Derek R. Peterson
{{short description|American historian}}
Derek R. Peterson (born May 13, 1971) is an American historian specializing in the cultural history of East Africa. He is currently a professor of history and African studies at the University of Michigan.{{Cite web|url=https://lsa.umich.edu/daas/people/core-faculty/drpeters.html|title=Derek Peterson|website=U-M LSA Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS)|publisher=University of Michigan|language=en|access-date=2017-12-22}}
He was the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" in 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/996/|title=MacArthur Fellows Program – Derek Peterson|publisher=MacArthur Foundation|language=en|access-date=2017-12-22}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/10/11/academics-among-%E2%80%98genius%E2%80%99-grant-winners|title=Academics Among 'Genius' Grant Winners|last=Jaschik|first=Scott|date=2017-10-11|work=Inside Higher Ed|access-date=2017-12-22}}{{Cite news|url=http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/10/11/two-university-of-michigan-professors-awarded-macarthur-foundation-genius-grants/|title=Two University Of Michigan Professors Awarded MacArthur Foundation 'Genius Grants'|date=2017-10-11|work=CBS Detroit|access-date=2017-12-22|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/10/university_of_michigan_profess_30.html|title=University of Michigan professors earn $625K MacArthur 'genius grants'|date=2017-10-11|work=MLive.com|access-date=2017-12-22|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.michigandaily.com/section/news-briefs/two-university-professors-awarded-2017-macarthur-genius-grants|title=University professors awarded 2017 MacArthur genius grants|last=Hiyama|first=Andrew|date=2017-10-11|work=The Michigan Daily|access-date=2017-12-22|language=en}}
Education and career
Born May 13, 1971, Peterson is from Maine, New York and attended Maine–Endwell High School.{{Cite news|url=http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2017/10/11/m-e-grad-derek-peterson-named-macarthur-genius-award-winner/755725001/|title=M-E grad Derek Peterson named MacArthur Genius Award winner|last=Sullivan|first=Katie|date=2017-10-11|work=Pressconnects|access-date=2017-12-22|language=en}} He studied history and political science at the University of Rochester, graduating in 1993. His interest in African studies was sparked by a trip to Kenya in his sophomore year, and at Rochester he studied under African scholars Elias Mandala and Sam Nolutshungu. After graduating, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to study in Kenya for a year. He then went on to the University of Minnesota, studying with Allen Isaacman, and obtained his PhD in 2000.{{Cite news|url=http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/university-alumnus-wins-macarthur-genius-grant/|title=University alumnus wins MacArthur 'genius grant'|last=Knispel|first=Sandra|date=2017-10-11|work=NewsCenter|access-date=2017-12-22|publisher=University of Rochester|language=en-US}}
Peterson taught at the College of New Jersey between 2000 and 2004. Between 2004 and 2009 he was the director of Centre for African Studies at the University of Cambridge,{{Cite news|url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/revitalising-research-in-africa|title=Revitalising research in Africa|date=2007-09-01|work=Research News|access-date=2017-12-22|publisher=University of Cambridge|language=en}} where he edited a series of monographs on African studies,{{Cite web|url=http://www.ohioswallow.com/series/Cambridge+Centre+of+African+Studies+Series|title=Cambridge Centre of African Studies Series|website=Ohio University Press|language=en|access-date=2017-12-22}} and initiated an academic exchange programme between Cambridge and universities in Africa. He took a position at the University of Michigan in 2009, joining its newly founded African Studies Center (ASC).
Peterson has been a visiting fellow at the University of Notre Dame's Kellogg Institute,{{Cite web|url=https://kellogg.nd.edu/people/derek-peterson|title=Derek Peterson|website=Kellogg Institute For International Studies|publisher=University of Notre Dame|language=en|access-date=2017-12-22}} was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 2016,{{Cite web|url=https://www.britac.ac.uk/users/professor-derek-peterson|title=Professor Derek Peterson|publisher=British Academy|language=en|access-date=2017-12-22}} and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/derek-r-peterson/|title=Derek R. Peterson|publisher=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation|access-date=2017-12-22}} He won the African Studies Association's 2013 Hersokovits Prize for his book Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival.{{Cite web|url=http://www.africanstudies.org/news/101-about-asa/board-of-directors/762-derek-r-peterson|title=Derek R. Peterson|date=2017-01-03|publisher=African Studies Association|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-12-22}}
Selected publications
=Monographs=
- {{Cite book|last=Peterson|first=Derek R.|author-mask=0|title=Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival: A History of Dissent|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2012}}
- {{Cite book|last=Peterson|first=Derek R.|author-mask=0|title=Creative Writing: Translation, Bookkeeping, and the Work of Imagination in Colonial Kenya|publisher=Heinemann|year=2004}}
=Edited volumes=
- {{Cite book|editor-last=Peterson|editor-first=Derek R.|editor2-last=Hunter|editor2-first=Emma|editor3-last=Newell|editor3-first=Stephanie|title=African Print Cultures: Newspapers and their Publics in Modern Africa|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=2016}}
- {{Cite book|editor-last=Peterson|editor-first=Derek R.|editor2-last=Gavua|editor2-first=Kodzo|editor3-last=Rassool|editor3-first=Ciraj|editor-mask=1|title=The Politics of Heritage in Africa: Economies, Histories, and Infrastructures|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2015}}
- {{Cite book|editor-last=Peterson|editor-first=Derek R.|editor-mask=1|title=Abolitionism and Imperialism in Britain, Africa and the Atlantic|publisher=Ohio University Press|year=2010}}
- {{Cite book|editor-last=Peterson|editor-first=Derek R.|editor2-last=Macola|editor2-first=Giacomo|editor-mask=1|title=Recasting the Past: History-Writing and Political Work in Modern Africa|publisher=Ohio University Press|year=2009}}
- {{Cite book|editor-last=Peterson|editor-first=Derek R.|editor2-last=Wolhof|editor2-first=Darren|editor-mask=1|title=The Invention of Religion: Rethinking Belief in Politics and History|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=2002}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://derekrpeterson.com/ Personal website]
- [https://experts.umich.edu/en/persons/derek-r-peterson Lists of research output] from the University of Michigan
- [https://soundcloud.com/aha-historians/ahr-author-derek-peterson-on-the-colonial-experience-in-eastern-africa Interview] with the American Historical Review
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Derek}}
Category:21st-century American historians
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:People from Broome County, New York
Category:University of Rochester alumni
Category:University of Minnesota alumni
Category:The College of New Jersey faculty
Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge
Category:Fellows of Selwyn College, Cambridge
Category:University of Michigan faculty
Category:Corresponding fellows of the British Academy