Carol Quillen President Emerita | Professor of History

Born in New York, I grew up in Delaware and attended Quaker school before heading to college, where I (eventually) chose to study US history to prepare for what I thought would be a career in law. Once there, thanks to challenging professors, one extraordinary mentor and the relentless intellectual ferment characteristic of the University of Chicago, I discovered how liberating learning can be and how crucial honest, unfettered inquiry is for any democratic, pluralistic society.

My intellectual interests revolve around European humanism—from its emergence in the fourteenth century as a movement to recover classical Greek and Roman texts through its role in grounding political theories that focus on inherent human attributes (reason, free will)  to its rejection in many strands of 20thcentury thought. The people I study ask, what does it mean to be a human being, and how do we live ethically with others who are equally human and very different from us? How can we make claims about the rights of all people everywhere without presuming that all people everywhere are just like us?

As Davidson’s president, my (limited) writing addressed broader issues in education and public policy. I found that my scholarly interests informed my thinking even about issues that seem far removed from humanism. Understanding the relevance of my own education to current, urgent challenges deepens my gratitude to the Davidson community and the mission fulfilled here.

I love teaching and am excited to help students pursue the questions that are most important to them. Before coming to Davidson, I taught courses focused on early modern Europe, US women’s history, historiography, and critical and feminist theory as well as first year seminars. At Davidson, I’ve taught in the humanities and writing programs.