Professor of Massachusetts-based Holy Cross College has brought laurels to the school by winning Bentley Book Prize.
Lorelle Semley, an associate professor of history, won the prize for her book, “To be Free and French: Citizenship in France’s Atlantic Empire.” The prestigious prize is given by the World History Association for making outstanding contributions to the field of world history.
The book explores what the citizenship means for French colonial subjects of African descent and has been described by a reviewer as a “staple of reading lists for years to come.”
“Semley’s research is both interdisciplinary and path-breaking, as she continues to make major contributions to the histories of Africa, the African Diaspora, and the Atlantic World, as well as to women’s and gender history, urban history, race and empire,” the college release said.
Semley, a member of the Peace and Conflict Studies and director of Africana Studies, has also been recognized by the American Council of Learned Societies. She has been awarded the Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship providing a stipend and research budget of more than $100,000. The award will be used to fund her project on “Bordeaux, Forgotten Black Metropolis.”
Earlier this year, she was also the recipient of college’s Marfuggi Award for Outstanding Scholarship.