Congratulations to Our Recent Graduates

The History Department is pleased to congratulate our students who graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with BA and MA degrees in December 2008 and May 2009.

In December 2008, Whitney Snow graduated with an MA degree in history, and James Bedsole, Jenna Fanning, Adam Keenum, Dillon Lee, and Stephanie Pinto graduated with BA degrees in history.

In May 2009, Greg Hughes, Svetlana Jovanov, and Carl David Stanford graduated with MA degrees in history, and Ruth Behling, Jeremy Garrett, Stanley Arthur Harrison, Christine McIntosh, Geoffrey Michael, Craig Noneman, Mosheda Pettus, Joseph Richardson, and Jennifer Staton graduated with BA degrees in history.

We are very proud of all of our graduates, and we wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Please stay in touch with the history department!

Congratulations to Chad Pearson on Dissertation Award

The department is pleased to congratulate Chad Pearson on international recognition for his dissertation, completed at SUNY-Albany in 2008, on "’Organize and Fight’: Communities, Employers, and Open-Shop Movements, 1890-1920." The Labor History journal chose Chad's dissertation as one of the best three dissertations in labor history for the year, giving it an "honorable mention."

Chad teaches world history and western civilization courses and US history survey courses at UAH and at Calhoun Community College. He is also teaching an upper-level course on US Labor History at UAH in the fall 2009 semester.

"Organize and Fight" explores organized employers and anti-union activism in three cities: Cleveland, Ohio, Buffalo, NY, and Worcester, Massachusetts. He points out that hundreds of employers were active movement-builders, union-busters, and political activists. In the study, he highlights the difficulties of building union-busting associations, the tensions between employer-organizers and rank-and-file members, the drama of breaking strikes and busting unions, and the ways in which employers used public relations in their struggles. This work seeks to explain the chief reasons why organized labor failed to achieve many of its goals during the so-called Progressive Era.

Chad is currently revising the dissertation and has begun working on a new chapter on organized employers and open-shoppery (a philosophy that insists that workers have the right to refuse to join labor unions) in Huntsville and Chattanooga.

History Major Sarah Fisher Wins a Student Government Association Student Leadership Award

History major Sarah Fisher, who is also double majoring in Political Science and has a minor in Sociology, was awarded a Student Leadership Award at the Student Government Association annual awards dinner Monday April 20.

Sarah was nominated and won the award primarily for her successful work as a Peer Mentor in the Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) program sponsored by the Student Success Center at UAH. As a PASS tutor for 5 semesters, Sarah has attended the survey courses of 4 different history professors and organized thrice weekly break-out sessions with enrolled students to review course concepts and develop study skills. Dr. Diana Bell, director of the Student Success Center, has chosen Sarah to help coordinate and supervise PASS mentors in Academic Year 2009-2010.

Sarah is also about to start a co-op internship with the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) here in Huntsville. She hopes to work for the government after her graduation in Spring 2010.

Congratulations, Sarah!

Another Successful Liberal Arts Tournament Day

Congratulations to Bev Gentry, event coordinator for the History Department, and to all of the students who participated in and won awards at the 2009 Liberal Arts Tournament Day on April 16, 2009. Students from area high schools, including Randolph, Grissom, Ardmore, Johnson, Catholic, Covenant Christian Academy, Buckhorn, Athens, and Brewer/Falkville, traveled to campus to compete in the categories of US History, World History, Art, and Government. In addition to participating in the competition, visiting high school students found out information about attending UAHuntsville and enjoyed a good lunch.



Total competitors in the two History categories were 130 students. Stephen Thrasher of Grissom High won the US History award and Marshall Moore of Grissom High won the World History award.

We were delighted to welcome so many high school students to UAHuntsville. Special thanks to Bev Gentry for all the hard work that made this successful event possible!

History Major Ruth Behling Selected for FBI Internship

Congratulations are in order for History major Ruth Behling, who has won a "Scholastic Honors Internship" with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). She will graduate from UAH in May 2009, and she will complete the Scholastic Honors Internship from June 8, 2009 to August 14, 2009 in Washington, DC.

Ruth has worked very hard during her years at UAH. In addition to completing a History major, she has also completed minors in Art History and Global Studies. Ruth is also a member of the Phi Alpha Theta history honorary. The FBI internship is also a clear marker of Ruth's persistence. As she stated, "When I recieved word that I was second place I stayed with the application process. Then I received word I actually received a position. This was not another "almost" in my life but an actual opportunity to do something different." Ruth hopes that the internship "will open doors for me to venture into and help me figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life." She also stated that, "With this internship I can learn how I can stop the corruption that is prevalant in our nation."

We are so happy for you, Ruth, and looking forward to hearing about your experiences!

Congratulations to MA Alum Thomas Reidy

The history faculty at UAH were pleased to hear recently that our MA alum, Thomas Reidy, who is pursuing a PhD in American history at the University of Alabama, has received the Frank Lawrence Owsley Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is given annually to a UA Grad student who demonstrates superior competency in American History.

Tom was also asked to and will begin working on a documentary for PBS about the lives of Clifford and Virginia Durr. The Durrs were an Alabama couple. They were New Dealers who became deeply committed to Civil Rights and are the subjects of several books.

We are also pleased that Tom will be rejoining us in Fall 2008 to teach two sections of History 103, the first half of the world history sequence.

It is nice to see our alumni doing so well!

Congratulations to History Major Jennifer Staton, Winner of a Fulbright Fellowship!

The History Department is proud to celebrate the achievement of Jennifer Staton, who just received word that she has won a Fulbright fellowship to teach English in Germany during Academic Year 2009-2010. The fellowship will cover almost all of her expenses. She will be placed at a high school and will assist an English teaching inside and outside the classroom.

This prestigious honor is the culmination of years of hard work at UAH. In addition to majoring in History, Jennifer has completed a minor in English and has also taken several courses in German. She has also developed her teaching skills by working as a tutor in the Writing Center and in the Peer Assisted Study Session program led by the Student Success Center. Jennifer also spent two weeks in Germany in May 2008 as part of a Global Studies/History course on Nazi Germany.

In addition to fulfilling her responsibilities as a teaching assistant and cultural ambassador, Jennifer will also have the chance to travel, visit art museums, and pursue her interests in early modern German and English history by visiting libraries and archives.

Pictured here see two photographs of Jennifer taken in Germany in May 2008, one picturing her with a painting by Johannes Vermeer in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin and a second featuring her in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

Congratulations, Jennifer. We are proud of you and wish you all the best!