Research Interests

Ian Seavey is a PhD candidate in the department of history at Texas A&M University. His research examines U.S. relations with Puerto Rico through the lens of disaster relief policy. His dissertation, “Colonial Calamities: The Politics of U.S. Disaster Relief in Puerto Rico, 1898-1979,” seeks to tell the story of how evolving ideas about disaster relief fundamentally shaped and continue to shape the colonial relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico. In the spring of 2022, he had an article published in the Journal of Advanced Military Studies and also has others scheduled for publication in the Florida Historical Quarterly and the Journal of Environmental Hazards. He has presented his work in various venues including the annual meetings of the Organization of American Historians, the American Society of Environmental History, the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations, and Society for Military History. His broader research interests include environmental history and the history of U.S. foreign relations. In his free time, he enjoys playing guitar in various heavy metal bands. 

Publications

•  Ian Seavey, “A Tale of Two Storms: U.S. Army Disaster Relief in Puerto Rico and Texas, 1899-1900,” Journal of Advanced Military Studies 13, no. 1 (Spring 2022): 15-36. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/857229. 
• “Hurricanes and Hegemony: A Study of U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico. 1898-1940” FCH Annals: Journal of the Florida Conference of Historians 26 (June 2020): 77-88.

Accomplishments

• Predoctoral Research Fellow Institute of Science, Technology, and Public Policy Texas A&M University
• Harry S. Truman Library Institute Research Grant, $1,600
• Texas A&M Department of History Dissertation Fellowship, $8,000