Professor awarded research grant, book to be released in '14

Nicole Sackley, professor of history and American studies, has been awarded a $37,500 research grant to further her studies of developments by American social scientists. Her research will culminate in a book, projected to be released in 2014.

Sackley has been at the University of Richmond since 2005. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and her doctorate from Princeton, she said.

Many of the classes that Sackely teaches at Richmond are related to her specific research interest, which focuses on how experts, specifically American experts, shape social movement and social change, Sackley said.

Her research for the book, called "Development Fields: American Social Scientists and the Practice of Modernization during the Cold War," is about American social scientists who thought their ways of thinking could be useful in developing the world during the Cold War.

Sackley has already published several articles related to the topic of the book in journals such as "The Journal of Global History" and has a forthcoming article in "Modern Intellectual History," she said.

The fellowship will allow Sackley to spend a year finishing the research and writing the book. During that year, she will conduct research at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo., and give lectures on her findings in the Kansas City area.

The fellowship is through the Harry S. Truman Library Institute and is a part of the Truman-Kauffman Scholars Program. Sackley is one of two recipients of the grant this year.

The program supports research of historical and current examples of economic development, modernization and societal reconstruction, said Alex Burden, executive director of the Truman Library Institute.

"We are pleased to report the number of prominent scholars...that have agreed to participate in the project," Burden said.

Sackley said she is excited to have a year to solely focus on her research.

"Richmond tends to focus on a teacher-scholar model, so it's exciting to have this opportunity," she said.