Congratulations to Sam Thomas

Congratulations are in order for Dr. Sam Thomas. Sam just received word that he received a UAHuntsville Research Mini-Grant worth $7800 and a Wellcome Institute Grant (based in England) for $2200.

Sam will use the funding for two primary projects. In May, he will attend a seminar at the Folger Library in Washington, DC, on "Secularization and Selfhood." The seminar will explore how individuals in England and America understood the shift from the religious culture of the early modern period to the so-called "disenchantment of the world" that developed in the wake of the Enlightenment.

Then in July, he'll spend two weeks in Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, England, laying the groundwork for his project under development on "Midwifery, Medicine and Society in Early Modern England." While there, he'll survey archives that he will use as he researches and writes two books on the social and cultural history of midwifery between 1660 and 1800.

Well done, Sam!

Scholarship Application Deadline on December 1

Reminder to All Students:

The deadline to apply for UAHuntsville scholarships is December 1! Click here for information.

Please consider applying!

History Club: Halloween Visit to West Mastin Lake Elementary School and Election Day Fundraiser

The History Club has been very active lately. On Halloween Friday, the History Club visited a third grade class at West Mastin Lake Elementary School in Huntsville. President Veronica Ferreira brought goodie bags full of healthy treats, and member Craig Noneman talked to students about how Halloween started, how Irish immigrants brought Halloween with them to the New World, how trick-or-treating came about, why people make Jack-o-lanterns, and how Americans began the practice of carving pumpkins. Students then asked a lot of questions.

The History Club also held a successful fundraiser on November 4, Election Day, selling baked goods in Morton Hall and making $120.00. The Club will use the money to organize additional service activities at West Mastin Lake Elementary, one for Presidents' Day in February and for Women's History Month in March.

Great work, History Club!

Pictured here are Craig, Veronica, and Veronica's son Timothy, a member of the third grade class at West Mastin Lake Elementary.

UAHuntsville History Alum Featured in Huntsville Times

Rusty Hughes, a UAHuntsville History Alum, was recently featured in the Huntsville Times, which described a mock election activity that he organized with all 780 students at Riverton Middle School to help them learn about the electoral college.

According to the article, "Each classroom in the building represents a state, from the largest homeroom designated as California, which has the most electors at 55. Principal Todd Markham's office represents Montana, with its three electoral votes. The students will vote Tuesday by homeroom, or state, and the votes will be tallied to see who wins the election."

Hughes' eighth grade students also hosted a debate with ten students researching Barack Obama's positions and another ten researching those of John McCain.

Hughes teaches seventh grade civics and geography and eighth grade world history.

It is so exciting to see our alums engaging so creatively in the classroom and in their schools! Good work, Rusty!

Dr. Johnson publishes "Training Socialist Citizens"

Molly Johnson's book, Training Socialist Citizens: Sports and the State in East Germany is out! The press is Brill Academic Publisher of Leiden, The Netherlands. Here is the summary from the back of the dust jacket:

"Offering a counterbalance to previous scholarship on elite Olympics sports and doping scandals, this study analyzes how the East German government used participatory sports programs, sports festivals, and sports spectatorship to transform its population into new socialist citizens. It illuminates the power of the East German dictatorship over its population, the ways that citizens participated in, accommodated to, and resisted state goals, and the government's ultimate failure to create eager socialist citizens. It also highlights the orchestration of participation in modern dictatorships, the role of mass participatory sports as both a valuable political tool and a popular leisure activity, and elements of continuity and change in twentieth-century German history."

Congratulations, Molly, we are proud of you!

Congratulations to New Phi Alpha Theta Inductees

On Friday, October 24, UAHuntsville's Tau Omega chapter of the national Phi Alpha Theta history honorary inducted ten new members. Pictured here see Christina Barnett, Ruth Behling, Charity Ethridge, Jamie Farrell, Samatha Hillgartner, Svetlana Jovanov, Jonathon Moore, and Craig Noneman. Robin Flachbart and Lewis Martin were also inducted, but were unable to attend.

Many current PAT members also attended the induction. See here the full group, which includes the new inductees, Faculty Advisor Dr. Molly Johnson, and members Jennifer Staton, Joseph Richardson, Elisabeth Spalding, Charles Westbrook, Sarah Fisher, Dawn Suiter, Jennifer Coe, and Greg Hughes.

Many thanks to UAHuntsville alum, PAT member, and current instructor Barbara Wright for letting us use her home for the ceremony. Thanks also to PAT President Elisabeth Spalding for her help coordinating induction, to Secretary Sarah Fisher, Treasurer Dawn Suiter, and department administrative assistant Bev Gentry for helping set up, and to other PAT members who helped with clean-up.

Congratulations new inductees!

Successful Visit by Oral Historian Charles Morrissey

The History Department was pleased to welcome distinguished oral historian Charles T. Morrissey to UAHuntsville October 19-23, 2008.

Morrissey gave two public lectures, an afternoon lecture on Tuesday to the Honors Forum on "Oral History and the Modern Presidency," and an evening lecture on Wednesday on "Life and Memory in America: Oral History in an Age of Public Amnesia." He also gave guest lectures in two classes and met with members of the History Department to discuss the public history program we are currently developing.

Thanks again to the UAHuntsville Faculty Senate Distinguished Speakers Series, the Honors Program, the Humanities Center, and the Bankhead Foundation for helping the History Department make Morrissey's visit possible!

Pictured here see Morrissey responding to questions from audience at the Wednesday evening talk and students and community members gathered for a post-lecture reception prepared by History Department administrative assistant Bev Gentry.