Dr. Zachary Conn

Historian of 18th- and 19th-Century North America

zconn@uidaho.edu

    Writing

    Writing

    Outside of my book, I have had opportunities to use my skills as a historian to write for a variety of audiences.

    So far, I have published two peer-reviewed articles for a scholarly readership. The first, “Intelligence Operations, Indigenous Cultures, and Early U.S. Ambassadors to Native American Polities” appeared in 2022 in Intelligence and National Security. This piece was a version of a dissertation chapter about the Indian agent and proto-anthropologist Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. Please feel free to email me if you lack institutional access and would like to read a PDF copy.

    My second article was A House with Exposed Beams: Inquiry-Based Learning and Historians’ Ethical Responsibilities as Scholar-Teachers.” This essay drew upon thinkers like Paulo Freire, bell hooks, and William Cronon, as well as an ethnographic account of my time teaching tenth-grade World History. The piece appeared in a 2024 issue of History and Theory. It is available in full online for anyone to read.

    A third peer-reviewed article, “Creating the ‘Great American Father’: Indigenous Sovereignty, Republican Monarchy, and the International Consequences of the American Revolution,” is scheduled for publication in a Summer 2026 special issue of Diplomatic History, pending final editorial approval.

    I have also published multiple more informal pieces of academic writing. An early version of my research about the role of peace medals in US-Indigenous diplomacy appeared on the Age of Revolutions online publication as part of a series on the material culture of the Age of Atlantic Revolutions. More recently, I wrote a short account of several inspiring interventions in the public sphere by historians of Native America for The Panorama, the website of the Journal of the Early Republic. Another piece for The Panorama is forthcoming; this time, my focus will be on using my experiences to shed light on how graduate students can manage the formidable emotional demands of a PhD program.

    Occasionally, I write about the uses of history in American popular music for PopMatters, a free online publication with one foot in academia.

    My younger brother, Nathaniel “Nate” Conn, passed away suddenly in December 2025. It was my honor to deliver a eulogy at Nate’s funeral telling the story of his extraordinary, challenging, inspiring life. You can read the eulogy here.