Dr. Alexandru I. Vari
Professor
vari@marywood.edu
School of the Humanities
570-348-6211 x2400Immaculata Hall 211
Courses taught:
Roots of the Modern World HIST-100Global History of the Twentieth Century HIST-101
ST: European Cities: Urban Transfermations and Cultural Changes, 1800-present HIST-399Q
Introduction to Latin American History HIST-H241
ST: European Cities: Urban Transfermations and Cultural Changes, 1800-present HIST-H399Q
Nazi Germany and the Holocaust HIST-H421
The Global History of Popular Culture History HIST-H450
Dr. Alexander Vari is a historian of modern Europe with research interests in the history of popular culture, urban history, the history of nationalism, the history of travel and tourism, and everyday life under socialism. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Brown University and graduated with a B.A. in History and Philosophy from Babes-Bolyai University. A former holder of Fulbright (1998-99), Social Science Research Council (2001-02) and American Councils Southeastern Europe Program (2008) fellowships, in 2005-06 he was also an Andrew Mellon postdoctoral fellow at the Center for the Arts in Society at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. More recently, during the spring semester 2021, he was also a VORL fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
At Marywood he teaches surveys in Modern European and World History, and upper-level courses on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, the Global History of the French Revolution, Modern Popular Culture, and Eastern European, Latin American, and urban history. More recently he has also developed a course on the history of pandemics. In his teaching he encourages student participation and critical engagement with the class material.
Dr. Vari has published articles in Budapesti Könyvszemle, Journeys, Austrian History Yearbook, Journal of Contemporary History and Urban History, and book chapters in edited volumes published by Cornell University Press, Penn State University Press, Ashgate, UK and Transcript, Germany. His current research project is a comparative investigation of the connections between the rise of urban popular culture and the globalization of entertainment in Central Europe.
He is also one of the co-editors of Socialist Escapes: Breaks from Ideology and Everyday Routine in Eastern Europe, 1945-1989 (Berghahn, 2013), and Urban Popular Culture and Entertainment: Experiences from Northern, East-Central and Southern Europe, 1870s-1930s (Routledge, 2022) and serves as book review editor for H-Urban. He is also a member of the Marywood Fulbright Committee, and between 2012-18 has served as department chair.
Courses offered:
Roots of the Modern World, 1750-1914 (HIST 100)
The Global History of the Twentieth Century (HIST 101)
Introduction to Latin America (HIST 241)
History of Eastern Europe (HIST 420D)
Nazi Germany and the Holocaust (HIST 421)
The Global History of the French Revolution (HIST 402)
Global History of Popular Culture, 1850 to the present (HIST 450)
European Cities: Urban Development and Metropolitan Change in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Budapest, 1800-1940 (HIST 460)
“Identity Construction and Place Making through Literature and Festivalization in Secondary Cities,” Journal of Urban History, first published online September, 2021
“Humorous Magazines and Jewish/non-Jewish Interactions in the Making of Viennese Popular Culture,” HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews. November 2020
“Popular Culture through Global and Transnational Lenses,” Cultural History, nr. 2, October 2020, 265-72
“Bullfights Redux: Business, Politics and the Failure of Transnational Cultural Transfer in 1920s Budapest,” Austrian History Yearbook, vol. 51, May 2020, 292-313.
At Marywood he teaches surveys in Modern European and World History, and upper-level courses on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, the Global History of the French Revolution, Modern Popular Culture, and Eastern European, Latin American, and urban history. More recently he has also developed a course on the history of pandemics. In his teaching he encourages student participation and critical engagement with the class material.
Dr. Vari has published articles in Budapesti Könyvszemle, Journeys, Austrian History Yearbook, Journal of Contemporary History and Urban History, and book chapters in edited volumes published by Cornell University Press, Penn State University Press, Ashgate, UK and Transcript, Germany. His current research project is a comparative investigation of the connections between the rise of urban popular culture and the globalization of entertainment in Central Europe.
He is also one of the co-editors of Socialist Escapes: Breaks from Ideology and Everyday Routine in Eastern Europe, 1945-1989 (Berghahn, 2013), and Urban Popular Culture and Entertainment: Experiences from Northern, East-Central and Southern Europe, 1870s-1930s (Routledge, 2022) and serves as book review editor for H-Urban. He is also a member of the Marywood Fulbright Committee, and between 2012-18 has served as department chair.
Courses offered:
Roots of the Modern World, 1750-1914 (HIST 100)
The Global History of the Twentieth Century (HIST 101)
Introduction to Latin America (HIST 241)
History of Eastern Europe (HIST 420D)
Nazi Germany and the Holocaust (HIST 421)
The Global History of the French Revolution (HIST 402)
Global History of Popular Culture, 1850 to the present (HIST 450)
European Cities: Urban Development and Metropolitan Change in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Budapest, 1800-1940 (HIST 460)
Presentations and Publications
“From Ambivalence to the Diseuse Craze: French-Hungarian Cultural Transfers through Chanson, 1870s-1930s,” in Antje Dietze and Alexander Vari, eds. Urban Popular Culture: Experiences from Northern, East-Central and Southern Europe, 1870s-1930s (2022, in press with Routledge)“Identity Construction and Place Making through Literature and Festivalization in Secondary Cities,” Journal of Urban History, first published online September, 2021
“Humorous Magazines and Jewish/non-Jewish Interactions in the Making of Viennese Popular Culture,” HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews. November 2020
“Popular Culture through Global and Transnational Lenses,” Cultural History, nr. 2, October 2020, 265-72
“Bullfights Redux: Business, Politics and the Failure of Transnational Cultural Transfer in 1920s Budapest,” Austrian History Yearbook, vol. 51, May 2020, 292-313.