Directors: Carole Fink and Ursula Gurney, Department of History

Since 2003, the Mershon Network of International Historians (MNIH) has acted as a unique online association for scholars engaged in the study of 20th century European international relations.  The network’s mission has been to foster intellectual discussion, research, and teaching in the field of European diplomatic history.

Located at www.mnih.org, the network's primary purpose is to promote collaborative research by scholars in international history.  MNIH does this by announcing upcoming conferences around the world, listing recent publications in the field, publishing calls for papers, and publicizing fellowship and grant opportunities, prizes, and awards.

MNIH also performs two unique services. First, it provides researchers with one of the largest and most complete archival databases found on the Internet. Links to hundreds of archives around the world are posted, along with current information about many of them.

Second, scholars who join MNIH can request the names of other members working on a particular field or topic, or at a certain city or university. This promotes collaboration among scholars who otherwise might have no other way of meeting one another. Membership is free, and privacy is assured.

Ursula Gurney, Ph.D. student in History, maintains this web site under the direction of MNIH founder Carole Fink.  Drawing selectively from a variety of web-based and printed materials, Gurney and Fink constantly review and update the resources posted on MNIH. 

In 2008, the MNIH site was expanded.  One new section provides information for instructors of international history, including graduate and undergraduate course syllabi as well as documents and photographs.  Another new section focuses on national and international historical societies that promote research and sponsor scholarly meetings. 

MNIH also serves as forum for announcements, highlighting featured articles, conferences and links to the international press.  A link to the Mershon Center for International Security Studies web site provides information about related programs and projects.

One of the measures of the usefulness of the MNIH web site is the number of people who use it. The network had more than 50,000 hits in 2007-08, an average of 4,280 per month. These visitors came from 38 countries, including the United States, Germany, Holland, Australia, Canada, and Britain, but also from as far away as the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Estonia, Lithuania, China, and Singapore.