Gerber, Matthew Dean

Research

research overview

Dr. Gerber's research is focused on the role of law and litigious practice in the social and political development of early modern Europe and its overseas colonies. His first book, 'Bastards: Politics, Family, and Law in Early Modern France' (Oxford University Press, 2012), explores the changing legal condition and practical treatment of children born out of wedlock in France between 1555 and 1789. His second book project is investing the history of property, kinship, and racialization in the eighteenth-century French Caribbean through a microhistory of litigation involving Angélique Hossé, mother of the Haitian revolutionary leaer Vincent Ogé.

keywords

social history, cultural history, political history, legal history, early modern Europe, early modern France, bastardy, illegitimacy, violence, terror, colonialism, race, early modern France, French colonial history

Publications

selected publications

book
- Voices in the Legal Archives in the French Colonial World The King Is Listening 2020
- Bastards: Politics, Family, and Law in Early Modern France 2012
chapter
- "Between Property and Person: The Ambiguous Status of Slaves in Eighteenth-century Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint-Domingue". Ed. Gerber, Matthew Dean. 173-192. 2021
- "Introduction: 'The King is Listening' - Toward a Social and Political History of Legal Pluralism in the Early Modern French Empire". Ed. Gerber, Matthew Dean. 1-60. 2021
- On the Contested Margins of the Family: Bastardy and Legitimation by Royal Rescript in Eighteenth-Century France. 223-264. 2010
journal article
- « Un esclave peut-il faire une polémique au XVIIIe siècle? ». 169-192. 2024
- "Race, empiétement de propriété et compétence juridictionnelle dans le monde atlantique français du XVIIIe siècle : l’affaire de la veuve Ogé". Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine. 91-116. 2021
- Bastardy, Race, and Law in the Eighteenth-Century French Atlantic: The Evidence of Litigation. French Historical Studies. 571-600. 2013
- Family, the State, and Law in Early Modern and Revolutionary France. History Compass. 474-499. 2009

editor of

chapter
- "Between Property and Person: The Ambiguous Status of Slaves in Eighteenth-century Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint-Domingue". 173-192. 2021
- "Introduction: 'The King is Listening' - Toward a Social and Political History of Legal Pluralism in the Early Modern French Empire". 1-60. 2021

Teaching

courses taught

HIST 1012 - Empire, Revolution and Global War: European History Since 1600
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Fall 2018 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2021 / Spring 2023 / Fall 2023 / Fall 2024
Examines the history of modern Europe from 1600. Topics may include religious conflict, absolutism, the Scientific Revolution, the global impact of European colonialism and imperialism, the Enlightenment, the French and Industrial Revolutions, and the emergence of romanticism, nationalism, liberalism, socialism and modernism. Concludes by analyzing World War I and II, communist and fascist totalitarianisms, decolonization and the Cold War. Formerly HIST 1020
HIST 2100 - Revolution in History
Primary Instructor - Summer 2023
Examines the causes, character, and significance of political revolution in world history. Concentrating on one of the major revolutions of modern history, it examines why revolutions occur, who participates in revolution, and to what effect. Specific course focus varies.
HIST 3110 - Honors Seminar
Primary Instructor - Fall 2022
Practical historiography for students who wish to write a senior honors thesis. Emphasizes choice of topic, critical methods, research, organization, argumentation, and writing. Recommended restriction: History GPA of 3.5 or higher. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
HIST 3120 - Honors Thesis
Primary Instructor - Spring 2022 / Fall 2022 / Spring 2023
Intended for students writing an Honors Thesis in History. Department enforced prerequisite: HIST 3110 and instructor consent.
HIST 3212 - Seminar in Early Modern Europe
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2020 / Spring 2022 / Fall 2024
Capstone seminars are designed for advanced history majors to pull together the skills they have honed in previous courses. This seminar focuses on early modern European history, and will include readings and discussions in a small seminar setting. In relation to the course topic, students will develop an individual research project and write a substantial and original paper based on primary sources. Recommended restriction: History GPA of 2.0 or higher.

HIST 4212 - The Age of Religious Wars: Reformation Europe,1500-1648
Primary Instructor - Spring 2019 / Spring 2024
Traces the history of Europe from the end of the Hundred Years War through the Thirty Years War. During this period Europe experienced tremendous changes including emerging religious heresies, the advent of the Spanish Inquisition, violent civil wars, the witch craze, and the Thirty Years War, a precursor to the World Wars of the 20th century. Recommended prerequisite: HIST 1011 or HIST 1113.

HIST 4222 - War and the European State, 1618-1793
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021 / Summer 2024
Studies the development of the European states in response to international power struggles in the 17th and 18th centuries (up to the French Revolution). Same as HIST 5222.

HIST 4223 - The French Revolution and Napoleon
Primary Instructor - Summer 2018 / Spring 2019 / Summer 2019 / Summer 2021 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Traces the origins, course, and consequences of the most important modern revolution, the French Revolution of 1789. While seeking to explain how a liberal movement for progressive change soon degenerated into the factional bloodbath of the Terror, will also examine the revolution's global impact and how three decades or revolutionary warfare lead to the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. Same as HIST 5223.

HIST 4232 - From Absolutism to Revolution in Europe, 1648-1789
Primary Instructor - Fall 2023
Studies the history of Europe from the end of the Thirty Years War through the outbreak of the French Revolution. Central themes include the establishment of more centralized, increasingly bureaucratic states; global expansion and economic commercialization; cultural developments such as the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. Recommended prerequisite: HIST 1012 or HIST 1123.

HIST 5012 - Graduate Colloquium in European History
Primary Instructor - Fall 2022
Acquaints students with key works in the literature of European history, and addresses matters of method and interpretation. May be repeated up to 12 total credit hours. Department enforced requisite: admission to the graduate program in history.

HIST 5223 - The French Revolution and Napoleon
Primary Instructor - Spring 2022
Traces the origins, course, and consequences of the most important modern revolution, the French Revolution of 1789. While seeking to explain how a liberal movement for progressive change soon degenerated into the factional bloodbath of the Terror, will also examine the revolution's global impact and how three decades or revolutionary warfare lead to the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. Same as HIST 4223.

HIST 6800 - Readings in Global History
Primary Instructor - Spring 2021
Explores various topics, regions, and methods in history and historical writing by utilizing a global/thematic approach. Geared toward graduate students in History, but students from other disciplines with graduate standing may enroll with instructor consent. Topic and content of course will vary depending on instructor. May be repeated up 12 total credit hours.

HIST 6950 - Master's Thesis
Primary Instructor - Fall 2021 / Spring 2022
Registration intended for students working on a master's thesis.

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Background

education and training

Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley 2004
M.A., University of California-Berkeley 1996
B.A., Yale University 1991

awards and honors

Fellowships for University Teachers, conferred by National Endowment for the Humanities, 2014

VIVO

Positions

Research Areas

Research

research overview

keywords

Publications

selected publications

book

chapter

journal article

editor of

chapter

Teaching

courses taught

Background

education and training

awards and honors

International Activities

geographic focus

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