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Jane E. Calvert

Research Interests:
Early modern Anglo-American theology and political theory
John Dickinson
Education
  • Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2003
  • M.A., University of Chicago, 1996
  • B.A., Earlham College, 1993
Research

Professor Calvert’s research has focused on Quaker political thought and founding father John Dickinson. Her monograph, Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson, is the first of a trilogy of works on John Dickinson. It describes a hitherto unrecognized strain of Anglo-American political thought and action that explains the apparently contradictory stance that Dickinson took during the Revolution as an advocate of rights and liberty, but not independence or revolution. This study is the first analysis of Quaker constitutional theory; the first exploration of the origins of civil disobedience in Quaker political thought and action; and the first comprehensive exposition of Dickinson's political thought.
     The second work in the Dickinson trilogy is the first modern, scholarly edition of his complete political works. Professor Calvert is Director and Chief Editor of the John Dickinson Writings Project (JDP). Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historic Publications and Records Commission, as well as private foundations and individuals, the JDP will produce an estimated 11-volume edition of The Complete Writings and Selected Correspondence of John Dickinson, to be published by the University of Delaware Press/Rutgers University Press. The edition will be published in both print and open-access digital editions. To read more, visit the JDP Website: http://www.uky.edu/DickinsonWritingsProject.
      The third work of the trilogy, also in progress, is the first full and accurate biography of Dickinson, to pub published by Oxford University Press. Supported by the State of Delaware and a Public Scholar grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, this work will be directed towards both popular and scholarly audiences. 

     Professor Calvert has also produced work on Thomas Paine and the Second Amendment.

Selected Grants and Fellowships

  • Scholarly Editions Grant, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2010-13, 2022-25
  • Public Scholar grant, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2020.
  • State of Delaware, 2019-21.
  • National Historic Publications and Records Commission, 2018, 2020-21, 2021-22.
  • The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation, 2016-22.
  • The Earhart Foundation, 2013–15.
  • The Bradly Foundation, 2013–15.
  • Society for Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 2013-14.
  • Franklin Research Grant, American Philosophical Society, 2010.
  • SHEAR/Library Company of Philadelphia Fellowship, 2009.
  • Library Fellowship, The David Library of the American Revolution, 2007.
  • Association for Documentary Editing Travel Award, 2006.
  • Robert L. Middlekauff Fellowship, The Huntington Library, 2006.
  • Library Residence Research Fellowship, American Philosophical Society, 2006.
  • Monticello College Foundation Fellowship, The Newberry Library, 2005.
  • Peterson Fellowship, American Antiquarian Society, 2005 (declined). 
  • NEH “We, the People” Summer Stipend, 2005.
  • Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship
  • Library Company of Philadelphia/Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 2002.

 

Teaching

Courses:

  • HIS 108: United States to 1876
  • HON 251: Origins of Dissent
  • HIS 301: History Methods Workshop
  • HIS 350/HON301: U.S. Founders
  • HIS 460: Colonial American
  • HIS 461: The American Revolution, 1763–1789
  • HIS 499: Senior Seminar

She is also a member of the faculty of Lewis Honors College.

Because the History Department no longer has an Early American Program, Dr. Calvert is not accepting graduate students.

Selected Publications: