Peter Stearns

Peter Nathaniel Stearns (born March 3, 1936) is a professor at George Mason University, where he was provost from January 1, 2000 to July 2014.

Stearns was chair of the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University and also served as the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (now named Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences) at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, he founded and edited the Journal of Social History. While at Carnegie Mellon, he developed a pioneering approach to teaching World History, and has contributed to the field as well through editing, and contributing to, the Routledge series, Themes in World History. He is also known for various work on the nature and impact of the industrial revolution and for exploration of new topics, particularly in the history of emotions.

He is active in historical groups such as the Society for French Historical Studies, the American Historical Association, the Social Science History Association and the International Society for Research on Emotion.

Early life Peter Stearns was born in London, but of American parents (Raymond and Elizabeth) and was an American citizen at birth. He was raised in Urbana, Illinois and attended public grade school and then the University of Illinois High School. After graduating from Harvard College, summa cum laude, he had a traveling fellowship in Europe and then returned to complete his PhD at Harvard. He has four children and a stepson, and seven grandchildren. He has held positions at the University of Chicago, Rutgers, Carnegie Mellon, and now George Mason.

Education and career He attended Harvard College and later received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. In his prolific career as an author and editor, he has written or edited over 135 different books. Stearns served as founding chair of the Advanced Placement World History committee and as vice president for teaching of the American Historical Association.

Theoretical work Emotionology Carol Zisowitz Stearns along with her husband Peter were critical of the study of emotions in the field of cultural anthropology because of its overemphasis of the notion that due to their biological and physiological features, emotion can be regarded as a human quality invariant across cultures. Contrary to this bias, their shared view is that emotion is partly cognitive and thus a social phenomenon, so that the forms and conceptions of a single emotion and possibly also its prevalence can vary significantly between communities as well as within one and the same society. In response to the biology vs. culture problem, the Stearns coined the term emotionology by which they refer to the standards according to which emotions are evaluated and the institutions that reflect and promote these standards are developed by different societies. Emotionology is not the same as emotional experience; rather it defines the social norms establishing how one should feel in a given situation. According to this view, emotionological standards also affect the emotional experience itself by shaping articulated expectations.

Works His books include: 1848: The Revolutionary Tide in Europe, Norton, 1974 American Behavioral History

Battleground of Desire

Cultural Change in Modern World History Cultures in Motion Debating the Industrial Revolution (2015) Documents in World History Emotion and Social Change Encyclopedia of European Social History The Encyclopedia of World History

Global Outrage

Guiding the American University: Challenges and Choices (2015) History of Shame (2017) Time in World History (2019)

Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History: National and International Perspectives Lives of Labour: Work in a Maturing Industrial Society (1975)

The Industrial Turn in World History (2016) The Revolutions of 1848 (1974) Tolerance in World History

World Civilizations World History in Brief World History: Patterns of Change and Continuity