The Transimperial History Working Group brings together faculty, graduate students, and staff from across the university whose work examines empires, anti-imperial movements, and cross-border connections. Founded in Fall 2021, the group approaches transimperial history at the intersection of global history, empire studies, and postcolonial theory, tracing collaboration and conflict among imperial and anti-imperial actors and the movement of capital, ideas, goods, diseases, and people across imperial boundaries. We extend this approach by foregrounding understudied formations—such as the Habsburg, Spanish, and Japanese—while bringing new perspectives to well-studied empires, especially the British and U.S. We highlight transimperial movements in East-Central Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Scandinavia, with particular attention to non-state actors and transregional solidarities. Our members work across early modern and modern periods and multiple continents, developing shared methods for analyzing cross-imperial archives, multilingual sources, and entangled geographies. We meet every month to workshop works-in-progress, provide constructive feedback, and pursue interdepartmental collaboration through invited speakers and workshops.
We’re always looking for new members and eager to learn from you. To join, email Eloy Romero Blanco (edr40@pitt.edu) and José Antonio de Gracia Gergini (JOD172@pitt.edu)
Participants
From the University of Pittsburgh
Eloy Romero Blanco
José de Gracia Gergini
Michel Gobat
Gregor Thum
Pernille Rogue
Vicky Shen
Shuyang Shi
James Pickett
Angel Rojas
Michael Walters
From Other Institutions
Marisol Villela Balderrama (Trinity University, History of Art and Architecture)
Esteban Corella Ovares (University of Costa Rica)
Hyo Kung Woo (Texas A&M Commerce)
Arko Dasgupta (Carnegie Mellon University)
Hazal Corak (University of Chicago)
Pawel Lewicki (European University Viadrina)