，他还帮助公立学校开发非裔美国人历史和社会研究课程。

Engs’ historical expertise and ties to the area’s community made him an ideal candidate to come back to Williamsburg and move forward ongoing efforts for the College explore its own past.

“My understanding was that the College of William and Mary wanted to speak to the issue of the past ownership of slaves and the current state of race relations at the College and with the community,” said Engs, who formed a working group with William and Mary faculty and staff who were interested in the topic and had already conducted related research. The group’s work will help guide campus conversations and future projects that will continue to explore the College’s history.

“There’s been some excellent research that people have done,” said Engs.

除了研究之外，恩格斯还把他的专业知识带到了课堂上，并在秋季学期开设了一门课程，探索南方黑人和白人所描述的内战经历，他们大多来自潮水地区。 这不是恩格斯第一次在该学院任教，他的家人在威廉斯堡地区。 大约20年前，他在该学院担任英联邦客座教授。 And, long before that, he made connections to people who would one day be the College’s top administrators. 他是普林斯顿大学威廉玛丽校长泰勒·雷维里和教务长杰夫·费斯的同学。 这三人都是1965届的毕业生。

然而，恩格斯在普林斯顿时并不认识费斯。 In fact, it was through Engs’ sister, who knows Feiss through the “All Together” organization, that the two met. All Together is an organization that seeks to “bring together the people of the Greater Williamsburg area across racial lines,” according to its Web site. Feiss担任董事会主席。

“William & Mary was fortunate to have a historian of Robert Engs’ stature come to our campus, interact with our students and work closely with the campus community on this important research,” Feiss said. “His work will help guide our discussions as we continue to discuss and examine our own history.”

Engs said he enjoyed his semester at William & Mary and that it felt almost like he was in a “different country” being away from Philadelphia for a semester, where he has served on the Penn faculty since 1972.

英格斯将在本学期获得宾夕法尼亚大学的荣誉退休资格，他说，他在大学期间从每个人那里得到的合作给他留下了深刻的印象。

“This could have been a terrible job, but it’s gone in my mind very smoothly,” he said. “I think it says a lot about the commitment of the faculty and administration.”