Archaeology Lecture: Goddesses of North China

On Thursday Feb. 1, the North Alabama Society of the Archaeological Institute of America is bringing Dr. Tracy G. Miller of Vanderbilt University to UAH. She will give a lecture entitled "From Village Girl to Divine Empress: The Goddesses of North China and their Temples." The event will be held in Chan Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Dr. Lillian Joyce at joycel@uah.edu or 256-824-6114.

Goodbye to Virginia Martin: Teacher, Colleague, Friend

The History Department is sad to say goodbye to Ginny Martin, who taught Russian, European, and world history at UAH over the last decade. We wish her all the best! Here is an open letter Ginny emailed to the department:

"In late November, my husband was offered a dream job in Madison, Wisconsin. It took us about 30 seconds to decide as a family to begin a new chapter of our lives "back home." Being Wisconsinites, we just couldn't imagine raising our two daughters without snow! After 10.5 yrs on the UAH faculty, there is so much that I will miss! Grading 100-level student exams is not on the short list, but interacting with students definitely is! I'll miss everything from discussions about Soviet "Communism" and Ottoman ethnic policies to helping conscientious students write term papers. I'll really miss my colleagues in the HY department -- from the first day I met them, I knew they were a special group of people (even Waring!...yes, and Gerberding, too!), and leaving them behind creates a big hole in my daily life. In the short term, I look forward to completing a few articles to submit to scholarly journals for publication. I have three separate positions as editor or editorial consultant for publications in the field of Central Asian/Eurasian studies. In the longer term, I hope to return to teaching, at least part-time, and expect to continue my scholarly research on Kazakh history."

Dr. Martin's email address will be changing, but she says she'd love to hear from students and know how they are doing; please ask Bev Gentry for her contact information.

One and done for Philip Boucher

Philip Boucher, Distinguished Professor of History, will retire from UAH at the end of this spring semester. Beginning in the fall of 1974, Dr. Boucher has taught here for thirty-three years. He remarked that the biggest change at the university has been the younger age of the typical student. When he began, he was 29 years old, and UAH was a commuter campus; his classes had many students about his age! In recent years, after UAH built more dorms, students have gotten younger. Boucher leaves UAH still walking in his historian boots. Johns Hopkins University Press will publish his book France and the American Tropics to 1700: Tropics of Discontent? in the late summer this year. He found writing the book challenging because it required knowledge of diverse topics including the environment, indigenous peoples, French colonists, and slaves. Dr. Boucher plans to stay in Huntsville, and after a couple weeks of rest and recreation, turn to a second volume on France in the tropics. Bon voyage, Professor PB!

Visiting Scholar to Speak on Athletics in Fascist Italy

The History Department, together with the North Alabama Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, is pleased to announce the upcoming visit of Dr. G. Vincent Arnold of Concordia College to UAH. Dr. Arnold will give a lecture entitled "Athletics, Architecture, and Authority in Fascist Italy" at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, February 5, in McDonnell Douglas Hall.

Dr. Arnold will also speak on "Archival Research and Fascism: A Scholar's Journey Through the Nine Circles of Hell" to students enrolled in Dr. Molly Johnson's seminar on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. This lecture will be on Tuesday, February 6 at 3:55 p.m. in Roberts Hall 423.

Maya Adventure!

In December, Dr. Waring traveled to Guatemala and Honduras to visit several Maya sites! He visited the ruins of the Maya cities of Yaxha, Tikal, Quirigua, and Copan. He learned about jungle and jaguars, beans and maize, kings and calendars, pyramids and astronomy, turkeys and robollo, ball games and human sacrifice. In these images from Tikal, Waring surrenders atop the observatory in the Lost World, and pitches a shut out in the ball court next to the Jaguar Temple.