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David Spielman



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Email    Dawit7@ucla.edu
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David B. Spielman is an Africanist and Ethiopian historian with a broader interest in the Horn of Africa. David’s research is focused on an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian legal text known as the Fətḥa Nägäśt (Law of Kings) and its practical application in Early-Modern Ethiopian society.

Field of Study

Africa

Subfield

Ethiopia

Eritrea

Horn of Africa

Red Sea

Christianity

Law/Canon Law

Legal Institutions

Research

David B. Spielman is an Africanist and Ethiopian historian with a broader interest in the Horn of Africa. David’s research is focused on an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian legal text known as the Fətḥa Nägäśt (Law of Kings) and its practical application in Early-Modern Ethiopian society.

Publications

Articles

  • "Evidence of the Fetha Nägäśt's Broader Social Impact on Early Modern Ethiopian Society." In the Proceedings of the 20th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies 2018. Forthcoming.

Reviews

  • Review of The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros: A Seventeenth Century African Biography of an Ethiopian Woman, by Galawdewos, translated and edited by Wendy Belcher and Michael Kleiner. Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies 40, no. 1 (2018): 199-201.

Grants and Awards

Conference Presentations

Invited Lectures

  • 2020 UCLA, "COVID-19 and the History of Epidemic Response in Ethiopia" (April 24, Fiatlux Zoominar, Global Health19-2.

Academic Conferences and Workshops

  • 2020 University of Texas at Austin LILLAS Benson Webinar "Racism and Linguistic Diversity in K-16 Education" (July 16, 2020)
  • 2020 Renaissance Society of America Conference: Session-Law and Politics in Early Modern Africa and the Mediterranean. "Without Interest: Prohibitions Against Usury in Gondarine Ethiopia." (April 2-4, 2020, Philadelphia, PA) *Cancelled COVID-19*
  • 2018 20th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies: "Evidence of the Fetha Nägäśt's Broader Social Impact on Early Modern Ethiopian Society." (Oct. 1-5, 2018, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia).
  • 2018 Third Hiob Ludolf Centre Summer School in Ethiopian and Eritrean Manuscript Studies: "The Manuscript Heritage of Ethiopia: Theory and Practice." (Sept. 24-29, 2018, Axum Hotel, Mekelle,Tigray, Ethiopia). 

Advisors

Ghislaine Lydon (Chair);

William Worger;

Allen Roberts;

Habtamu Tegegne.

Degrees

C. Phil., UCLA, 2018

M.A., African Studies, UCLA, 2015

B.A., Afro-American Studies, African Studies Minor, 2014