History Department Accomplishments
Another Stupendous Year

• Symposium On University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) presentations were offered by:
            Undergraduates: Billy Holly, Marissa Humphrey, Taryn Heinze and Sadie Thayer.
            Graduate students Rachael Birks and Al Miller.
  
  
• Several students joined Phi Alpha Theta in May:
            Tamara Caulkins, Brian Enyedy, Tyler Killam, Maggie Rose La Riviere, Pablo Ledesma, Charles Riley, Tyler Soldat, and McKayla Sutton.
  
  
• Dr. "Howard" Shi, visiting from X'ian Normal University in China spent 2006-07 in residence, completing a History of the City of X'ian from 1000-2000. This is a sequel to his previous volume.
  
  
• Honors in History was earned by Kymber Jennings, who will finish up her undergraduate career with a two quarter internship in Romania next fall and winter.
  
  
• Several students participated in the regional Phi Alpha Theta convention in Lincoln City, Oregon, presenting their original research papers:
            Undergraduate: McKayla Sutton
            Graduates: Rachael Birks, Tamara Caulkins, Patrice Laurent, Steve Meyer, Al Miller, Katie Pittner, and Ian Stacy
            Our Rachel Birks won the regional prize for Best Paper and has been invited to present her award winning research to the American Historical Association/Pacific Coast Branch conference in Honolulu in August. Her topic: "Dancing Cubanidad: Reconfiguring National Identity through Fidel Castro's Cultural Project, 1959-1973."
  
  
• Dr. Stephen Moore won the Teacher-PEAB's (Professional Education Advisory Board) Crystal Apple Award for a CAH faculty member who has a positive impact on the field of teacher prep and CWU pre-service candidates. The award will be presented June 8. His efforts to assist NCATE in evaluating our teacher education programs for national accreditation were enormous.
  
  
• Dr. Jason Knirck won the College of Arts and Sciences award for Outstanding Faculty Research at the May CAH banquet.
  
  
• Al Miller, graduate student, won the College of Arts and Sciences award for Graduate Student Scholarship Achievement at the May CAH banquet for "Aspects of British Identity as Exhibited in Accounts of Russia by British Visitors."
  
  
• Four MA Theses were completed this year
            Andrew Caveness (on the friendship between Edmond S. Meany and Chief Joseph, 1901-05 with Prof. Herman)
            Juanita Harmon (on student demonstrators in China in 1947 with Prof. Cook)
            Carolynn Clark (on "Erich Kastner's Mission in Postwar Germany, 1945-58: Essay in the Neue Zeitung" with Emeritus Prof. Heckart).
            Patrice Laurent (on "Coffee's Competing Visions: The Development, Contestation, and Negotiation of Soconusco's Coffee Economy" with Prof. Ervin). The History Department faculty nominated Patrice's thesis for the CWU Distinguished Thesis Award
  
  
• Scholarships and Awards:
            The History Department's Topmiller Prize for Best Written MA Thesis was awarded to Patrice Laurent.
            Haley Whitehall won the Clareta Olmstead Smith Scholarship of $4000 for 2007-08.
            The Barto award for tuition for 2007-08 was won by Maggie Rose La Riviere.
            Greg Hinze won the Alumni Association Scholarship for this year.
            Ed Robé won the Olive Irelan Scholarship for this year.
  
  
• Tom Wellock was selected as Phi Kappa Phi Scholar of the Year. He will present a speech on May 31.
  
  
• Ken Munsell was awarded the East-West Center residency for five weeks in summer 07, for the study of Asian culture, at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
  
  
• Karen Blair was chair of ADCO (Academic Department Chairs Organization) for 2006-07.
  
  
• Tom Wellock chaired the Graduate Council.
  
  
• Dan Herman chaired the General Education Committee.
  
  
• Roxanne Easley took a sabbatical in 2006-07 to work on Russian impact in Alaska.
  
  
• Jim Cook taught English at Shimane Women's University in Japan for fall and winter quarters.
  
  
• Marji Morgan taught History 302 for the department in winter and hopes to do so next year as well.
  
  
• Dan Herman won a sabbatical for 2007-08. He was awarded a six-month residency at the Clements Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
  
  
• Jason Knirck and Stephen Moore won release time for 2007-08, one quarter in duration.
  
  
• A new T.A.ship at Thorp Mill was held by Tanner Dotzauer in 2006-07.
  
  
• A new experiment in T.A.s at the Writing Center funded Tamara Caulkins in 2006-07 and was shared by Katie Pittner and Brian Wesley Hart. It was successful and will continue next year, with two pairs of history TAs.
  
  
• The T. As. for this year were Paul Baker, Rachael Birks, Tamara Caulkins, Rich Coleman, Bryan Enyedy, Bryan Hart, Al Miller, Katie Pittner, and Ian Stacy.
  
  
• Thom Bahde served as an adjunct but will be moving to San Diego in June.
  
  
• Megan McLean was an adjunct in fall and spring, taking winter off to produce Ruby.
  
  
• Mike Ervin launched film and speaker series for the Latino/Latin American Studies Program which he directs.
  
  
• Mike Ervin won the Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching award at the Homecoming Banquet last October.
  
  
• History Department speakers on the CAH Speaker Series this year included Karen Blair, "True History of CWU" and Jason Knirck, "The Dominion of Ireland : Ireland , the British Empire and anti-colonialism."
  
  
• The history faculty entertained alumnus Scott Beyer, class of '71, attorney in Yakima, on May 15. He received a college recognition certificate at the CAH evening banquet.
  
  
• Maurice Amutabi was hired on the tenure-track in September 06. He attempted to offer a spring break course in Ghana, but it was under subscribed. Maurice traveled to Kenya in May for research.
  
  
• Jim Cook hosted a spring break course in Japan for a dozen CWU students.
  
  
• Mike Ervin is preparing to escort students to Mexico in late August, 07.
  
  
• Tom Wellock published Preserving the Nation: The Conservation and Environmental Movements, 1870-2000.
  
  
• Jason Knirck published Women of the Dail and Imagining Ireland's Independence.
  
  
• Maurice Amutabi published The NGO Factor in Africa.
  
  
• Papers published:
            Dan Herman published on spiritualism in American Nineteenth Century History and on "A History of Humans and Animals" in Age of Empire.
            Jason Knirck published on "Dominion of Ireland" in a special issue of Eire-Ireland.
            Jim Cook published "Reimagining China: Xiamen, Overseas Cineses and a Transnational Modernity" in Everyday Modernity in China.
  
  
• Dan Herman tried teaching the US survey in the evening, two nights a week and it was well subscribed. Years ago, it did not draw students.
  
  
• Dan Herman offered a double section of the US survey, 70 students instead of 35, aided by two TAs, who ran discussion sections on Fridays. The experiment will be repeated next year, in all three quarters, to try to free up instructors for research.
  
  
• National conferences at which presentations were offered:
            Jason Knirck at New York's American Conference for Irish Studies and Irish Studies Program at Boston College;
            Maurice Amutabi at the San Francisco conference of the African Studies Association and University of Texas conference on Africa;
            James Cook in Kyoto;
            Mike Ervin at British Columbia's Congress of Mexican, US and Canadian historians
  
  
• Regional conferences at which presentations were offered:
            Both Roxanne Easley and Stephen Moore at Pacific Northwest History Conference;
            Jason Knirck at Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies;
            Maurice Amutabi in Spokane
  
  
• Speakers on campus: Karen Blair hosted Dr. Patricia Schechter of Portland State University, speaker for Women's History Month and two speakers for the Local History Series funded by the Clareta Olmstead Smith Endowment: Dr. Lou Cabeen from the University of Washington on Yakima Quilts and Dr. Lorraine McConnaghy from the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle on Oral History.
  
  
• Judges for the regional Washington State History Day Competition were Roxanne Easley, Jason Knirck, Rachael Birks, Sadie Thayer, Sid Gaertner, Heidi Morris, Rami Attebury, and Thom Bahde. Karen Blair judged at the state History Day Competition at Green River Community College.
  
  
• A new fund for Student Travel Abroad was established, with contributions from Zoltan Kramar, Jay Brennan and Paul LeRoy, all emeritus professors.
  
  
• At the annual Memorial Event in May, the son of professor emeritus Daniel Ramsdell, Joe Ramsdell, participated.
  
  
• Emeriti News: Zoltan Kramar taught in Pecs, Hungary for the fourth time, in autumn term of 2006. Beverly Heckart chaired the M.A. committee of Carolyn Clark.
  
  
• Alumni news: Jody Bell was hired by Kittitas High School. Kelsey Karsh, currently working in social services in Seattle, has joined the Peace Corps and will head to French west Africa in September for work with AIDS.
  
  
• Graduate student plans: Juanita Harmon will enter the Ph.D. Program at SUNY/Binghamton.
  
  
• Undergraduate student plans: Billy Holly will attend Northern Arizona University for his Ph.D. degree in Liberal Studies. He won a T.A. there.
  
  
• Ian Stacy won first place in the CWU Photo Contest.
  
  
• Community:
            Dan Herman began a monthly column on the editorial page of the Daily Record on historical topics.
            Marji Morgan began a wine column for the same publication.
            Karen Blair served on the Kittitas County Historical Museum Board.
            Marji Morgan served on the Gallery One Board.
            Tom Wellock served on the city environmental commission.