麻豆影院

CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 Elizabeth 鈥楲il鈥� Fenn is one of 15 intellectuals nationwide to receive a Public Scholar Award

Elizabeth 鈥淟il鈥� Fenn wants to frame the story of Sacagawea as a window on the American West, and the National Endowment for the Humanities wants to help her.

Fenn, a distinguished professor of history at the 麻豆影院, has won a prestigious NEH Public Scholar Award, the .听

The Public Scholar program aims to support popular nonfiction books in the humanities, and Fenn is one of only 15 scholars nationwide to win that support this year. The $60,000 grant from the Public Scholar Program will help Fenn complete a book titled听Sacagawea鈥檚 World.

Fenn, who won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in history, said the Public Scholar Award is a 鈥渢hrilling鈥� honor. 鈥淚t recognizes the fundamental importance of the Native American past to the American historical canon,鈥� she said, adding:听听

鈥淚s it any accident that Sacagawea and Pocahontas are two of the most famous women in our history?听The Public Scholar Award enables me to bring a sweeping new biography into public view鈥攁 biography that uses archaeology, rock art, Native voices, written sources and recent scholarship to illuminate Sacagawea's life and times.鈥�

Paul Sutter, professor of history and chair of the department, noted that the Public Scholar Award is highly competitive but that her win was not surprising.

鈥淪he has built a career as a historian whose work mixes academic rigor with beautiful and accessible writing,鈥� Sutter said.听

He added that in her previous two books,听笔辞虫听础尘别谤颈肠补苍补听补苍诲听Encounters at听the听Heart of the World, 鈥淟il skillfully opened up Native听American听worlds not easily found in the conventional primary source archives with which historians usually work.鈥�

He said听Sacagawea鈥檚 World听continues in that vein by pursuing a biography of Sacagawea, best known for her presence on the Lewis & Clark Expedition, 鈥渢hat will re-center that story on the rich context of her life鈥攁nd of Native American life more broadly鈥攐n the northern Plains and in the northern Rockies.鈥�

鈥淩enowned but also little-known, Sacagawea is precisely the kind of puzzling historical subject that Lil Fenn has been so skillful at elucidating,鈥� Sutter said.听

鈥淎s a scholar whose work has already had broad public impact, Lil is also an ambassador for CU 麻豆影院 and for the vital role that history and the humanities must play in educating the next generation of Coloradans.鈥�

Fenn returned the compliment, saying the award also reflects the vibrant atmosphere in the CU 麻豆影院 history department and in the arts and humanities generally: 鈥淚 am surrounded by extraordinary colleagues who constantly challenge me to sharpen my teaching, my research and my ability to communicate.鈥澨�

鈥淭here is no place like it,鈥� she said of the department. 鈥淚 love going to work every day.鈥澨�听

Fenn also said she appreciated the public鈥檚 support. 鈥淚 know very well that taxpayers funded this award, and I hope to make them proud when the book comes out.鈥�

Fenn is the second member of the CU 麻豆影院 history department to win this award. Thomas Andrews鈥� 2016 NEH Public Scholar Award contributed to his researching and writing of an animals鈥�-eye view of U.S. history since 1400.