Oklahoma State University Professor Receives NEH Grant for Research on the First Plague Pandemic

Strategic Insights -

Oklahoma State University assistant professor of history, Dr. Merle Eisenberg, has received a nearly $250,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Collaboration grant to conduct research on the First Plague Pandemic with Dr. Lee Mordechai of Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The project aims to produce a book exploring the societal, cultural, and environmental effects of the pandemic on local communities from Ireland to the Middle East, and how it influenced the narrative of historical change. Eisenberg and Mordechai will use the grant to expand on their eight years of collaborative work on the First Plague Pandemic, which took place between about 541-750 CE, and examine how people at the time thought about disease and how their pandemic experience shaped their views of the world afterward.

Key Takeaways:

  • Dr. Merle Eisenberg and Dr. Lee Mordechai received a nearly $250,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Collaboration grant for research on the First Plague Pandemic.
  • The project will produce a book titled "Pandemic and History: Disease, Myth, and the End of Antiquity" that explores the societal, cultural, and environmental effects of the pandemic on local communities from Ireland to the Middle East.
  • The First Plague Pandemic is believed to have taken place between about 541-750 CE and has long been thought to cause the collapse of empires, but the researchers aim to examine the varied impact of the pandemic and the resilience of local communities.
  • The grant will allow the researchers to meet multiple times over three years to write the book and plan workshops with leading scholars of disease, the environment, and late ancient history at OSU.
  • The researchers will examine the role of colonial administrators at the turn of the 20th century in constructing the catastrophic narrative of the First Plague Pandemic and its impact on modern and contemporary responses to recent pandemics, including COVID-19.
  • The book will also explore how people at the time thought about disease and how their pandemic experience shaped their views of the world afterward.

Statistics:

  • The NEH grant is worth nearly $250,000.
  • The United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation grant is worth $180,000.
  • The First Plague Pandemic took place between about 541-750 CE.
  • The pandemic is believed to have caused the collapse of empires.
  • The researchers aim to examine the varied impact of the pandemic and the resilience of local communities.
  • The book will explore how people at the time thought about disease and how their pandemic experience shaped their views of the world afterward.

Sources:

  • News article on Oklahoma State University's website
  • National Endowment for the Humanities
  • Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation
  • Oklahoma State University Department of History