WELCOME TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AT LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY

In the established tradition of liberal arts education, the Department of History provides students with personal cultural enrichment, while preparing them for employment in fields in which historical knowledge, habits of mind, and skills (such as research, analysis, and communication) are valued, and/or for further study leading to careers in teaching, the law, the ministry, government service, and many others.

DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

GENDER STUDIES TO BE LAUNCHED IN THE FALL:
The Gender Studies minor is an interdisciplinary minor that incorporates the approaches of multiple fields in order to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical construct of gender and the political, social, historical, and cultural roles of men and women. Introduction to Gender Studies (GST 101) will be offered for the first time this fall (2009), taught by Professor Laurie Stoff of the Department of History, TR 12:00-1:50 pm. This course serves as the foundation for the Gender Studies minor.  It will address significant events concerning gender in history, literature, and culture. In addition, this course will introduce the student to a variety of important currents of thought in contemporary gender studies. For more information, please contact the coordinator of the Gender Studies minor, Dr. Jo Richardson (jrich@latech.edu); Dr. Jason Pigg (jpigg@latech.edu) or Dr. Stoff (lstoff@latech.edu)

UPCOMING EVENTS:
SHAPING THE 21ST CENTURY: FOCUS ON LATIN AMERICA: Please join the Office of Academic Affairs and the International Education Committee in attending this Spring Quarter's "Shaping the 21st Century: Focus on Latin America."  Planned is an exceptional line up of distinguished speakers, films, musical events, brown-bag lunches, and an art exhibition.  The purpose of this quarter-long series on Latin America is to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the various Americas that exist just south of our border and to consider the role each will play in this century.  This University-wide series brings together scholarly and creative experts to share their knowledge and insight about Latin America with our students, faculty, and the interested public.  All events are free and open to the public. The program of events can be viewed at this link: FOCUS ON LATIN AMERICA

AWARDS:
Congratulations to graduate students Emily Buck and Jenna Steward, who were awarded first and second place, respectively, in the Graduate Division of the Overdyke Competition for 2009. Emily Buck won for her paper, "The Freedom Train?  Cold War Propaganda and Racial Equality in Shreveport, Louisiana, 1947-1948" and Jenna Steward took second with her paper, "Desegregation at Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, 1965-1970." The Overdyke Awards are granted by the North Louisiana Historical Association in recognition of the best research paper in North Louisiana history.

Dr. Brian C. Etheridge has been selected as the 2009 recipient of the Stuart L. Bernath Research Article Prize. Presented by the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the Bernath Prize recognizes the best article by a younger scholar on a topic related to the history of U.S. foreign relations. Dr. Etheridge received the award for his article, “The Desert Fox, Memory Diplomacy, and the German Question in Early Cold War America,” which appeared last April in the scholarly journal Diplomatic History.

PUBLICATIONS:

Dr. David Anderson's article, “’Things Are Different Down Here’: The 1955 Perfect Circle Strike, Conservative Civic Identity, and the Roots of the New Right in the 1950s Industrial Heartland,” has been published in the most recent number of the journal International Labor and Working Class History, the leading scholarly journal in this field.

Hot off the press at Palgrave Macmillan in its "The New Middle Ages" series is Dr. Jace Stuckey's co-edited volume, The Legend of Charlemagne in the Middle Ages: Power, Faith, and Crusade.  In addition to sharing coordination and editorial duties with Matthew Gabriele of Virginia Tech, Dr. Stuckey is a contributor to the volume.  His chapter is called "Charlemagne as Crusader? Memory, Propaganda, and the Many Uses of Charlemagne's Legendary Expedition to Spain."

James Ronnie Smith (MA, 2008) has published article entitled "Shreveport: The Heart and Transportation Hub of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi," in North Louisiana History, XXX, no. 1 (Winter 2009), 3-21. 

 

PRESENTATIONS:
Dr. A. Nazir Atassi presented a paper at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, entitled "Muhammad’s Wife Aisha as Portal of the Prophetic Tradition.” Dr. Atassi also attended the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, where he presented a paper entitled “Did Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Ma’in Obstruct the Spread of Ibn Sa’d’s Tabaquat?”

Dr. Jeffery R. Hankins attended the annual conference of the Sixteenth Century Society, where he presented a paper entitled “Dutch Calvinists alongside English Catholics: Crafts, Conscience, and Religious Conformity in Sixteenth-Century Southeastern England.” During August and September, Dr. Hankins led a Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities RELIC series on “Elizabeth I and Her World” at the Lincoln Parish Library. He also taught continuing education courses on “The Real Tudors of England” and “Politics and Society in the Italian Renaissance.”

Dr. Laurie S. Stoff presented a paper entitled “The Red Cross Under the Golden Eagle: Russia’s Sisters of Mercy of World War I” at the annual meeting of the Southern Historical Association. Dr. Stoff also attended the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, where she presented a paper on “Russian Women’s Participation in World War I: Issues of War and Gender.”

Dr. Jace Stuckey served as a session chair at the annual meeting of the Louisiana Consortium of Medieval and Renaissance Scholars. Dr. . Stuckey also presented a guest lecture at Loyola University in New Orleans, entitled “Imagined Crusades: Memory, Propaganda, and the Legend of Charlemagne in the Era of the Crusades.”

Dr. V. Elaine Thompson attended the annual national conference of the American Association of State and Local History.

ALUMNI NEWS:
Kent B. Germany (BA, 1992; MA, 1994) received the PhD in history at Tulane University.  Previously employed at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia, he is currently assistant professor of history and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina.  Dr. Germany is the author of New Orleans After the Promises: Poverty, Citizenship, and the Search for the Great Society (University of Georgia Press, 2007) and a co-editor of The Presidential Recordings: Lyndon B. Johnson (W. W. Norton, 2007).

Benjamin Mark Allen (MA, 1996) received his PhD in history from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2008.  Dr. Allen is on the history faculty at South Texas College in McAllen.

LaGuana K. Gray (MA, 1999) received her PhD in history at the University of Houston in 2007.  After teaching briefly at Grambling State University, Dr. Gray is now employed as an assistant professor of history at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Alicia Kaigler Jackson (MA, 1999) received the PhD in history at the University of Mississippi.  She is currently employed as assistant professor of history at Covenant College, Lookout Moutain, Ga.

Roshunda Belton (BA, 1999; MA, 2001) received the PhD in history at Louisiana State University.  She is employed as assistant professor of history and interim head of the Department of History at Grambling State University.

Josh Williams (MA, 2004) received the MLIS degree at Louisiana State University.  He currently works as park historian at Old Washington State Park in Hope, Ark.

Jeffrey E. Holmes (MA, 1992) is now employed as district administrator of the Montello Public School District in Montello, Wisc.

Sam McClure (BA, 1995) received his MA in history at Texas A&M University.  He is currently employed as electronic records life cycle officer at the Office of Presidential Libraries, a division of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland.

J. Mark Scalia (BA 1995, MA 1997) is teaching 8th grade social studies at Marco Island Charter Middle School, Marco Island, Fla.  He and his wife Marilyn live on a 47' sailboat.  Mark Scalia is the author of Germany's Last Mission to Japan: The Failed Voyage of U-234 (Naval Institute Press, 2000).  He is at work on a second book. 

Amanda McVay (BA, 2003) received the MA in public history at New Mexico State University.  Currently she is employed as museum director at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport.

Ryan Kilpatrick (BA, 2002) is employed as vice president for business development at Community Trust Bank, Ruston.