Vol. XXXVIII, No. 7

November 13, 2009

Faculty Notes

Jim Connolly, Ron Morris and Greg Witkowski were recently honored at a President's Breakfast at the Bracken House in recognition of their immersive learning projects.  Jim, Director for the Center for Middletown Studies, and Rodger Smith (Institute for Digital Entertainment and Education) received a Provost's Immersive Learning Grant to complete "Changing Gears," a film about the closing of Warner Gear in Muncie and the significance of that event for the community.  A dozen students  from History, Anthropology, Journalism, and Telecommunications have been involved in the production of this one-hour documentary.  They have filmed, edited, conducted interviews, completed archival research, and helped develop a script for the project.  They have also worked with Rob Goubeaux, a filmmaker from Los Angeles (and BSU alum), who is serving as a consultant for the project.   A rough cut will be completed in December, with a final version to be ready in the spring.  The plan is to distribute it through public television, film festivals, or similar venues.   Ron's spring 2010 project is a collaboration with Professor Paul Gestwicki of Computer Science, and will include students from History, Computer Science, and Computer Graphics.  The project will be a computer gaming project which allows participants to experience life as a person interacting with Morgan's Raid.  This type of interpretation will allow for a better interpretation of events in 1863.  Ron's students are also engaged with community partners to assist in creation of curriculum for small non-profit cultural institutions to identify needs and demonstrate solutions.  He recently received a grant through the Building Better Communities Initiative where his students will work with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of State Historic Sites to create a strategic plan for the Levin Coffin House Association in Wayne County.  The site had operated as a station in the Underground Railroad.  Greg's project, "Learning by Giving", is teaching students how the non-profit sector functions by forming their own grant-making  agency, a temporary "foundation" for the semester, and granting $10,000 to local agencies.  The funds were provided by the Sunshine Lady Foundation.  The class has received eight applications for almost $45,000 and is currently evaluating each proposal.  This program has strengthened ties between the university and Muncie as they have worked with the Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, Inc.  His students will present on their experiences at the national conference for philanthropy, held this year in Cleveland, Ohio.

The University of Northumbria has invited Tony Edmonds to offer a Staff-Postgraduate Seminar on "Harold Wilson, the Labour Movement, and the Vietnam War" on May 19, 2010.  The seminar will be co-sponsored by the Society for the Study of Labour History and the Labour and Society Research Group.

Nicole Etcheson made two recent presentations: "Women in Nineteenth-Century Indiana," Indiana Genealogy and Local History Fair, Indiana State Library on October 24, and "Lincoln's Enemies: The Copperheads in Putnam County," Walker Horizon Lecture, DePauw University, October 26.

Ken Hall presented a paper October 23 on "Urban Networking in Cola-Era South India: The Sthanu Ravi Plates and Malabar Trade in the 9^th Century CE" at an international symposium honoring recently deceased historian James Heitzman at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Heitzman, a participant in the 2007 "Cities" conference at Ball State, was the ranking international academic studying India's urban history.

Ken Swope's article, "The Beating of Drums and Clashing of Symbols: Music in Ming Dynasty Military Operations" has appeared in The Chinese Historical Review 16.2 (Fall 2009), pp. 147-177.  He also has a book review in the same issue.

Sergei Zhuk recently led a discussion on campus about the history of the influence of western music and culture in Soviet Ukraine, entitled "Rock and Roll in the Rocket City".

Alumni News

Amy E. (Robertson) Searfoss (B.S. History and Religious Studies, BSU, 2003) is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.  Since graduating, Ms. Searfoss has had a varied and impressive career, earning a Masters of Philosophy in Nordic, Viking, and Medieval Culture from the University of Oslo in 2006.  In 2007, her article "The McDonaldization of Nidaros," was published in the University of Oslo's journal Vellum. At Victoria University, Amy Searfoss has been the group coordinator for graduate reading groups in "The Study of Studies" and "Cultural Evolution."  She has also been supplemental instructor for Religious Studies 110, "Myth and Ritual," and delivered a guest lecture, "Perspectives on Völuspá," in that course.  The History Department congratulates Ms. Searfoss on her international achievements since graduating.

Calendar 

Members of the History faculty will meet on Wednesday, November 18 in BB 106 beginning at 3:30 p.m.

The Promotion and Tenure (P & T) Committee will meet on Monday, November 16 at 3:15, and Friday, November 20 beginning at 3:00 p.m. in BB 201.  It also plans to meet on Monday, November 23 and November 30, in BB 201 beginning at 3:15 p.m. and December 4 beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Fruesday will be observed on Tuesday, November 24, to accommodate the elimination of Saturday finals.  On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Break, students and faculty will attend Friday classes.

Thanksgiving Break will be observed from Wednesday, November 25 through Sunday, November 29.

The Advisory Committee will meet in BB 201 on December 3 from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Personal Notes

Happy Birthday wishes to Ike Rice on November 15, Ken Swope on November 17, Aaron Miller on November 27, Robert (Andy) Warrner on November 28, and Jacquelyn Nelson on December 1.