This is part of 2 of our new series, “What is Global History at Fordham?” Today, we hear from Professor Chris Dietrich, a member of Fordham’s Global History consortium, on what global history means to him and how it shapes his work.
“As a historian of U.S. foreign relations, the perspectives offered by a Global History methodology are invaluable to my research and writing on oil and decolonization. It is impossible to understand the major questions faced by U.S. leaders without understanding the different contexts from which those questions arose. In my own work, it has been fascinating to see how ideas and policies crossed traditional boundaries through international institutions like the Arab League, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the United Nations. Opportunities abound in New York City, which is a wonderful place to conduct this sort of work for all sorts of reasons, but especially because of the proximity of crucial archives for understanding the place of the United States in the world.”
You can follow Prof. Chris Dietrich on Twitter @CRWDietrich
