The end of my sabbatical!

My sabbatical projects are almost finished. I've got one more chapter to finish and a bit more polishing on my manuscript before I send it off to the readers. Then I will start thinking about the fall teaching.

It has been a productive sabbatical. I polished and sent out an article for publication in the Dublin Seminar Proceedings, wrote a review of a new book for Vermont History, and wrote six chapters for my book. The most interesting thing was my experience with filming a TV interview. I don't know how that came out, but we'll see this fall.

Finally, my major sabbatical project, Max, has been coming along nicely. He's house-broken and knows how to sit and lay down. He understands when I ask him if he wants to go for a walk; he gets excited and jumps around so much I now have to spell w-a-l-k if I want to make it to the door before him. Unfortunately he does not seem to want to learn what "Come, Max!" means, so he has to be restrained when outside, but we're working on that. I

I am getting excited about the fall. The new curriculum should be interesting and I have missed teaching this spring! But, I don't want to get ahead of myself, I still have a bit of summer to enjoy..............


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Location:somewhere on Lake Champlain.....

Senior Presentations and Graduation, 2011

Since Dr. Susan Ouellette is currently on sabbatical leave, completing the manuscript of a book, I have been filling in for her as interim Chair until the end of her term on July 1. After that date I am excited to start a fresh three-year term as Chair of the History Department. This is my first blog post, and it will be one of many in the coming months. We have a lot of news to report, but I want my first posting to focus on our senior thesis presentations on April 29 and the graduation festivities of the past week.

Graduation is always a very bittersweet time for both the History Department faculty and our graduating seniors. Thirty-two of our majors graduated on a very rainy Monday, May 16, and began (or "commenced") a new phase of their lives as Saint Michael's College graduates with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. It is bittersweet because while we faculty are happy to see our students complete their degree, we also fondly remember the many exciting moments of intellectual exchange and learning that we shared with them, both in the classroom or on academic study trips. I for one still recall precisely where many of our graduating History seniors sat in my classroom almost four years ago, shortly after they had first arrived on campus. And though they have left the campus physically as new graduates, many of them will remain in contact with us faculty as they develop their careers as lawyers, secondary or elementary school teachers, college and university professors, museum curators, businessmen or businesswomen (among many other professions).

The History Department celebrated the graduation of our seniors with our annual ice cream social on Baccalaureate Sunday, and one of the highlights of that event for me was the ability to meet and talk with the families of our students over vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. Another highlight of every annual ice cream social is the announcement of the winner of the Pfeifer Prize for the best quality senior thesis from the previous calendar year. This year's (2010) winner was Thomas E. Bradley, a double major in Political Science, whose thesis, "The Right Man in the Right Place: John Hay, the Open Door, and Sino-American Relations," was cited for its "skillful use of primary and secondary sources marshaled in the form of a systematic and convincing argument."

Tom Bradley was not the only History major to win an award at graduation. Our recipient of departmental honors at the Baccalaureate Honors Ceremony was Shelby Superneau, a double major in Secondary Education and member of our local Phi Beta Kappa chapter (Gamma of Vermont). The Father Prevel Memorial Award at Commencement, given to the male student who maintained a high academic level of achievement while making "numerous and exemplary contributions" to the college community, went to Matthew Seklecki. This is the most prestigious award, along with its equivalent (the Fairbanks Award) given to a female student, that a graduate can receive at Commencement. A member of the History Department faculty was also honored at the Senior Brunch. The Student Association of the College awarded Dr. George Dameron the Reverend Gerald E. Dupont Award for his dedication to the ideals of the college and "in recognition of his outstanding contributions" to the college community.

About two weeks before graduation the History Department hosted one of the principal and key events of every spring: the oral presentations by seniors of their senior thesis research projects. We always accompany these presentations with as much pizza and coffee as our seniors and faculty can consume. This spring eleven of our seniors took about fifteen minutes to tell us about what they had discovered in their research. Each faculty member works with up to four students as a thesis advisor, and I advised four students this semester. The topics chosen by my advisees, for example, included the origins of the Robin Hood legend, the role of the theme of "cunning" in Viking sagas, the socio-economic origins of medieval cities in Belgium, and possible ties between bandits in sixteenth century Italy and the emergence of the modern mafia. I can speak for all of my colleagues when I say that the quality of these presentations has been improving steadily over the past few years! This spring was certainly no exception. We congratulate these as well as all our seniors on their graduation, and we wish them the very best as they begin a new phase in their lives.

My sabbatical projects: an update.

Since the new semester has begun, I have been working away at my sabbatical projects, but I sure have been missing everyone at Saint Mike's!

I am currently working on several projects at once: my book project, project work for our teacher institutes through the Turning Points in American History grant, and training my new puppy Max!

My book project is going well and I am on schedule to complete my manuscript by the summer. I am looking forward to finishing this work because I am already thinking about the next research/writing project!

The grant project is also going well with two teacher institutes already under our belt. As the project historian I have been developing reading lists and consulting with the project managers on their web site.

But the most fun has been hanging out with Max!

Max is a cairn terrier, six months old, and, as you can see here, he loves the snow! I believe he thinks he's Nanook of the North! It's a good thing he likes the cold with all the snow storms we've been getting. I'm getting nostalgic for spring flowers myself......

Exploring Vermont History with Professor Judy Peitscher

Vermont Women Lead the Way

With Judy Peitscher and Fifteen Seminarians

Excitedly, I plodded behind one of my students, slipping easily into the snowy footprints. Ethan and Fanny’s Place, the Ethan Allen Homestead, loomed in the dusk. Surprisingly I did not mind the cold, and realized the rest of the group was equally absorbed. So this was where Fanny’s garden was? Here they had grown the flax to become linen for their clothes in the 1780s, and the Three Sisters, beans, corn, and squash, saved them from starvation as the Abenaki had taught the early settlers. Soon we were in the house gazing at the hearth where Fanny and her daughters had labored before the fire. If only we could feel the warmth of that fire now! Dan O’Neil, director of the Homestead, gave us a thorough examination of artifacts from a yoke to a tick, helpful to students in recreating Ethan and Fanny’s Estate Document. And he sweetened the deal with hot chocolate in the “Tavern” afterwards!

“Vermont Women Lead the Way” is my new baby, an outgrowth of my experience teaching and studying American History. Along the way I met Clarina Howard Nichols, an editress of the Windham County Democrat, who crisscrossed Vermont in the 1850s fighting for the right of women to vote in school elections. To my delight I uncovered a connection between Nichols and two of the giants of the 19th century: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Hailing originally from Rochester, I was familiar with Anthony and her quest for the right to vote, and had visited her parlor where she was arrested for voting, but I did not know that these women knew each other. It made sense. After the earthquake of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, where Stanton had the audacity to demand the right to vote, seconded by Frederick Douglass, reverberations were felt up and down the Erie Canal, to Worcester, MA, and the Green Mountain State. I decided to introduce Vermont’s outstanding women and their contributions to interested students allowing us to visit their homes, learn their stories, and make connections with the national movement.

The Reform Era prior to the Civil War lured women out of their homes to fight initially the evils of slavery. Rachel Gilpin Robinson believed fervently in abolition and supported her husband’s efforts in the Ferrisburgh and Vermont Anti-Slavery Societies. We visited her home, Rokeby, in North Ferrisburgh on February 8. “How different Rokeby is from the Ethan Allen Homestead,” one student commented as we gazed at the large farmhouse built originally in 1789, augmented by an eight room addition in 1814. It appeared luxurious compared to the primitive abode of Ethan and Fanny Allen. Treated to an interesting talk by director, Jane Williamson, students found the many Rachels and Rowlands over 200 years of family history to be confusing, since the Robinsons liked to repeat names. However, it was helpful to see the artifacts, pictures, drawings, and books from a family well educated and involved in the Underground Railroad. Rachel Gilpin Robinson was our focus (1799-1862), as she led a boycott of slave produced goods and did her part in the abolitionist movement, despite ill health and four young children. We read a letter she wrote to Rowland in 1839 from Philadelphia in which she described meeting Lucretia Mott, one of the leaders of the anti-slavery movement. Quaker women enjoyed a more liberal education than most women of the time plus they were used to running their own monthly Quaker business meetings, developing skills that would be useful as the reform causes developed.

What is the next stop on our journey? Next week students present their creative primary sources and artifacts for one of Roxana’s children, a project based upon Bonfield and Morrison’s Roxana’s Children, The Biography of a Nineteenth-Century Vermont Family. And in the time of maple sugaring we venture to the Shelburne Museum to find the stories of Louisine Havemeyer and Electra Havemeyer Webb as the fight for women’s suffrage heated up in 1917.

Farewell, until August!

I just couldn't leave for my sabbatical without one more post. I realized that announcing the new Chair of History also meant I was announcing my "retirement," so here goes.....

After five and a half years, I am stepping down as chair of the History Department.

In some ways, I am a little sad to be leaving this job behind. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the faculty and students in the department. We've done a lot of amazing things in the last five years: we hired Professor Purcell and Professor Dungy; we weathered NEASC and an external self-study; the number of majors has grown exponentially.

In other ways, the job has certainly had its perks; it has certainly been nice to be the person who says "yes!" to students when they want to declare a major or minor in History, need a little help with their study abroad application, or just my signature for an add/drop form.

It has also been nice to welcome parents to events like the Phi Alpha Theta induction ceremonies, the ice cream socials at graduation time, or the student research symposium events.

There are some things I won't miss: the extra meetings and the endless administrative paperwork. I am also looking forward to getting back to my research and writing on my sabbatical this spring and then back to full time teaching next fall. I'll see you all in AY 11/12!

New Chair in the Chair!

The History Department welcomes our new chair, George Dameron. In the spring, Professor Dameron will assume the responsibility of leading the department.

Professor Dameron becomes chair in an exciting moment. In the fall of 2011, we embark on a new curriculum with all kinds of changes.

While the department is excited about these changes, we also expect there will be some adjustments to be made.

We also have two new faculty members who will need guidance and mentoring; his plate will be full! We look forward to his leadership in the new year with anticipation and pleasure!

Senior Thesis History and American Studies Students Rock!

Friday, Dec 3rd and Saturday, Dec 4th, were the History Senior Theses Presentations for the Fall semester of 2010. This year twenty-one students presented their capstone projects over two days. The projects ranged from papers on "Bohemia, Sex, and Art" in 20th century United States (Alexandra MacMillan) to "Kingship and Kinship" in medieval Europe (Ryan Socha).

Professor Ke-wen Wang, thesis coordinator for the fall, organized the broad group of papers into sessions of three papers each on related topics. Each student presented their work in a 15 minute talk with powerpoint slides to support their work. At the end of each session, the panel opened the floor to questions from the audience.

All of the papers were interesting, well presented and are a tribute to the students, their hard work, and the students' various mentors. Congratulations on a job well done!