Spring 2012 News
Student Scholarship Winners
The History Department congratulates the student winners of the following scholarships, to be used during the 2012-13 academic year:
- DeMaille Family Scholarship - Janelle Bourgeois
- O'Leary History Scholarship - Mary-Kathryn Hazel
- O'Leary History Scholarship - Meghan A. Chapman
- D. & R. Goodwin Scholarship - Mark E. McEntee
- Zamanakos Scholarship - Gina Marie Ippolito
- Zamanakos Scholarship - Simon M. Paonessa
- Zamanakos Scholarship - Derek B. Winslow
Student Awards
The History Department is pleased to announce that the following students have been selected to receive book awards, based upon their exceptional academic merit and service:
- Holly Louise Bowers, "Excellence in History" award for highest G.P.A.
- Lauren Jean, "Mary Blewett Award for Research"
- Ashley Jean, "Charles Carroll Award for Service"
History Symposium of Phi Alpha Theta
The UMass Lowell chapter of the History honor society, Phi Alpha Theta, held a student symposium on Wednesday May 2, 2012, in Coburn 205 from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. Five students presented the results of their research, and engaged in dialogue with faculty, family, and friends.
- Jonathan Zlotnik: “Actors at the End of a Bad Play: Polish National Armies from the Kosciuszko Uprising (1794) to WWII
- Lauren Jean: ‘The Death of Cu Chulainn: Ancient Celtic Pagan Imagery and the 1916 Easter Rising’
- Mary-Kate Hazel:’ The Political Activism of African-American Female Freedom Narrative Authors, Civil War-1910’
- Alexandra Hurtubise: ‘The Baltimore Affair: Analysis of a Crisis’
- Daniela Nedbalek: ‘Nationalism, Identity and Gallic Culture in Modern France’
New President of Phi Alpha Theta
Lauren Merrill has been elected as President of the UMass Lowell chapter of the History honor society, Phi Alpha Theta, for the 2012-2013 academic year!
New President of UMass Lowell History Club
Mary-Kathyrn Hazel has been elected as President of the UMass Lowell History Club for the 2012-2013 academic year!
Teaching Award for 2011-2012
Ethan Spanier, in his first year at UMass Lowell, has been nominated for the Department Teaching Award for 2011-12. Dr. Spanier teaches a range of classes in Ancient History; his students rave about his vast knowledge, his multilingual skills, and his interest in helping undergraduates to explore the ancient world. In June 2012 Dr. Spanier will lead a group of UMass Lowell students on a study trip to Greece.
Student Mary-Kate Hazel wins the prestigious Laska Award
Junior History major Mary-Kate Hazel has been awarded the Vera and Andrew J. Laska Award by the New England History Teachers’ Association (NEHTA) for 2012. This competitive award consists of a cash prize of $2000 and a certificate confirming the award. The money will be used to further Mary-Kate Hazel’s study of United States History during her senior year at UMass Lowell and to support her eventual attendance at graduate school. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in nineteenth-century U.S. History, with a particular concentration in African-American, women’s, and Southern history in the post-Civil War period. Her prize-winning essay discussed the importance of studying History as a means to understanding the present.
The award, which has been distributed since 2005, is named for the late well known History Professor, Dr. Vera Laska, a NEHTA Kidger prize winner, and her husband Andrew J. Laska, who was a successful businessman. Dr. Laska, a native of Czechoslovakia, received her Ph.D. in American History from the University of Chicago. She taught at the University of Illinois, Roosevelt University in Chicago, and for many years at Regis College, where she chaired the Department of History, and the Division of Social Sciences. She was the author of over 300 articles and reviews, and seven books. Andrew J. Laska, who served with the anti-Nazi resistance during WW II, was instrumental in founding branches of the Kendall Company in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, and retired as a director of marketing for the company's International Division.
The New England History Teachers' Association (NEHTA) was founded in 1897 and is the United States’ oldest association of teachers of history and social studies. It promotes discussion of teaching in the field amongst teachers, students and academics. The NEHTA sponsors meetings each year dealing with topics of special interest to its constituency and joins with other associations and groups in promoting those interests. Currently, The New England Journal of History (until 1988, The New England Social Studies Bulletin) is published twice annually and offers historical research, reviews, and methodological articles. The NEHTA also publishes The NEHTA Newsletter and Forum (formerly The NEHTA Newsletter). It offers short articles of current concern, information on the NEHTA and resources for those involved in teaching history. Annually, the NEHTA presents the Kidger Award for outstanding contributions to research, teaching, or service to the profession, and the Laska Award for undergraduate research.
Events
On Wednesday, February 22, 2012 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. in Dugan 204, Prof. Abby Chandler will lead a workshop for History students on how to prepare a conference proposal.
On Wednesday, February 28, 2012 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. in Dugan 204, Prof. Chandler will lead a second workshop for History students on how to write the actual conference paper.
Prof. Ethan Spanier, in his capacity as Director of the new UMass Lowell Hellenic Center, has organized the inaugural Zamanakos Endowed Lectureship on Thursday, March 1, 2012 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. with lecture to follow, at the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center. Entitled “Constructing Motherhood: the Cult of the Virgin in Byzantine Culture”, the lecture will be given by the Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine Art History at Harvard University, Prof. Ioli Kalaverezou.
The History Department is currently conducting a search for an Assistant Professor of Islamic World History, to begin September 2012. Prof. Christoph Strobel and Prof. Lisa Edwards are co-chairing the search, which will bring 3 finalists to campus in early February to meet with students and members of the department.
Faculty News
Prof. Abby Chandler presented her work to the UMass Lowell Faculty Research Series on Scholarship in the Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, on Wednesday, February 1 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. in O’Leary 478 conference room. The title of her presentation was “’Always Ready and Willing to do for them what lay in her Power’” The Legal Role of the Essex County Midwife”.
Prof. Christopher Carlsmith will present aspects of his work to the UMass Lowell Faculty Research and Publishing Forum, a monthly gathering of FAHSS faculty to critique each other’s work. Carlsmith will discuss a chapter from his current work on student colleges in early modern Bologna; this one focuses in particular upon student health, student diet, and other aspects of daily living.
Prof. Lisa Edwards presented aspects of her current research to the Faculty Research and Publishing Forum on November 16, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. in O’Leary 478 conference room. The title of her workshop was “Demanding Democracy: Electoral Conflicts in Chile, 1869-1891", which is part of a broader project about political history in modern Chile.
Prof. Michael Pierson led a group of students and faculty in an animated discussion of Civil War Literature on the evening of January 24, 2011 in O’Leary library. The group expects to meet once per month for two hours, beginning with small-group discussion and then moving to a larger conversation. The readings for January’s discussion included the historical fiction novel “March” by Geraldine Brooks, and the first section of “America’s War’, a compilation of writings from the Civil War. Prof. Pierson noted that the group had two goals: “One of them is to have a place where people can come and sharpen their knowledge and ideas. Secondly, and probably a bigger goal, is to let people know that they can have a place where they can come and discuss intriguing history.”
Prof. Shehong Chen is conducting research in China while on a one-semester sabbatical.
Prof. Robert Forrant is deeply involved in efforts to commemorate the centennial of the Bread & Roses Strike in Lawrence, MA. This dramatic event had a profound history upon the labor history of the state, and indeed of the country; it is being marked by a series of lectures, conferences, and public events.