HWS News
24 September 2019 • Faculty Crow on Thomas Jefferson and Why History Matters
This month, Associate Professor of History Matthew Crow discussed the utility of history in contemporary life detailed in his book, Thomas Jefferson, Legal History, and the Art of Recollection (2017) on the New Books Network.
Crow's teaching and research explores colonial and revolutionary U.S. history and American intellectual history, with an emphasis on the intersections of the countrys legal, political and cultural roots. In the interview, he reflects on Jefferson's role in shaping American identity, and the practical political, legal and ethical questions that history can help lawmakers and citizens answer today.
The New Books Network describes itself as a consortium of author-interview podcast channels dedicated to raising the level of public discourse by introducing scholars and other serious writers to a wide public via new media.
Crow joined the HWS faculty in 2012. He holds a B.A. from University of California, San Diego and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has been a research fellow at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, the Huntington Library and other organizations, and is currently the faculty athletic fellow forthe Hobart crew team.
Crow's scholarship has appeared in a number of journals. His current book project explores the work of Herman Melville, the intellectual history of maritime law, and the problem that discretionary justice poses to democratic thought and politics.