Whitney Elizabeth Abernathy
Ph.D. Candidate in History, Boston College
abernatw@bc.edu
Office: Stokes Hall, S330-D
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467
EDUCATION
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA
Ph.D. Candidate (September 2013 – Present)
Academic Fields: Modern France, North Africa, Intellectual
GPA 4.0/4.0
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Master of Arts (May 2013, History)
Thesis Title: “Refashioning after the Split: Morocco and the Remaking of French
Christianity after the 1905 Law of Separation”
Committee: Denise Davidson (Chair), Jared Poley
Major Field: Modern France
Other Fields: Modern Middle East, Modern European Cultural History
The University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Bachelor of Arts (May 2009, History)
Senior Thesis Title: “Social Darwinism, Eugenics, and the American Imperialist
Project 1895-1905”
Chair: Pamela Voekel
AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Georgia State University
John M. Matthews Distinguished Thesis and Dissertation Award for the most outstanding
thesis produced in 2013 by a Master’s student.
Boston College
Edward T. Gargan Prize for the best paper given at the Western Society for French
History’s annual conference by a graduate student on post-1800 history.
Graduate Fellow, Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Graduate Research Assistant Fall 2013-Present
Dr. Thomas Dodman, Department of History, Boston College
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Fall 2012, Spring 2013
Dr. Hugh Hudson, Department of History, Georgia State University
HIST 1112 “World Civilizations Since 1500”
Graduate Research Assistant, Summer Semester, 2012
Dr. Carolyn Biltoft, Department of History, Georgia State University
Graduate Research Assistant, Spring Semester, 2012
Dr. Allen Fromherz, Department of History, Georgia State University
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Historical Association
Society for French Historical Studies
Society for the Study of French History
Southeast World History Association
Western Society for French History
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
-“Secular Christianity? Religious Paradox in Alexis de Tocqueville’s Attitudes Towards
French Algeria,” The Western Society for French History, San Antonio, Texas, November
13-15, 2014.
-“Alexis de Tocqueville: Secular Religion, Empire, and a Peculiarly French Sense of
Identity,” The Society for the Study of French History, Durham, UK, July 10-12, 2014.
-“Religion, Sexuality, and the Politics of Power: The French in Morocco 1900-1920”
Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois, November 9, 2013.
-“Religion, Sexuality, Power: The French in Morocco 1900-1920,” The Western Society
for French History, Atlanta, Georgia, October 24-27, 2013.
-“French Religious Identity and the Assertion of Power in Morocco 1900-1914,” The
University of Alabama Graduate History Association Conference, Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
March 1-2, 2013.
-“Religion, France, and Power in Morocco 1900-1920,” Duke University Department of
History Graduate Student Conference, Durham, North Carolina, February 15, 2013.
SERVICE
Volunteer, Southeast World History Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia,
October 2012.
LANGUAGES
French- Reading: Proficient, Writing: Basic, Speaking: Basic