Celebrating
Student Accomplishments
The
department recognized
excellence in history writing at a reception
held in the UNF Gallery on April 20. Karen
Cousins,
pictured at right,
won the Undergraduate History Prize for her
paper, "Jesus was a Guerrilla: the Development of Christianity in
Nicaragua," written for a class with Professor
Alison Bruey.
Karen will begin working on an M.A. at UNF in the fall, and will serve
as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. James Hill,
at left, won
the Graduate History Prize for a paper he wrote for Professor Denise
Bossy, entitled "Cowetas and
Cubans: A Creek Town’s
Diplomatic ties to the Spanish, 1763-1783." Members of the
awards committee
cited
the
outstanding use of primary sources in both
papers. Cousins will be working in the Archivo General de
Indias in Seville this summer, part of a group working under the
supervision of Professor Michael Francis. Hill did research
in Seville the previous summer.
At the spring College of Arts &
Sciences Award Breakfast, the department honored two students as the
2008-09 Outstanding B.A. Graduates in History: because Kristine
Anderson and David Metz
had such strong records, the faculty made the
rare decision to share the distinction. David Metz will be
studying theology next year at McCormick Theological Seminary in
Chicago, which has offered him a full fellowship. He will
have the opportunity to take courses at other Chicago universities as
part of his program.
History majors this year have been
accepted for graduate work at a number of prestigious
institutions. In addition to those mentioned above, Jamie
Greenmun was awarded a
University Fellowship for Ph.D. work in history
at Northwestern University; Katie Kole
will be fully-funded for her
Ph.D. work at Notre Dame. Michael
Nash,
who wrote an
undergraduate honors thesis on "The Many Faces of Chiang Kai-shek: An
Examination of Political Legitimacy in the Nanjing Decade of Republican
China," will join the Master’s program in East Asian
Languages and Cultures at Columbia University. Rob Wilkinson
will pursue a graduate degree in religious studies at
Villanova.
The UNF chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the
history honorary society, was revived this year under the leadership of
faculty advisor Professor Greg Domber and a group of acting
officers. The organization became official with the induction
of 26 new members on April 10. Outgoing chapter president Sandie
Stratton thanked her fellow
officers Carmen
Derrick, Ben
Langston, and Karen Cousins,
along with volunteer Ramon Day.
The officers for 2009-10 are Carmen
Derrick,
president; Amanda
Chapman,
vice-president; James Hill,
treasurer; and Karen Cousins,
secretary.
The new inductees are Justin B. Blanton,
Nicholas Bodnar, Robert L. Bond, Adeline Cola, Karen Shears Cousins,
Angela M. D'Alessandro, Carmen M. Derrick, Craig P. Haibon, James L.
Harrell, III, Zarak J. Khan, Kathleen M. Kole, Benjamin J. Langston,
Alex Joseph Murray-Laird, Michael E. Nash, Patrick M. Nolan, Catherine
E. Ovadia, Megan M. Pate, David L. Ray, Jr., Karen LeSueur Packard
Rhodes, Suzanne M. Leonard Rogers, Cassandra Gayle Stillson, Sandra
Augustine Stratton, Amber Lynn Strickland, James William Ward, Jr.,
Danielle G. Weinstein, Rob Wilkinson.
Internships
An internship can give history majors a chance to apply their
historical skills in an off-campus setting. Previous interns
have worked with the National Park Service, the St. John’s
Riverkeeper, the MOSH, and a host of other public history projects.
Among the newest internship
opportunities for history majors is a placement with the archives at
St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Riverside. This experience
will give the intern a better understanding of historic preservation,
nonprofits, and the healthcare industry in
Jacksonville. If you are interested in a chance to
work in the original documents of one of Jacksonville’s
oldest medical institutions, contact Janie Smalley at 296-4033, or
contact the history department chair.
Students who can leave
Jacksonville for an internship may want to consider the Student
Conservation Association http://www.thesca.org/
While some
projects are primarily in resource conservation, many are related
directly to history and historic preservation. One UNF
student is currently planning an SCA internship at Cumberland Island,
Georgia.
Other internship opportunities include
local historical societies, the Kingsley Plantation and Fort Caroline,
the Castillo de San Marcos and the Lighthouse Museum in St. Augustine,
and the Jacksonville Museum of Science and History. For more
information about internships, contact department chair Dr. Dale
Clifford.
Faculty news
Professor
Michael Francis, pictured
here on one of the many study
abroad trips he has conducted in Spain, won UNF’s 
2008-2009 Outstanding International Leadership award. Dr.
Francis also received a UNF Summer Research Grant to help fund his trip
to the Archivo General de Indias in Seville.
Professor
Greg Domber, who is
completing his first year as a faculty
member at UNF, has just learned that his dissertation has received the
Betty M. Unterberger Prize from the Society for Historians of American
Foreign Relations (SHAFR). The Unterberger Prize is awarded "to
recognize and encourage distinguished research and writing by graduate
students in the field of diplomatic history."
Professor
Elizabeth
Furdell received a grant
from the Bette Soldwedel
Gender Research center for a scholarly investigation into Victorian
health manuals with an emphasis on advice to women.
Alumni news
1970s:
Joe Somerville
(BA 1976) now employs his
skills as a writer and researcher in the media. He is the CEO
of All Around Media, LLC., the Co-Host of All Around Atlanta TV show,
and atlantadining.com.
1980s:
Jerry Timoney
(BA 1981) is now a colonel
in the Army, stationed in Hawaii, where he runs civil affairs for the
Army in the Pacific and Asia. He credits his history major
with teaching him how to do basic research on issues in Eritrea and
Afghanistan when he was posted there with the UN/US Army.
1990s:
Alan Peacock
(BA 1997) taught history at
Wolfson High School for seven years, and then changed
careers. In May 2008 he graduated from the Lutheran
Theological Southern Seminary with a Master of Divinity, and is
currently the Associate Pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
in Jacksonville. His favorite class in Seminary was Church
History, he writes.
Chris Parrish (BA 1992, MA 1998) is now
Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force and stationed in
Germany. He exercises his interest in history during visits
to historical sites all over Europe.
2000s:
Amanda Chanco
(MA 2006) is the mother of
Douglas James Chanco (DJ), born in March 2009.
Allison Coble
Chandler
(BA 2002, MA
2005) teaches World History at the Bolles School, and is the mother of
Aidan Chandler, born in October 2008.
Katie Dvorak
(BA 2003) has been working
for Howard Dean at the Democratic National Committee. 
She
plans to remain in Washington.
Colleen Sorrells
(BA 2008) teaches AP
World History in the Early College Program at Robert E. Lee High School
in Jacksonville.
Sean McManus
(MA 2005) lives in New York
City. He recently married Spring Dautel, and is working as
executive editor of a new media website in New York called Big Think
(www.bigthink.com).
Don Paige
(MA 2008) will leave the
Bolles School, where he has taught history for nine years, to take a
history position at the College
Prep School in Oakland,
California. He and his wife Mandy and their new daughter
Brecken wanted to be closer to their California extended family.
Laura Root Romine
(MA 2007, pictured at
right) married Michael John Romine on March 23, 2009. She
works as a broker with Fidelity Investments.
Stay in Touch
We would like to feature more news about
history students and alumni in future editions of the history
newsletter. If you have news you would like us to include,
please email the details to clifford@unf.edu
The department is creating a list of the
careers of history majors. We promise not to list you by name
(unless you want us to), but only by your chosen career(s), so just
send a quick email to clifford@unf.edu
with the information.
Support your history
department
If you would like to make a contribution
to the history department, click on the site below, and in the
Designation section of the Donation Information block, click
“Other.” That will provide a blank in
which you can designate your gift to the history department.
https://www.alumni.unf.edu/NetCommunity/SSLPage.aspx?&pid=392&srcid=183
Or
you may mail your contribution to:
Department of History, University
of North Florida,
1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224
