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Reception for Alyssa Sepinwall Book
Reception Recognizes University of California Press Publication of Professor Alyssa Sepinwall's Book
Left to right, Prof. Darel Engen, PAT president Morgan Copeland,
Prof. Alyssa Sepinwall, History Club president Chris Mitchell
Dozens of students and faculty members gathered in the Old Library Courtyard March 16 to recognize publication of Prof. Alyssa Sepinwall's book The Abb茅 Gr茅goire and the French Revolution: The Making of Modern Universalism by the University of California Press. The reception was sponsored by Phi Alpha Theta, the History Club, and the history department.
Dr. Sepinwall's book considers the late eighteenth-century priest Henri Gr茅goire, a revolutionary and a notable proponent of the abolition of slavery. The publisher's description of the book says Gr茅goire was considered a hero by the Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh as well as many French Jews. "Gr茅goire has been particularly celebrated since 1989, when the French government placed him in the Pantheon as a model of ideals of universalism and human rights," the publisher reports.
The book argues that the universalism that arose out of the French Revolution 鈥 the idea that liberty, equality, and fraternity were applicable to all of humankind 鈥 was more complex than it might appear, and in practice justified colonial conquest as well as equality and liberation.
Dr. Seppinwall received the President鈥檚 Award for Innovation in Teaching at Cal State San Marcos in 2004. She currently serves as chair of the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences.