Peter Nathaniel Stearns (born March 3, 1936) is a professor at
George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...
, where he was provost from January 1, 2000 to July 2014.
Stearns was chair of the Department of History at
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
and also served as the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (now named
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences
The Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences (Dietrich College) is the liberal and professional studies college and the second-largest academic unit by enrollment (after the Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering) at Ca ...
) at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, he founded and edited the ''
Journal of Social History
''The Journal of Social History'' was founded in 1967 and has been edited since then by Peter Stearns. The journal covers social history in all regions and time periods.
Articles in the journal frequently combine sociohistorical analysis between ...
''. While at Carnegie Mellon, he developed a pioneering approach to teaching
World History
World history may refer to:
* Human history, the history of human beings
* History of Earth, the history of planet Earth
* World history (field), a field of historical study that takes a global perspective
* ''World History'' (album), a 1998 albu ...
, and has contributed to the field as well through editing, and contributing to, the Routledge series, Themes in World History. He is also known for various work on the nature and impact of the industrial revolution and for exploration of new topics, particularly in the history of emotions.
He is active in historical groups such as the
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
, the
Society for French Historical Studies
The Society for French Historical Studies (SFHS) is, along with the Western Society for French History (WSFH), one of the two primary historical societies devoted to the study of French history headquartered in the United States.
The SFHS edits th ...
, the
Social Science History Association
The Social Science History Association, formed in 1976, brings together scholars from numerous disciplines interested in social history.
: Its statement of purpose is: "To bring together members of various disciplines (including economics, sociol ...
and the
International Society for Research on Emotion.
Early life
Peter Stearns was born in London, but of American parents (Raymond and Elizabeth) and was an American citizen at birth. He was raised in Urbana, Illinois and attended public grade school and then the University of Illinois High School. After graduating from Harvard College, summa cum laude, he had a traveling fellowship in Europe and then returned to complete his PhD at Harvard. He has four children and a stepson, and five grandchildren. He has held positions at the University of Chicago, Rutgers, Carnegie Mellon, and now George Mason.
Education and career
He attended
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
and later received his Ph.D. from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. In his prolific career as an author and editor, he has written or edited over 135 different books. Stearns served as founding chair of the
Advanced Placement World History
Advanced Placement (AP) World History: Modern (also known as just AP World History, AP World, or WHAP) is a college-level course and examination offered to high school students in the United States through the College Board's Advanced Placement ...
committee and as Vice President for Teaching of the
American Historical Association
The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
.
[Stearns, Peter. ''Teaching Consumerism in World History''. AP Central. Retrieved 2012-2-25.]
Works
His books include:
* ''1848: The Revolutionary Tide in Europe'', Norton, 1974
* ''American Behavioral History''
*
*
*
* ''Battleground of Desire''
*
*
* ''Cultural Change in Modern World History''
* ''Cultures in Motion''
* ''Debating the Industrial Revolution'' (2015)
* ''Documents in World History''
* ''Emotion and Social Change''
* ''Encyclopedia of European Social History''
* ''
The Encyclopedia of World History
''The Encyclopedia of World History'' is a classic single-volume work detailing world history. The first through fifth editions were edited by William L. Langer.
The Sixth Edition contained over 20,000 entries and was overseen by Peter N. Ste ...
''
*
*
* ''Global Outrage''
*
*
* ''Guiding the American University: Challenges and Choices'' (2015)
* ''History of Shame'' (2017)
* Time in World History (2019)
*
*
* ''Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History: National and International Perspectives''
* ''Lives of Labour: Work in a Maturing Industrial Society'' (1975)
*
*
*
*
* ''The Industrial Turn in World History'' (2016)
* ''The Revolutions of 1848'' (1974)
* ''Tolerance in World History''
*
* ''World Civilizations''
* ''World History in Brief''
* ''World History: Patterns of Change and Continuity''
See also
*
List of Carnegie Mellon University people
This is a list of notable people associated with Carnegie Mellon University in the United States of America.
Notable students and alumni
Nobel laureates
Turing Award recipients
Wolf Prize recipients
*Raoul Bott (Ph.D. 1949), Wolf Prize in Ma ...
*
List of Harvard University people
The list of Harvard University people includes notable graduates, professors, and administrators affiliated with Harvard University. For a list of notable non-graduates of Harvard, see notable non-graduate alumni of Harvard. For a list of Harva ...
*
List of historians
This is a list of historians only for those with a biographical entry in Wikipedia. Major chroniclers and annalists are included. Names are listed by the person's historical period. The entries continue with the specializations, not nationality.
...
*
List of people from Virginia
Notes
References
Chair, AP World History Development Committee
Place of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
Carnegie Mellon University faculty
George Mason University faculty
Harvard College alumni
Historians of Africa
Historians of Europe
Living people
Social historians
1936 births
Canadian Knights Bachelor
American male non-fiction writers
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