Seminars & Events
On February 6, 2012 at 8:00pm in St. Mary's Hall, the cartoonist Denis Kitchen will give an illustrated lecture entitled "Underground Comix: An Inside History."
See the History Department Calendar for more information!
Program Highlight
The Colonial History Concentration takes advantage of our special relationship with Historic St. Mary's City, the first capital of Maryland and a colonial archeological site, research facility, and museum.
SMP Spotlight
"My St. Mary's Project was truly the culminating experience for my undergraduate years. The process brought me full circle; I was able to take a piece of literature I had read in my very first semester and keep discussing and applying theory to it in my last. My SMP proved to me that I could sustain great ideas and discipline myself, even when I was discouraged. Working so closely with my SMP mentor, Christine Adams, was really valuable, offering a one-on-one environment that I had never had with my regular classes. I came away from my project knowing more about my topic than I thought I ever would -- and I still love it!"
Department News
UPCOMING:
On February 6, 2012 in St. Mary's Hall, cartoonist and comic publisher Denis Kitchen will give an illustrated presentation entitled "Underground Comix: An Inside History."
Denis Kitchen was an important cartoonist and a primary publisher of underground comix in the late 1960s through the 1970s. His Kitchen Sink Press subsequently pioneered the graphic novel genre. In his long and distinguished career, he has also authored books on comics, received multiple Eisner and Harvey Awards for his works, curated exhibits, has served as an advocate and defender and in this capacity founded the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. He will give an illustrated lecture, both funny and serious, on the underground comix revolution, which was an exhilarating period when comics were reinvented, evolved into a vital part of the American counter culture, and tested the limits of freedom of expression.
In December, 2011, Dr. Charles Holden's new book The New Southern University: Academic Freedom and Liberalism at UNC will be released by the University Press of Kentucky.
Other News:
The History Department recently hosted a well-attended discussion about potential non-academic job opportunities for History majors on November 7, 2011 in the Kent Hall lobby. Past History graduates who now work at History Associates, the Maryland State Archives, and the Rensselaer County Historical Society led the discussion and provided valuable information to current students about what their different lines of work entail.
During the Fall 2011 semester, Dr. Gail Savage led her HIST 328 class (British History to 1688) on a day trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the Folger Shakespeare Museum.
During the summer of 2011, Dr. Christine Adams and Dr. Charles Holden co-led a study tour to France entitled "Over There: The American Military Experience in France, WWI and WWII."
In May 2011, Dr. Adriana Brodsky co-led (together with Dr. Cristin Cash and Billy Friebele) the "third edition" of the St. Mary's College Andean Studies Study Tour to Peru.
Students Matt Anthony, Beth Bowers, Gabe Young and Mike Youngborg presented research papers at the March 2011 Phi Alpha Theta regional conference at Bowie State University. Gabe Young and Marty McGowan also participated in a round table discussion of the book Blood on the Snow: The Carpathian Winter War of 1915 with author Graydon Tunstall.
In July 2010, the University of Illinois Press published Dr. Chris Adam's new book Poverty, Charity and Motherhood: Maternal Societies in Nineteenth-Century France.
During the 2009-2010 school year, Dr. Ken Cohen and his Colonial America Research Seminar (HIST415) students compared their readings on religious architecture in the Chesapeake to a local example when they held class discussion at nearby St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, built in 1767.
Tom Barrett was the guest lecturer at the Will F. Jenkins Day celebration in Gloucester, VA. Jenkins, from Gloucester, was a path-breaking science fiction writer. One of Tom's recent projects has been to recover Jenkins' significance to 20th C US fiction. Through Tom's initiative, the Virginia state government passed a resolution declaring June 27th Will F. Jenkins Day in the commonwealth.
Adriana Brodsky and her "History of the Jewish People in the Modern World" students met with Argentine Ambassador to the United States Hector Timerman on April 21, 2009. The Ambassador discussed with the group the experiences of his father, famous Jewish journalist Jacobo Timerman, a "disappeared" and tortured prisoner of the Argentine dictatorship of the 1970s. Hector Timerman helped gather support for his father's liberation then and has since fought for justice and the defense of human rights.
On April 18, Ken Cohen's American Revolution class visited old city Philadelphia. They toured Elfreth's Alley (an intact row of townhouses that were occupied by artisans in the eighteenth century), the National Constitution Center, and Independence Hall.
Gail Savage has been appointed a book review co-editor for the Journal of British Studies, the official publication of the North American Conference on British Studies. She also gave a paper at the 2009 British Scholar Annual Conference on February 19. The title of the paper was "Oslo or Reno? Competing Models of Modernity in Early Twentieth Century Divorce Law Reform."
Tom Barrett co-authored a House Joint Resolution that was passed by the Senate of the Virginia General Assembly and signed by the governor designating June 27, 2009 as Will F. Jenkins Day in Virginia.
