Ari Kelman (born 1968) is Chancellor’s Leadership Professor of History at

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. Until 2016, he was the McCabe Greer Professor of History at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. His fields of specialization are the U.S. Civil War,

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, Native American, and

environmental history Environmental history is the study of Human impact on the environment, human interaction with the natural world over time, emphasising the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs and vice versa. Environmental history first emerged ...

. Kelman's book, '' A Misplaced Massacre,'' won the 2014

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, d ...

, Avery O. Craven Award, Tom Watson Brown Book Award, and Robert M. Utley Prize.

Education

Kelman received his Bachelor of Arts in history from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 1991. He completed his graduate and doctoral work in history at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, receiving a Master of Arts in 1993 and a Ph.D. in 1998.

Books

Kelman's first book, ''A River and Its City'' (

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 2003; paperback 2006), is an

of the city of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, especially focusing on the city's uneasy relationship with the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. ''A River and Its City'' won the 2004 Abbott Lowell Cummings Prize, awarded annually "to the publication that has made the most significant contribution to the study of

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture (also folk architecture) is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. It is not a particular architectural movement or style but rather a broad category, encompassing a wide range a ...

and cultural landscapes of North America." His second book, ''A Misplaced Massacre'' (Harvard University Press, 2013), explores the struggles over how the notorious

Sand Creek massacre The Sand Creek massacre (also known as the Chivington massacre, the battle of Sand Creek or the massacre of Cheyenne Indians) was a massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army in the American Indian Genocide that occurred on No ...

of 1864 should be remembered, beginning in the immediate aftermath of the violence and continuing through the opening of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Through archival research and oral history interviews, Kelman documents how

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

employees, local landowners, and descendants of victims of the Sand Creek massacre worked together to develop an appropriate memorial for the historic site. ''A Misplaced Massacre'' has been reviewed extensively. The title of the work was derived from Kelman's own realization that the descendants' claim for the location of the massacre, rather than himself, were correct. This was the result of a river having moved over the course of roughly 150 years. His most recent book, with artist Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, is a non-fiction

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

entitled ''Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War'' (

Hill & Wang Hill & Wang is an American book publishing company focused on American history, world history, and politics. It is a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Hill & Wang was founded as an independent publishing house in 1956 by Arthur Wang (1917/1 ...

, 2015).

Other work

During and after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

, Kelman wrote articles describing New Orleans' environmental history for such popular media outlets as ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'', and ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

''. From 2005-2007, Kelman was senior creative consultant for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series,

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

: New Orleans. He is a regular contributor to ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. Kelman also co-founded the award-winning blog The Edge of the American West.

References

External links

UC Davis websitePersonal website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelman, Ari Living people University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Brown University alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty University of California, Davis faculty Bancroft Prize winners 1968 births