James published "The Fresnel Affair: Manufacturing, Technology Transfer, Republicanism, and the United States' Adoption of the Fresnel Lighthouse Lens, 1819-1852" in The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord 28, issue 4 (Autumn 2018).
James Risk
Ph.D. CandidateDepartment of HistoryUniversity of South Carolina
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Research Fellow
Coastal Identities: Science, Technology, Commerce, and the State in American Seaports, 1790 - 1860
As the most prominent American cities in the early republic, seaports were the loci for the intersection of science, the state, and commerce and the pivotal link in the development of each. Political leaders interested in the development of commerce established federal jurisdiction over coastal navigation through legislative acts and the appointment of scientific men such as Alexander Dallas Bache and George Gordon Meade to map the coast and improve port infrastructure. Scientific and technological experiments performed by these men at the state’s behest promoted commercial expansion through port safety and efficiency and the sale of their science as commercial objects. With the aide of the state and local commercial leaders, American seaports became scientific and technological laboratories at the forefront of producing knowledge in the fields of astronomy, climatology, communications, engineering, luminosity, oceanography, and surveying.
Updates
James Risk
James Risk
James has an article forthcoming: "Seven Flags over the Cooper: James M. Elford and the Quest for a Universal Maritime Signal Code," in South Carolina Historical Magazine.
James Risk
has accepted a one-year teaching appointment at the University of South Carolina for the 2017-18 academic year. He recently presented his research in a public lecture at the National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island, NY, and will present his research at the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Conference in Philadelphia in October.
James Risk
James Risk recently completed his Ph.D. in history of science and technology at University of South Carolina. James will continue teaching at his alma mater, and is presenting his work at the North American Society for Oceanic History; the National Lighthouse Museum; and the Society for the History of Technology.
James Risk
Risk was recently awarded the John A. and Annie Rice Excellence in Teaching Award by the Department of History of the University of South Carolina. Risk also won a Pam Laird Research Grant from the Mercurians, a Special Interest Group of the Society for the History of Technology, a Clyde Ferrell Summer Dissertation Research Fellowship from the Department of History of the University of South Carolina, and a Richard A. Bacas Scholarship from the George Mason University Institute for Humane Studies.