Since joining the faculty in 2013, Professor of History Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre has earned a reputation as a prolific scholar and beloved teacher: At Trinity\u2019s 199th Commencement in May, she received the Trustee Award for Faculty Excellence, and her \u201cHistory of Wine\u201d course is a perennial favorite.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeaching something like wine is a really great way to pique students\u2019 curiosity and open their eyes to a way in which history is culture, it\u2019s economics, it\u2019s politics, it\u2019s social change,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She knows the subject well. Regan-Lefebvre holds a WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 3 wine certification, earned during the pandemic after 100 hours of study. Her 2022 book, Imperial Wine: How the British Empire Made Wine\u2019s New World<\/em>, received the prestigious Andr\u00e9 Simon Award and was the product of a decade of research.<\/p>\n Ask her to name a favorite wine, and she\u2019ll scoff. \u201cThat\u2019s like asking if I have a favorite book or a favorite child. What I love about wine is that there\u2019s always more to learn. But,\u201d she concedes, \u201cI never refuse champagne.\u201d<\/p>\n Her love of history took root in Hingham, Massachusetts, where she was drawn to her hometown\u2019s colonial past. When she was 10, her family moved to London after her father was tapped by the National Football League to help launch its European league. What was supposed to be a short stay turned into nearly a decade.<\/p>\n Regan-Lefebvre graduated from the American School in London, where the city itself became a classroom. She often rode the bus to the National Gallery and marveled at the layered architecture on the way. \u201cOne of the beauties of London is you can go down a street and see three or four centuries represented architecturally,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n As an Irish-American in London during The Troubles, she felt a strong pull toward Irish nationalism. \u201cI find it kind of ironic,\u201d she says of her decision to study British imperialism. \u201cBut I\u2019ve definitely made peace with my Britishness.\u201d<\/p>\n At Georgetown University, she majored in international history and got her first taste of teaching while tutoring for Capital Educators, a company co-founded by Debbie Pine \u201992. \u201cThat\u2019s where I cut my teeth as an educator,\u201d Regan-Lefebvre says. The experience of preparing lessons and managing a classroom proved formative.<\/p>\n By graduation, she suspected academia might be her path\u2014even as she mulled a career in diplomacy. She enrolled in a master\u2019s program at Queen\u2019s University Belfast and ultimately earned a Ph.D. \u201cI just loved research,\u201d she says. \u201cI love learning, and I didn\u2019t want to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n At Trinity, Regan-Lefebvre shares this love of learning with her students. In one course on parliamentary debate, students reenact historical debates using only contemporary information. The exercise sharpens their ability to analyze evidence, to structure arguments, and to speak with confidence. \u201cI stand by that as a really good, if wacky, way to teach writing and argumentation,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n She also shares her own writing with students. \u201cThat sounds self-serving,\u201d she laughs, \u201cbut it\u2019s very useful. I want to be vulnerable with them about the challenges for writers. If you\u2019re having a tough time with writing, that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re bad at it. It means that you\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Regan-Lefebvre\u2019s impact extends well beyond the classroom. \u201cFrom my first semester at Trinity College through today, [she] has been a thoughtful and generous mentor in my life,\u201d says Haley Dougherty \u201918, who recently graduated from Harvard Law School. \u201cProfessor Regan-Lefebvre instilled in me a sense of confidence and academic curiosity.\u201d Dougherty credits her former professor with encouraging a transformative study-abroad experience and providing a rare opportunity to work as an undergraduate research assistant, including presenting at a conference together in Australia.<\/p>\n In addition to teaching, raising three children, and chairing Trinity\u2019s History Department, Regan-Lefebvre is co-editing a six-volume series on the cultural history of wine. She\u2019s also writing a short book on how history is used to market and sell wine.<\/p>\n How does she find the time? \u201cI don\u2019t,\u201d she quips. \u201cSometimes you just have to admit defeat! I\u2019m always tired, but I\u2019m an extrovert and I thrive on this. I love being around people, I have a very supportive spouse, and I\u2019m always trying to impose order on the chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By Eliott Grover Since joining the faculty in 2013, Professor of History Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre has earned a reputation as a prolific scholar and beloved teacher: At Trinity\u2019s 199th Commencement in May, she received the Trustee Award for Faculty Excellence, and her \u201cHistory of Wine\u201d course is a perennial favorite. \u201cTeaching something like wine is a really great way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"parent":4669,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4809","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nPhoto by Nick Caito<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"