Stearns, Peter N.
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Peter Nathaniel Stearns (born March 3, 1936) is a professor at George Mason University, where he was provost from January 1, 2000 to July 2014. Stearns was chair of the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University 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
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 high ...
. 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 {{US-historian-stub