April 5, 2010

Colin Davis. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) professor of history Colin J. Davis, Ph.D., will receive the 2010 Caroline P. and Charles W. Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction.

A dinner will be held in his honor at 6 p.m. Monday, April 19 at The Club, atop Red Mountain. During the dinner, Davis will present his lecture "Trans-Atlantic Maritime History: Food For Thought." For reservations, call 205-975-0756 or e-mail the UAB Events Office at uabevents@uab.edu.

The lecture will focus on the experiences of North Atlantic fishermen between 1960 and 1974. 

"This was a period of intensifying fishing effort and corresponding dramatic decline in fish stocks," Davis said. "Correspondingly, New England fishermen demanded that the federal government extend the territorial limit to 200 miles, thus excluding foreign fishermen and protecting the American fishery.

"In the British case, fishermen wanted the opposite," he said. "They wanted open access to foreign fishing grounds, specifically Iceland and Norway. These two diametrically opposed stances are key to my study of trans-Atlantic fishermen."

Davis, who teaches in the UAB Department of History, specializes in comparative labor history and U.S. labor history. He has written and co-written several books, including Waterfront Revolts: New York City and London Dockworkers, 1946-62, and Power at Odds: The 1922 National Railroad Shopmen's Strike. He also has co-edited several books, including Migration and the Transformation of the Southern Workplace Since 1945.

Davis has been a member of the UAB faculty since 1991.

UAB presents the Ireland Prize award annually to a faculty member in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences for professional and academic achievements and contributions made to the university and local community. The prize, made possible by the Carolyn P. and Charles W. Ireland Endowment for Scholarly Distinction, comes with a $5,000 cash award.

About the UAB College of Arts and Sciences

The UAB College of Arts and Sciences is home to academic disciplines that include the arts, humanities, sciences and the School of Education. The college's unique structure advances research and learning in both K-12 and higher education, and its courses are taught by a world-class faculty. Committed to the UAB spirit of independence and innovation, the college enables students to design their own majors, participate in undergraduate research or complete graduate degrees on a five-year fast track. Through productive partnerships, flexible curricula and a bold, interdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching, the college is preparing students for success in the ever-changing global marketplace of commerce and ideas.