Research Rooted in History & the Humanities
The Center for the Study of Guns & Society (CSGS) at Wesleyan University is, to our knowledge, the first academic center in the U.S. dedicated to interdisciplinary humanities study and teaching on the social and cultural history of firearms. Established in April 2022, the center is a hub for pioneering interdisciplinary research on a wide variety of topics in firearms history, including the technologies, manufacture, possession, and use of firearms; the social and cultural underpinnings of gun ownership; and the tolerance of high levels of gun violence in the U.S. relative to other countries.
Promoting & Supporting Academic Reflection
The center promotes academic reflection on the role history plays in making categories of contemporary debate around guns appear inevitable, natural, or culturally necessary, and supports scholarship and pedagogies that uncover hidden conflicts and contexts as a means of better understanding contemporary phenomena.
The center supports:
- An annual conference for professional historians
- An annual convening of local museum professionals
- An annual undergraduate student research conference
- Student research opportunities
- Ongoing collaborations with and outreach to other educational institutions, museums, and schools
The center’s major initiatives include:
- In-depth study of 18th and 19th century firearms laws and culture
- Advancing academic and museum collaborations
- Researching historical lethality of firearms
- Exploring relationships between guns and film
A National Model for Innovative Undergraduate Teaching
The center is also a national nucleus for pioneering and disseminating innovative models of undergraduate teaching on firearms, through the design and implementation of new types of classes and labs.
The Beginnings of CSGS
For over half a century, Wesleyan has fostered important scholarship and discussions on guns and society. Richard Slotkin, author of an award-winning trilogy of scholarly books on the myth of the frontier in American cultural history, began teaching at Wesleyan in 1966. He went on to develop and, for more than 20 years, directed the American Studies Program at Wesleyan.
Shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012, Wesleyan—only 25 miles from Newtown, Conn.—convened the first town hall meeting in Connecticut focused on gun research. It was organized by center founding director Jennifer Tucker, then director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, and moderated by local journalist John Dankosky.
In 2016, Wesleyan, Stanford University, and the Aspen Institute co-hosted in Washington, D.C. the first-ever gathering of historians, legal scholars, museum curators, and other experts for a conference on “Firearms and the Common Law Tradition.”
In 2017, the annual Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns at Wesleyan focused on the theme “Guns in American Society.” An audience of scholars, students, alumni, and experts gathered for two days to examine current debates about the role of guns in American history, society, law, and politics.
Wesleyan continues to be a hub for research, teaching, and pedagogical innovation on topics related to guns and society. Beginning in 2022, the Carceral Connecticut Project—an interdisciplinary, humanistic exploration of the state’s complex history supported by a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation—includes courses and research related to the manufacture, culture, and legal questions around firearms.
Since its founding, CSGS has hosted more than a dozen conferences, symposiums, and workshops; cultivated an international network of 150+ universities, museums and research organizations; and engaged more than 120 Wesleyan students in courses and research.
Advisory Boards
The Center for the Study of Guns & Society at Wesleyan University is advised by a board of external scholars and practitioners who specialize in a broad range of topics around firearms, as well as a board of Wesleyan faculty with related expertise.
External Advisory Board
- Crystal Feimster, Yale University
- Kelly Fellner, National Park Service
- Leah Glaser, Central Connecticut State University
- Amy Glowacki, National Park Service
- Ruth J. Katz, The Aspen Institute
- Stephen Hargarten, Medical College of Wisconsin
- Darrell A.H. Miller, University of Chicago Law School
- Matthew Miller, Northeastern University Bouvé College of Health Sciences
- Iain Overton, Action on Armed Violence
- Shannon Perich, Smithsonian Institution
- Stephen Pitti, Yale University
Faculty Advisory Board
- Logan Dancey, Associate Professor of Government
- Maryam Gooyabadi, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Quantitative Analysis
- Alyx Mark, Assistant Professor of Government
- Jesse Nasta, Assistant Professor of the Practice in African American Studies
- Amanda Nelson, Dietrich Family Associate University Librarian for Unique Collections and University Archivist
- Kristin Oberiano, Assistant Professor of History
- Joyce Powzyk, Associate Professor of the Practice in Biology
- Peter Rutland, Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought
- Roberto Saba, Assistant Professor of American Studies
- Joseph Slaughter, Assistant Professor of History
- Richard Slotkin, Olin Professor of English, Emeritus
Jennifer Tucker
Founding Director and Professor of History
Jennifer Tucker is a professor of history at Wesleyan University and the founding director of Wesleyan’s Center for the Study of Guns & Society, established in 2022 as a hub for pioneering interdisciplinary research, teaching, and scholarly convenings on firearms history.
Tucker is an expert on the history of firearms, technology, law, violence, and culture. Her historical research explores firearms as industrial and commercial products, including firearms engineering, design, and ballistics lethality. She also studies the labor, manufacturing, and environmental impacts of firearms manufacture; state gun regulations in the 18th and 19th centuries; and global gun violence, public health, and policy.
Tucker co-edited the book, A Right to Bear Arms? The Contested Role of History in Contemporary Debates on the Second Amendment (Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2017), which has been cited in amicus briefs and Supreme Court opinions. She has written widely in academic and media outlets, including CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Conversation, and MSNBC, about current debates over the history of the Second Amendment. Her writings on firearms have appeared in scholarly journals including The Journal of Modern History, Technology and Culture, Victorian Review, The Journal of the History of Behavioral Sciences, and UC Davis Law Review.
At Wesleyan, she teaches courses including “Introduction to Guns & Society,” “Reenacting Justice: Guns in America" and “Visualizing Firearms History: Project-Based Approaches.”
Tucker engages nationally and internationally with museum professionals on gun-history related public history projects and is a member of the American Historical Association and the National Council on Public History. She is a former Marshall Scholar, Fulbright Senior Scholar in the UK, and Senior Research Associate at the Science Museum in London. Her research has been recognized and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council, among other organizations. She is a member of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium and a Commissioner on a new Lancet Commission on Global Gun Violence and Health. In 2025, she was elected to the Royal Historical Society.
Brennan Gardner Rivas
Associate Director
Brennan Gardner Rivas is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for the Study of Guns & Society. She was appointed as the associate director for CSGS on July 1, 2025.
Brennan holds a PhD in history from Texas Christian University. Her research has focused on historical gun and weapon regulations, and she is currently working on a book manuscript tracing the development of gun policy in Texas across the nineteenth century.
Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, law reviews, and blogs, and she has been interviewed by journalists and podcasters. A complete list of publications can be found on her personal website.
Brennan has extensive experience with legal and legislative research, including historic criminal records. Since 2022, she has served as an expert witness in numerous Second Amendment cases across the country.
Deidre Goodrich
Program Coordinator
Deidre Goodrich is the Program Coordinator for the Center for the Study of Guns & Society. She manages the Center’s administrative functions including grants, budgets, conferences, undergraduate student researchers, and the Center’s home on campus, Horgan House.
Goodrich brings a broad range of professional experience to the Center: grant writing and management, event planning, public relations, marketing, budget management, and higher education fundraising. She has an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BA in English from Dartmouth College.
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