Thinking globally about history

About the Foundation

Named after Arnold J.Toynbee, the Toynbee Prize Foundation was chartered in 1987 “to contribute to the development of the social sciences, as defined from a broad historical view of human society and of human and social problems.” The Foundation seeks to promote scholarly engagement with global history through several activities.

Foremost among these is the Toynbee Prize, an award granted every other year to recognize outstanding work in global history. As an affiliated society of the American Historical Association, the Foundation sponsors one session at the Association’s annual meeting. In the years in which the Prize is awarded, the recipient presents a lecture. In alternate years, the Foundation sponsors a session on global history.

The Foundation, based in Massachusetts, is tax exempt under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Officers:

Current Trustees:

Former Officers and Trustees:

  • Charles Bright, University of Michigan
  • Nayan Chanda, Yale University
  • John Headley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • Marshall Goldman, Harvard University
  • Raymond Grew, University of Michigan
  • Richard M. Hunt, Harvard University
  • Akira Iriye, Harvard University
  • Mark Juergensmeyer, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Philip S. Khoury, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Bruce Mazlish, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Barbara Metcalf, University of California, Davis
  • Karl E. Meyer, Independent Scholar
  • Wolf Schafer, State University of New York at Stony Brook
  • Harriet Ritvo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Strobe Talbott, The Brookings Institution

Editors-at-Large

Conferences

Along with the support of other foundations and institutions, the Toynbee Foundation sponsors international conferences and panels on important historical questions that arise from, or are freshly addressed through, global history approaches.

This initiative began with an international conference funded by the Culpeper Foundation and held in Bellagio, Italy, in 1991. There, participants sought to conceptualize the new sub-field and to suggest ways to implement it.  The results of the conference were published as Conceptualizing Global History, ed. Bruce Mazlish & Ralph Buultjens (Boulder, CO: University of Colorado Press, 1993).

Since that first conference and the publication that grew out of it, the Foundation has sponsored several other international gatherings that reflect the growth of interest in global history. The Foundation is always open to new ideas for future conferences. Interested parties should direct inquiries to toynbeeprize@gmail.org.

  • 2018: “The Fight for Global Equality” featuring Darrin M. McMahon (Dartmouth College), Kenneth Pomeranz (University of Chicago), Vanessa Ogle (University of California, Berkeley), Megan Black (London School of Economics and Political Science), and Anne O’Donnell (New York University), at the 132nd Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.
  • 2017: “The 2017 Toynbee Prize Lecture” by Jürgen Osterhammel (University of Konstanz), at the 131st Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.
  • 2016: “The Origins of Global History: A Reappraisal” featuring Darrin M. McMahon (Dartmouth College), Christopher H. Heaney (University of Texas at Austin), Felipe Fernández-Armesto (University of Notre Dame), and Benjamin Sacks, Princeton University, at the 130th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.
  • 2015: “The Transformation of Global History, 1963-1975″ (at Princeton University).
  • 2015: “From Globalization to Global Warming: A Historiographical Transition” by Dipesh Chakrabarty (University of Chicago), at the 129th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.
  • 2014: “The Intersections of Global and Diplomatic History” featuring Helen McCarthy (Queen Mary University of London), Karen Gram-Skjoldager (Aarhus University), Ariane Leendertz (Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung), and Steffen Rimner (Harvard University), at the 128th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.
  • 2013: “Agency, Context, Connections: The Challenge of Combining the Multiple Levels of the Global Experience” by Michael P. Adas (Rutgers University), at the 127th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.
  • 2012: “Law and Human Rights in Global History” (in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with papers published in the December 2012 issue of New Global Studies)
  • 2012: “Global History and Intellectual Networks” featuring Andrew S. Sartori (New York University), Yan Jin (Fudan University), Cemil Aydin (George Mason University), Kris K. Manjapra (Tufts University), at the 126th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.
  • 2011: “Toynbee as Environmental Historian” by John R. McNeill (Georgetown University), at the 125th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association.
  • 2005: “Childhood in Global History” (in Fairfax, Virginia, with papers published in special issue of the Journal of Social History)
  • 2004: “Globalization, Philanthropy, and Civil Society” (in Pocantico Hills, New York, with papers published in an eponymous book edited by Soma Hewa and Darwin H. Stapleton)
  • 2003:  “New Global History and the City” (in St. Petersburg, Russia, with papers published in a book edited by Elliott Morss)
  • 2003: “The Paradox of a Global USA” (in New Haven, Connecticut, with results published in an eponymous volume edited by Nayan Chanda, Bruce Mazlish, and Kenneth Weisbrode)
  • 2003: “Leviathans: Multinational Corporations and the New Global History” (in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with results published in a book edited by Alfred D. Chandler and Bruce Mazlish, with graphs and quantitative data published in book entitled Globalinc, edited by Medard Gabel and Henry Bruner.
  • 2003: “Mapping the Multinationals” (in Pocantico Hills, New York, funded by the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund)
  • 1997: “Food in Global History” (in Ann Arbor, Michigan, funded by the University of Michigan and the Toynbee Foundation, with results published in a book of that title edited by Raymond Grew)
  • 1995: “Global History and Migrations” (in Hong Kong, funded by the University of Hong Kong, with results published in an eponymous a book edited by Wang Gungwu)
  • 1993: “Global Civilization and Local Cultures” (in Darmstadt, Germany, funded by the Technische Hochschule and the Thyssen Foundation, with articles published separately)
About

The Toynbee Prize Foundation — a Hub for Global History

Named after Arnold J.Toynbee, the Toynbee Prize Foundation was chartered in 1987 “to contribute to the development of the social sciences, as defined from a broad historical view of human society and of human and social problems.” The Foundation seeks to promote scholarly engagement with global history.

Read more
The Prize

The Prize

The Toynbee Prize was established to recognize social scientists for significant academic and public contributions to humanity. It is awarded biennially for work that makes a significant contribution to the study of global history.

Read more
Contribute

Contribute to Toynbee Prize Foundation

Our Editors-at-Large gain exposure to one of the most vibrant fields in the discipline today, while participating in, covering, and staying up-to-date with new debates, conversations, and movements in global history.

Read more
This website is using cookies to provide a good browsing experience

These include essential cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site, as well as others that are used only for anonymous statistical purposes, for comfort settings or to display personalized content. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Please note that based on your settings, not all functions of the website may be available.

This website is using cookies to provide a good browsing experience

These include essential cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site, as well as others that are used only for anonymous statistical purposes, for comfort settings or to display personalized content. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Please note that based on your settings, not all functions of the website may be available.

Your cookie preferences have been saved.