EIU Students Do Living History for Women’s History and Awareness Month

Each year the Living History Program, sponsored by EIU’s Women’s Studies Program, recruits students to portray women in history at local elementary schools during Women’s History and Awareness Month in March. On February 26, four EIU students partook in The Living History Premier Presentation, an event open to the public, at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library.  For more information about the Living History program, please visit the Women’s Studies Program’s website.  You also can read about this year’s Living History Premier Presentation over at the the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier, and find more information about this year’s Women’s History and Awareness Month at the Women’s Studies’ WHAM page.

From left to right: Cayla Wagner, Ashley Samoska, Taylor Yangas, Amy Wywialowski

EIU History major Cayla Wagner portrays Genevieve (Audrey) Wagner. Audrey Wagner was an all-star outfielder in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

EIU English major Ashley Samoska portrays portrays rock legend Joan Jett. The feminist icon is well known for her 1982 #1 hit “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”.

EIU HIstory major Taylor Yangas portrays Polish nurse and activist Irena Sendler. Here, Yangas explains how Sendler smuggled more than 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.

EIU History major Amy Wywialowski portrays Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA.

2014 History Careers Day

The History Department hosted its annual History Careers Day on Friday, February 21. The event featured students, faculty, staff and alumni talking about internships, graduate school, grants and fellowships, professional history work and all kinds of other career advice.

Many members of the EIU community (students, faculty, staff, and alumni) came for all or part of the event.

Dr. Sace Elder, Chair of the History Careers Day Committee introduces our first panel of the day

Dr. Charles Foy (center), Dr. Ed Wehrle (back) and Dr. Sace Elder (front) discuss internship and fellowship opportunities–very important in today’s job market!

Undergraduate student Amy Wywialowski (left) and graduate student Stephanie Templin (right) describe their public history internships

(from left to right) Dr. Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz, Dr. Lee Patterson, and Dr. Mark Hubbard talk about their research.

Our keynote speaker, EIU History alum and Director of Field Services for the Illinois Association of School Boards, Dr. Patrick Rice, on the importance of school boards.

Dr. Newton Key (left) listens to EIU Career Counselor Bobbi Kingery (center) talk about the strong job skills that a history degree provides: research, writing, and analytical skills, just for starters.

Dr. Patrick Rice (left) with Chris Carron (right), Director of Collections at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and alum of Eastern Illinois University’s Historical Administration Program

Crystal Abbey, M.A. alum who is now at the Vermont Law School, was able to join us via Skype. Here she poses with two of her grad professors: Dr. Elder (left) and Dr. Key (right). Crystal’s advice? “Get an M.A. in History from EIU!”

Open House 2014: History & Social Science Teaching Showcase

On February 17th, History faculty and students introduced prospective students to the department. Topics included history careers, working with primary evidence, the Honors Program, Public History, and Social Science Teaching.

Dr. Anita Shelton welcomes our visitors

Dr. Newton Key discusses research and teaching with 18th century evidence

History faculty and students inspect Dr. Key’s collection of 18c print artifacts

Emily Scarborough, current M.A. student and B.A. alum talks about her Honors thesis project on women’s suffrage in Illinois

Dr. Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz discusses Public History for undergraduates and the Social Science Teaching program

History MA Alum Wins State Teaching Award

Villa Grove social studies teacher and EIU MA History alum Kyle Osborne has been recognized as this year’s Smart/Maher VFW Citizenship Education Teacher Award winner for the state of Illinois at the high school level. Each year the Veterans of Foreign Wars bestow these awards upon the nation’s top elementary, junior high and high school teachers who promote civic responsibility and help students develop a better understanding of democratic values and beliefs.

Dr. Young publishes encylopedia article on Medieval Archaeology in France

Dr. Bailey Young’s article  “France, Medieval Archaeology in”  is now available online in Claire Smith (ed),  Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer Science + Business Media (New York, 2014).

You can access the entire encyclopedia, including Professor Young’s article, through the Booth Library website. Visit the library’s Ebooks page here, click on the link for Springer eBooks: Reference Works, sign in, and then search for the encyclopedia.

History Careers Day 2014

Sponsored by the EIU Department of History, this year’s History Careers Day is Friday, February 21, in Room 4400 of Booth Library. Please visit  http://www.eiu.edu/history/historycareersday.php to register.

2014 History Careers Day Schedule

10:00-10:50: Apply Yourself!: Grants, Internships, and Graduate School
Wanting to spend the summer gaining professional experience? Hoping to do research but needing support to do it? Thinking of applying to graduate school but don’t know where to start? Dr. Ed Wehrle, Dr. Charlie Foy, Stephanie Templin, and Amy Wywialowski will share their experience and advice.

11:00-11:50: The Work of History: Faculty Discuss Their Research
Professors Hubbard, Laughlin-Schultz, Patterson, and Rymsza-Pawlowska will talk about what it’s like to be a professional researcher:  traveling to archives, discovering evidence, and writing history.

12:00-12:50: Lunch and Keynote: “How School Boards Keep the Public in Public Schools”
Dr. Patrick Rice, EIU history alumnus and Field Services Director for the Illinois Association of School Boards, will discuss his new book Vanishing School Boards: Where School Boards Have Gone, Why We Need Them, and How We Can Bring Them Back.

1:00-2:30: History Alumni Panel: From Major to the Career
EIU alumni will discuss how they have used their training as history majors in their careers, while Bobbi Kingery (Career Services, EIU) will discuss how you can put your skills to work on the job market.

History Major Wins Prestigious Livingston C. Lord Scholarship

We are proud to announce that Jessica Nunez, a major in History with Social Science Teacher Certification, has won the prestigious Livingston C. Lord Scholarship.  This is the ninth year in a row that a history major has won the award. The Lord Scholarship is the only award for which recipients are honored annually during the spring commencement ceremony and is considered the University’s most prestigious award for academic excellence.  Please join us in congratulating Jessica on her remarkable achievement!