Robert Spaulding

Professor Spaulding is a scholar of German, European, and global political economy who studied at the University of Rochester (B.A.), the Universität zu Köln, and Harvard University (M.A., Ph.D.)

Spaulding’s book Osthandel and Ostpolitik (Berghahn, 1997) was a finalist for the AHA's prize for European International History. His articles and essays have appeared in Agricultural History, Central European History, Diplomatic History, International Organization, the Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte and in numerous edited volumes. He is a regular reviewer for H-Diplo and Central European History. He is currently completing a book for undergraduates on global history: From Port to Port: Global History from Ancient Times to 1650 as told by the World’s Great Port Cities (Cognella, forthcoming).

Spaulding’s research has been supported by the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD), the Ford Foundation, the International Research and Exchange Commission (IREX), the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, the Council for European Studies, the American Philosophical Society, and the Pope Foundation.

Before coming to UNCW, Professor Spaulding was a Teaching Fellow in History at Harvard and a Lecturer in History at Boston College. He held post-doctoral fellowships at the Center for International Studies and at the Center for European Studies at Harvard. In 2004 he was a Visiting Professor at Peking University in Beijing, China.

Spaulding is currently a Principal Organizer of UNCW’s Research Community in International Trade and Exchange (RCITE).

Education

B. A. History University of Rochester
Universität zu Köln
M. A. History Harvard University
Ph.D. History Harvard University

Specialization in Teaching

most regularly taught:
Europe in the World to 1650
Germany 1890-present
Seminar: Explorations in Global Trade

Research Interests

Germany, all periods
the evolution of German, European, and global political economy
history of global trade
the origins of international organizations

Honors & Awards

“Exemplary” Post-tenure review, 2019
“Exemplary” Post-tenure review, 2014
UNCW Discere Aude Award for undergraduate mentoring, 2012
“Exemplary” Post-tenure review, 2007
Elected by UNCW undergraduate students as faculty speaker for Fall 2007 Freshman Convocation.
Selected by students to join Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society (1 UNCW faculty member elected each year by a 2/3 vote of those students who achieved a GPA above 3.6 in their freshman year), October 2006.
Nominated for Distinguished Teaching Professorship Award, 2006
Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award, 2005
Nominated for Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2005
“Exemplary” Post-tenure review, 2002
One of three “outstanding” advisors for undergrads in Student Academic Support Programs, 1997-98
My 1997 book, Osthandel and Ostpolitik was a finalist for the American Historical Association's prize for best book in European international history.