Chaos and clamor resist our analytical grasp. They invoke a liminality that can be disruptive of, and also a provocation to, stability and order. Yet their outcomes are seldom predictable. It is precisely as threshold moments that they acquire their historical charge. Chaos and clamor, a public outcry or protestation, brings into focus the challenge of historical change: the often unexpected manner in which seemingly stable political and social orders can be suddenly made, unmade, and re-made. This theme invites us to offer new inflections on long-standing debates about the nature of history itself, the relative weight of individual and collective actions, of discrete events and moments, and of longer-term historical trends. This semester we explore the disorganization that propels history and our approach towards it.

Panelists:

• Howard Brick (Louis Evans Chair in US History, University of Michigan)
• Katherine French (J. Frederick Hoffman Professor of History, University of Michigan)
• Ellen Muehlberger (Professor of History and Middle East Studies, University of Michigan)
• Mrinalini Sinha, chair (Alice Freeman Palmer Professor of History, University of Michigan)

Note: This event was rescheduled from September 11 to October 23.