Darryl Brock

  • Position:
    Lecturer in History
  • College:
    College of Liberal Arts
  • Office:
    GEH C315
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Educational Background

Ph.D., Modern History, Fordham University

M.A., History, Claremont Graduate University

M.S., Marine Science, University of South Florida

B.S., Biology, Auburn University

Biography

A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Darryl E. Brock received his Ph.D. in Modern History from Fordham University. He came to appreciate China in his assisting the Irvine (CA) Sister Cities Foundation in establishing a sister city with the Xuhui District of Shanghai. Since then, he has added to his global travels (of Europe, Canada, South America, the Caribbean, and Africa) various explorations of Beijing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Shanxi Province. He has received a CUNY fellowship to research the history of Taiwan’s aquaculture (2017), a Wellcome Foundation fellowship to Valencia, Spain to present on U.S. Civil War chemistry (2012), and a British Council fellowship to present on “China and Evolution” at the Darwin Sesquicentennial Celebration in Alexandria, Egypt (2009). His forthcoming monograph Botanical Monroe Doctrine and American Empire: The Scientific Survey of Puerto Rico (2023) traces the role of insular colonial scientists in advancing modernity in Puerto Rico, and also explores the origins of that island’s cultural nationalism. Dr. Brock’s current project engages global imperialism by Western powers toward China. Leveraging his WKU IRSP research grant “French Naturalists in Qing and Republican China,” he addresses the lacuna regarding studies of French scientific imperialism in China. Dr. Brock enjoys Chinese chess, tennis, sailing, travel, salsa dancing, and playing flute.

Research interests

As a global historian of science, Dr. Brock’s past research has focused on U.S. colonial science, modernization and identity in the Caribbean. Dr. Brock currently seeks to explore French natural history interests in nineteenth-century Shanghai, based on the extant French Concession records. His further research goals in China are to compare the origins, structure and scope of Nathaniel Britton’s eighteen-volume Scientific Survey of Puerto Rico to Joseph Needham’s seminal Science and Civilisation in China. Dr. Brock is also pursuing publication of works on local historical figures as part of his “Wenzhou Stories” project (in collaboration with the Wenzhou Tourism Bureau).

Selected Publications/scholarly and creative work

Books

 

Botanical Monroe Doctrine and American Empire: The Scientific Survey of Puerto Rico. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2023 (forthcoming).

Mr. Science and Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution: Science and Technology in Modern China. Lexington Books, 2013 (with Chunjuan Nancy Wei, eds.).

Book chapters

“Introduction: Reassessing the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution” (with Chunjuan Nancy Wei). In Mr. Science and Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution, edited by C.N. Wei and D.E. Brock, 1-39. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield (Lexington Books), 2013.

“The People’s Landscape: Mr. Science and the Mass Line.” In Mr. Science and Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution, edited by C.N. Wei and D.E. Brock, 41-117. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield (Lexington Books), 2013.

“José Agustín Quintero—Cuban Patriot in Confederate Diplomatic Service.” In Cubans in the Confederacy, edited by Phillip T. Tucker, 9-142. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press, 2002.

“The Seeds of Pattonville: 1845-1900” (with L. Bolnick). In Public Education in Pattonville150 Years of Preparing and Caring for the Youth of the Community, edited by Pattonville School District, 1-35. St. Louis, MO: Pattonville School District, 1995.

Journal Articles

“Dixie, Darwinism and Democrats: Evolution and American Intellectual Epiphany.” Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South. Vol. 2 (2025).

“American International Relations: Lessons from Dollar Diplomacy and Caribbean Development.” Journal of Global Development and Peace, Vol. 3 (2011): 1-25.

“American Medical Development in Colonial Puerto Rico.” Journal of Global Development and Peace, Vol. 3 (2011): 63-70.

“Science Innovation during the Chinese Cultural Revolution: Notes from the Peking Review (Scholarly Note).” Southeast Review of Asian Studies 31 (2009): 226–32.

Encyclopedia Articles

“Carlos Eugenio Chardón Palacios.” In American National Biography, edited by Susan Ware. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022.

“Román Baldorioty de Castro.” In Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Franklin K. Knight. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

“Dixie Mission”; “Jesuits”; “Mass Line”; “Peking Man”; “Red & Expert”; “Red Guards”; “Snow, Edgar 1905-72”; “Song Qingling 1892-1981”; “Xu Guangqi (late Ming Christian convert)”; “Yan Fu 1854-1921.” In Encyclopedia of Chinese History edited by Michael Dillon. New York: Routledge, 2016.

“Dominican Republic”; “Dominican Receivership (1905-1941)”; “Occupation of Dominican Republic (1915-1924)”; “Dana Munro”; “Puerto Rico”; “William Howard Taft.” In Encyclopedia of U.S. Military Interventions in Latin America, edited by Alan McPherson. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2013.

Book Reviews

Review of American Empire: A Global History, by A. G. Hopkins. International Social Science Review 96:1 (2019).

Review of From Man to Ape: Darwinism in Argentina, 1870-1920, by Adriana Novoa and Alex Levine. Hispanic American Historical Review 93:1 (2013): 145-46.

 Review of Concepciones y Representaciones de la Naturaleza y la Ciencia en América Latina, edited by Ronny Viales et al. Hispanic American Historical Review 91:3 (2011): 580-81.

 Review of Power over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present, by Daniel A. Headrick. Journal of Empire Studies 1:1 (2011).

 Review of A Cultural History of Modern Science in China, by Benjamin A. Elman. American Journal of Chinese Studies 18:1 (2011): 301-303.

“Drowning Toads by Twenty-something Naturalists.” Review of Darwin Slept Here: Discovery, Adventure, and Swimming Iguanas in Charles Darwin’s South America, by Eric Simons. Skeptic 15:3 (2010): 70-71.

Teaching Publications

“Scoring the AP Exam: Toward an Enhanced Student and Faculty Classroom Experience,” BMCC Inquirer (Fall, 2019).

“Making Online Teaching Real: My Experience Using Skype, BMCC CETLS Blog (October, 2019).

Popular and Specialized Publications

“Xiaohui Ma, Shanghai Erhu Virtuoso.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (June 2008).

“Salsa Shanghai: Latin Style, Eastern Spirit.” Sabor Magazine (Spring 2008): 12-13.

Erhu Holding Hands with the World—Nanxiang’s New Spirit of Expression (in Chinese).” Nanxiang Pictorial Magazine (Shanghai, China), No. 3 (2006): 26-32.

“Adiós a Ray Barretto: Salsa Legend, Latin Jazz Pioneer.” Sabor Magazine, Spring 2006, 1.

“Proposal to Establish Sister City Affiliation between City of Irvine, California, USA and City District of Xuhui, Shanghai, China.” Irvine Sister Cities Foundation (March 2006), 50-page illustrated proposal.

“Space Medicine—NASA’s Valdosta Connection.” Valdosta Magazine 4:3 (2000): 12-21.

“Presidential Sundays—Jimmy Carter Encounters.” Valdosta Magazine 4:2 (2000): 28-43.

“A Chance to Prove Their Loyalty: Valdostans in the Spanish-American War.” Valdosta Magazine. 2:4 (1998): 54-69.

“Edgar Allan Poe—Master of the Macabre, Father of Science Fiction.” Today’s Chemist 6:1 (1997): 29-33.

“So You Got That Dreaded Pink Slip.” Today’s Chemist 5:3 (1996): 17-27.

“The Confederate States Medical and Surgical Journal.” America’s Civil War 8:2 (1995): 8-85.

“Naval Technology from Dixie: James Hamilton Tomb—Confederate Engineer in Brazilian Torpedo Service.” Américas 46:4 (1994): 6-15.

Courses

Worlds of History

History of Science

20th Century America

Business and Professional Communication