The Department of History and American Studies is pleased to announce the upcoming lecture by Dr. Roger Connor, “Counternarratives in Public History: Aviation and Criminality.” Dr. Connor is a curator and historian at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. His lecture will take place on zoom on Tuesday, February 16, 4pm-5:30pm. For access to the zoom link, please contact Dr. Harris at sharris@umw.edu.
Sarah Pietrowski Earns National Phi Alpha Theta Award
The Department of History and American Studies is delighted to announce that Sarah Pietrowski has earned the national Phi Alpha Theta Undergraduate Scholarship award.
This award is granted for excellence in scholarship to competing History majors in their senior year, along with a $1,000 scholarship to accompany it.
We are happy to cheer Sarah and celebrate her success!
Summer Internship (Paid) — Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative
Application Deadline: March 15, 2020 or when 350 applications are received (please see details below)
This summer, be a part of a transformational experience that goes beyond just another internship. Through hands-on activities and original research, you will contribute to a national effort to share a diversity of women’s voices from the past and present. You will learn to use unique tools for civic engagement and representation in museum and other community spaces. You will develop familiarity and experience with museum practice and American women’s history.
Who? Undergraduate and recent graduates with a commitment to women’s history
What? Eight-week long cohort internship experience, with paid group housing, reimbursable travel to and from Washington D.C., and a weekly $382.50 stipend. The total value of this internship, including the weekly stipend and the paid group housing, is $6300 (not including travel reimbursement).
Where? Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
When? June 14 – August 8, 2020
Why? Opportunity to explore various career paths, networks, leadership and mentorship experiences, and build practical professional skills.
Application deadline: Be advised that this application will close on will close at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on either: (A) Sunday, March 15, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time or (B) The date that 350 applications are received; whichever occurs first. If the announcement closes on the date that 350 applications are received, all applications submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time that day will be given consideration, including those in excess of 350.
See this link for full info and application instructions: https://womenshistory.si.edu/news/2020/02/paid-summer-internship-application-now-open
Talk: “Mexican Muralism Abroad” – Davida Fernandez-Barkan (2/20)
Mexican Muralism Abroad:
The Diplomacy of Arte Popular, 1920–1940
Davida Fernandez-Barkan
PhD Candidate Harvard University
Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Thursday February 20
Melchers 207
5pm
For more information contact Dr. Allyson Poska aposka@umw.edu
Image:Alfonso Xavier Peña, Rural Education, 1937. Oil on Canvas. Embassy of Mexico in France, Paris
Winter Celebration–And Best Wishes for Finals Week!
The Department enjoyed a Winter Celebration party with History and American Studies majors on Friday afternoon, after a great day of senior thesis presentations at our department’s research symposium.
Cheers to all who came to celebrate with snacks, games, and prizes, as well as good conversation. We’ll be celebrating again next spring, so stay tuned!
We’re on now to Finals Week. Stop by the the department hallway for coffee if you need a break between exams. We’ll have some brewing. Best of luck with finals, papers, and projects, and have a great winter break!
History and American Studies Symposium–December 6, 2019
History and American Studies Symposium
University of Mary Washington – Friday, December 6, 2019
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
SESSION ONE. 9 AM. Monroe 210 – Writing, Texts, and History
Moderator: Dr. Krystyn Moon
Carolyn Stough. “Gender and Perspective in Eighteenth-Century Women’s Travel Writing”
Justin Curtis. “Performing Imperialism: Dime Novel Representations of Wild West Folk Heroes”
Kyle Moore. “Shanghai as a Representation of China in 1930s Chinese Fiction”
SESSION TWO. 9 AM. Monroe 111 – Infernos and Fevers in United States History
Moderator: Dr. Jeffrey McClurken
Connor Carmichael. “The Great Conflagration of 1871: A Social History of the Great Fire’s Aftermath in Chicago”
Nicole Stell. “Presidential Illnesses of the Twentieth Century and the Role of the White House Physician”
SESSION THREE. 10 AM. Monroe 210 – Selected Papers in American Studies and U.S. History
Moderator: Dr. Erin Devlin
Cassiel Haynes. “Migrant Labor through the Eyes of Braceros”
Courtlyn Plunkett. “Americanization at Hull House”
Rebecca A. Akers. “Dolley Madison: The Real First Lady”
SESSION FOUR. 10 AM. Monroe 111 – Military History and World War II
Moderator: Dr. Susan Fernsebner
Jack Hagn. “Early United States Military Aviation: How American Aviation Stalled Out”
Devin Wright. “Moral Courage: German Resistance against Hitler and the Nazis during World War II”
SESSION FIVE. 11 AM. Monroe 210 – Religious History: Of Mothers, Converts, and the Messiah
Moderator: Dr. Allyson Poska
Samantha Hampton. “Khadija: The Mother of the Believers”
Jacob Spencer. “Conversos and the Spanish Inquisition”
Alec Cameron. “Sabbatai Sevi: Kabbalah and the Messiah”
SESSION SIX. 11 AM. Monroe 111 – New Perspectives in American Studies
Moderator: Dr. Steven Harris
Ellora Larsen. “‘Only a Footnote in History’: Native Americans in Decline of the Western and the Rise of Red Power, 1950-1970”
Ginny Bixby. “The Complicated Legacy of a Segregationist: The Renaming of Mills E. Godwin Middle School”
Sherronda Robinson. African American Involvement in the ‘Just Say No’ Campaign.
SESSION SEVEN. 1 PM. MONROE 210 – Environment and U.S. History
Moderator: Dr. Porter Blakemore
Cole Hogan. “History of the Rappahannock River”
William Roszell. “Urbanna Oyster Festival: A History of Celebration through the Festival”
Nick Skibinski. “Secessions in Succession: Contrasting South Carolina and Virginia in the Secession Crisis”
SESSION EIGHT. 1 PM. MONORE 111 – Famine, War, and Labor
Moderator: Dr. Nabil Al-Tikriti
Erica Piper. “Ukranian Resentment: The Famine of 1932-33 Recounted by Ukranian Peasants” [S. Harris]
Timothy Shinkle. “Soviet-Afghan War: Understanding the Complexity Surrounding the War through the Soviet Perspective”
Will Everett. “A Long and Bitter Fight: The Interplay of Socialism, Organized Labor, and Nationalism during the Irish Revolution, 1912-1923”