Image: Congratulations and welcome to the History Department, doctoral student Matthew Powell! Matthew is a 2025 Recipient of the prestigious Graduate School Doctoral Fellows Award.The award is designed to recruit highly competitive students who will advance the research and scholarship mission of the University. Selected recipients come from various disciplines across campus. You can read about all of the award recipients at the Graduate School link https://grad.uga.edu/.../graduate-school-doctoral-fellow.../ Matthew Powell is a doctoral student in the Department of History at the University of Georgia. He will be working under the supervision of Dr. Cindy Hahamovitch, conducting historical research focused on the intersection between labor and environmental history, examining how workers interacted with and conceptualized their environment. He received his bachelor’s degrees in history and Chinese from the Pennsylvania State University in 2023, and his master’s degree in history from West Virginia University in 2025. His research for his M.A. thesis focused on Appalachian paper mill communities, looking at how environmental control impacted workers’ struggles to organize with a particular focus on control over water. He intends to continue to look at similar instances as he begins research for his dissertation. Powell is also experienced with public history. He has worked for multiple non-profits, historical societies, and state agencies, working to share history with the public.
