Thomas Robisheaux, Fred W. Shaffer Professor and Bass Fellow

Please note: Thomas has left the "History" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

As an historian of early modern Europe Dr. Robisheaux has particular interests in social and cultural history, German-speaking Central Europe, Renaissance culture, religious reform, popular religion and culture, and microhistory. Author of The Last Witch of Langenburg and Rural Society and the Search for Order in Early Modern Germany, Lost Worlds, and many articles, he teaches courses on European history; Reformation Europe; Magic, Religion and Science; social and economic history; and religion and society in early modern Europe. He is currently writing a book on the craft of microhistory. He is a member of the Society for Reformation Research and the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference. As executive secretary of the Fruehe Neuzeit Interdisziplinaer (Conference Group in Early Modern German Studies) he co-organizes the trienniel conference in early modern studies at Duke University. He has created and directed a humanities laboratory at Duke University, a creative experiment in teaching about and promoting microhistory as a popular genre of history writing.   His recent interests explore the methods of microhistory and the ways microhistory can inform the arts and film.


Duke Magazine, "A Witch's Brew," July/August 2009

Contact Info:

Office Location:	202 Classroom Bldg, Durham, NC 27708-0719
Office Phone:	+1 919 684 3014
Email Address:

Teaching (Spring 2024):

• HISTORY 260.01, MAGIC/REL/SCI SINCE 1400 Synopsis

  Reuben-Coo 126, MW 03:05 PM-04:20 PM

  (also cross-listed as MEDREN 287.01, SCISOC 260.01)

• HISTORY 520S.01, MICROHISTORY Synopsis

  Allen 318, MW 04:40 PM-05:55 PM

  (also cross-listed as MEDREN 576S.01)

• HISTORY 190FS.02, TOPICS IN FOCUS PROGRAM Synopsis

  Class Bldg 101, MW 08:30 AM-09:45 AM

  (also cross-listed as MEDREN 190FS.03)

• HISTORY 257.01, RELIGION/REFORM/VIOLENCE Synopsis

  Friedl Bdg 107, MW 03:05 PM-04:20 PM

  (also cross-listed as MEDREN 281.01)

Office Hours:

Wednesdays 2:30 - 5:00 (202 Carr or the Perk)

Education:

Ph.D.	University of Virginia	1981
AB	Duke University	1974
B.A.	Duke University	1974

Specialties:

Medieval and Early Modern History
Politics, Public Life and Governance
Legal History
Cultural History
European and Russia
Global and Comparative

Research Interests:

As an historian of early modern Europe Dr. Robisheaux has particular interests in social and cultural history, German-speaking Central Europe, Renaissance culture, religious reform, popular religion and culture, and microhistory. Author of The Last Witch of Langenburg and Rural Society and the Search for Order in Early Modern Germany, Lost Worlds, and many articles, he teaches courses on European history; Reformation Europe; Magic, Religion and Science; social and economic history; and religion and society in early modern Europe. He is currently writing a book on the craft of microhistory. He is a member of the Society for Reformation Research and the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference. As executive secretary of the Fruehe Neuzeit Interdisziplinaer (Conference Group in Early Modern German Studies) he co-organizes the trienniel conference in early modern studies at Duke University.


Duke Magazine, "A Witch's Brew," July/August 2009

Keywords:

European History • History, 17th Century • Microhistory

Curriculum Vitae

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

• Ashley L. Elrod  
• Tricia M. Ross  
• Rochelle Rojas  
• Jennifer L. Welsh  

Postdocs Mentored

• Anke Fischer-Kattner (2013-2014)  
• Romedio Schmitz-Esser (2011 - present)  
• Dr. Markus Friedrich (2003-04)  

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Robisheaux, T, Microhistory and the historical imagination: New frontiers, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, vol. 47 no. 1 (January, 2017), pp. 1-6, Duke University Press [doi]
2. Robisheaux, T, Microhistory today: A roundtable discussion, edited by Robisheaux, T, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, vol. 47 no. 1 (January, 2017), pp. 7-52, Duke University Press [doi]
3. Robisheaux, T, The German Witch Trials, in The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft, edited by Levack, B (2013), Oxford University Press, ISBN 13: 9780199578160 [available here]
4. Robisheaux, T, L’ultima strega (2011) [scheda_opera.php]  [abs]
5. Robisheaux, T, Penance, Confession and the Self in Early Modern Lutheranism, in Ideas and Cultural Margins: Essays in Honor of H.C. Erik Midelfort, edited by Plummer, ME; Barnes, RB (2009), pp. 117-30, Aldershot