On Nov. 29, NYU Abu Dhabi’s History Program hosted a virtual open house, wherein seven professors came together to discuss their picks for the worst year in history. The event was moderated by Ian Hoyt, Class of 2022 and the Student Government Academic Representative for History, and Toby Le, Class of 2022 and a History major.

“I thought it was topical and it was just close enough to being a meme to spread about on social media and get people involved. And also it could be interpreted in many different ways which would let the faculty show off their expertise in many different ways and also allow them to appear fun and personable,” shared Hoyt.

The event began with professors introducing themselves and the courses they teach. They then made the case for their respective choices for the worst year in history.

Mark Swislocki, Program Head of History, chose the year 1876. An expert in Chinese history, he noted how famine ravaged northern China that year, exemplifying the weakness of the state. The year was all the more devastating as famine also swept through parts of India and Latin America.

Erin Pettigrew, Assistant Professor of History and Arab Crossroads Studies, decided to get to the root of all evil and chose the year 1000, when guns were invented. She argued that none of the other tragedies would have been possible had firearms not existed.

The most popular year was 1492 when Christopher Columbus reached the Americas. Both professors Martin Bowen-Silva and Masha Kirasirova made their case for this catastrophic year which saw 80 to 90 percent of the Indigenous population in the Americas annihilated. Bowen-Silva further argued that the expulsion of Muslims and Jews from the Iberian Peninsula represented the rise of religious intolerance and racial ideologies.

Other suggestions included 329 BCE, Alexander’s conquest of Central Asia, and 1947 CE, the year of the violent Partition of the Indian subcontinent.

At the end of the presentations, attendees voted on what they thought was the worst year in history. 1492 came first and 1000 was a close second, as a result of Pettigrew’s fervent advocacy in the chat.

Although the Fall 2020 edition differed from previous open houses, Hoyt thought it was a success nonetheless: “A lot of people who [attended] aren’t really associated with the program at all,not majors, not minors, maybe have never even taken a history class, but they just found that this idea was interesting … This [event] really seemed to connect with people who were new and in that regard I thought it was really a good way to reach out.

Noor Bukhammas, Class of 2024, thought the event was well organized and insightful. “I think the professors’ answers were reflective of the department’s self-aware outlook on history, which strives to move away from the Eurocentrism that is prevalent in the discipline.”

“As a first year I felt welcomed and wanted at the open-house,” she added. “I felt that it gave me a great introduction to some of the faces that I will likely be seeing often through my journey at NYUAD.”