Princeton historian to speak TONIGHT on 'the age of fracture' 

A prominent historian and professor emeritus from Princeton University will address how “fracture” within modern America is transforming ideas and society during a two-day visit to Elon, including congratulatory remarks at the annual Phi Beta Kappa induction and a public lecture on Tuesday, March 28. 

​​Dan Rodgers, the Henry Charles Lea Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University, is a historian of American culture and ideas who penned the Bancroft Prize-winning book titled, “Age of Fracture: The Transformation of Ideas and Society in Modern America.” His lecture Tuesday night, to begin at 5 p.m. in the LaRose Digitial Theatre in the Koury Business Center, carries the same title as his award-winning book. 

“Fracture” now seems everywhere in our contemporary United States:  in social relations, partisan politics, growing economic inequalities, and enduring culture “wars.” But the “fracture” of our times began in the realm of ideas, as larger ideas of society, economy, selves, and political culture shattered into smaller, more individualistic ones. The phenomenon, which occurred on both the political right and the political left, shapes the world we live in. 

As part of his visit, Rodgers will deliver remarks to Elon’s newest cohort of inductees into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest honor society for the liberal arts and sciences in the country, during an induction ceremony Monday night. Peter Felten, assistant provost and executive director for the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon, will deliver the keynote address during the ceremony. 

Rodgers earned his Ph.D. in history from Yale University after graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University. He is the author of four prize-winning books, including “The Work Ethic in Industrial America, 1850-1920,” “Contested Truths: Keywords in American Politics,” and “Atlantic Crossings: Social Politics in a Progressive Age,” a pioneering work in the emerging field of transnational history.  

“Age of Fracture” is Rodgers’ most recent book and offers a history of social ideas and arguments in the United States in the last quarter of the 20th century. His articles run the gamut from American exceptionalism to the career of “republicanism” to the 2000 presidential election. His current book project is a “biography” of John Winthrop’s “Model of Christian Charity” and the “city on a hill” phrase it contained.

After nine years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1971 to 1980, Rodgers joined Princeton in 1980 and taught at the Ivy League school until 2013. His courses and seminars included American cultural history from the 17th through the 21st centuries, the history of work and poverty in America and U.S. history in transnational perspectives. He was the co-initiator of Princeton’s introductory course in U.S. history which introduces students to historical analysis through in-depth exploration of problems and sources. He has been a Fulbright lecturer in Germany and Japan and the Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at Cambridge University. He is a recipient of the University of Wisconsin’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Princeton University’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Rodgers has held fellowships from the NEH, the ACLS, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and has served as a member of the editorial boards of the American Historical Review and the Journal of American History. He was chair of the History Department at Princeton from 1988 to 1995 and director of its Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies from 2008 to 2012.  He is the recipient of Princeton University’s Behrman Award for distinguished achievement and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Rodgers is also an active chamber musician and cellist.