May 18, 2021
Scholar Power: Dr. Margaret Manchester ’83G
My goal as a historian and an instructor is to enable students to see the many ways in which historical, economic, and cultural forces shape the world in which we live.
Dr. Margaret Manchester ’83G
TITLE: Associate professor of history and of women’s and gender studies
HIGHEST DEGREE ATTAINED: Ph.D., Clark University
AREAS OF EXPERTISE: American women; Cold War; American diplomatic history
NEWSWORTHY: Manchester, whose family fled to western Europe during the Hungarian revolution when she was a toddler, is shifting her research from examining a Cold War spy case involving an American businessman in Hungary. She now is studying the ways in which American multinational corporations and business associations, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, contributed to the formulation of America’s Cold War policies.
She also received a 2020 Marion and Jasper Whiting Fellowship for her project, Peace and Reconciliation in the Middle East. With the funds, she will travel to religious and historic sites, including war memorials, cemeteries, and other monuments, in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, and Egypt. She also will meet with local philanthropic organizations promoting interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural understanding to develop a Maymester course for PC students. The course will explore war and collective memory, living history, and peace and reconciliation efforts in the modern Middle East.
TRIPS OVERSEAS WITH STUDENTS: Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Japan (three times)
HOBBIES: Travel, gardening, golf, tennis, biking
YEARS AT PC: 26
