This fall, Dr. Elyssa Gage joined the university as an assistant professor of history in the global cultures department.
Gage was raised in Nice, France, where she first began studying humanities in high school. She moved to the United States to attend Pepperdine University in California where she graduated with a degree in international studies.
She continued her education at the University of Florida where she received both her masters and doctorate in history.
Gage previously taught at a university in Alabama, where her family lives. Gage shared that her interest in history became really clear from studying tensions in places such as North Korea and Pakistan. She found that looking at aspects of history she was more familiar with, like European colonialism, from a different perspective was very interesting.
Gage herself is no stranger to world history, having spent time researching in multiple countries. These countries include France, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Italy.
Her own research primarily focuses on French colonialism and empire, looking at its involvement in Africa and Asia. The new professor has been looking into territories that France is still present in the French Caribbean and how ideas of empire have changed.
During this fall semester, Gage is teaching a course on the history of piracy. The course looks at the role of pirates in global history, specifically with its association with the Caribbean. This includes studying the relationship between pirates in slavery, building empires and international law.
She shared that piracy eventually was made illegal and empires created an “idea that if a country cannot prevent pirates from attacking traders, then they are a rogue nation” and that this is used as justification for colonization.
Gage also talked about looking at the social dimension of piracy, that if piracy is made illegal and pirates are being attacked then why are people still becoming pirates?
In the spring, Gage will be teaching a class on the African Diaspora.