Boone’s Dispatch · events, praising them for their achievements, and offering them assistance if...

A Few Words from History Department Chair Dr. Christiane Taylor

"Don’t rest on your laurels; there’s always room

for improvement." Some may characterize these phrases as old adages, but not in the EKU history department. This year we are implementing new initiatives to recruit majors to our distinguished programs and to assist our students in achieving success in their academic endeavors and career preparations.

As part of our year-long programming in observance of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in Kentucky, we are inviting area history teachers and their students to join our faculty for a meal and attend a talk by such notable historians as Eric Foner and Catherine Clinton. We are also inviting high school students interested in history and EKU to come for a day and shadow some of our majors, and conducting dual-credit history courses in four regional high schools.

We just inaugurated a new history tutoring program staffed by eight highly capable and trained graduate

and undergraduate students working out of a newly furnished and welcoming facility here on the

third floor of the Keith building. We have a new communication system in place that automatically communicates with our majors throughout the year reminding them of critical dates and upcoming events, praising them for their achievements, and offering them assistance if they are struggling academically.

We’ve even revamped advising. Beginning next semester, we are setting aside two days exclusively

to assist our students in course planning for the upcoming semester and then making separate appointments to discuss such critical matters as academic progress and career planning. The combination of a very tight and competitive job market and EKU’s revised general education program has created an opportunity for us to encourage our students to pursue double majors, minors, and internships.

What’s next? With such an enthusiastic and highly capable and productive group of colleagues, who knows? But whatever emerges next will be to serve even better our students, EKU, the region and

the Commonwealth.

Fall 2012

Eastern Kentucky University’s Department of History Annual Newsletter

Boone’s Dispatch

Fall 2012


Boone’s DispatchCatching up with some of our alumni...

Kathleen Elberson(B.A. in History, Class of 2009)

Currently seeking M.A. at University of Kentucky1. What are you doing professionally and/or educationally these days and how did your time in the EKU History Department help prepare you for the work that you do?

In July 2009, after I graduated from EKU, I enlisted in the Tennessee Army National Guard to become a cryptologic linguist. Following my completion of Basic Combat Training, I spent almost two years at the Defense Language Institute-Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California, learning Modern Standard Arabic for my job. It was an extremely challenging, but rewarding experience. I finished up two and a half years of my job training earlier this year at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. Currently, I am a graduate student in the Patterson School working towards my Master’s in Diplomacy & International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. Both profession-ally and academically I quickly realized the importance of quality writing skills. During my time as a History major at EKU, my writing ability undoubtedly improved with the help of all my professors. In

addition, critical thinking proves to be a core competency in my military intelligence work, as well as my graduate studies. Each of my history courses challenged the students beyond their comfort zones, allowing us to develop our critical thinking capabilities that can, as I attest, benefit us later in life.

2. Is there a particular memory (class, professor, fellow student or students) that stands out to you as a symbol of your experiences as a student in the EKU History Department?

I cannot pinpoint a specific moment or individual that would ultimately define my history studies at EKU, but I can highlight some experiences. I had changed my major several times before taking HIS 203 with Dr. Appleton, when I discovered history was my passion. Generally, I found the History Department one of the most personable. My prior engagements with other departments truly lacked something, which I was able to find in Keith and University Building. I really do feel that the EKU

History Department actively tries to engage its students not just in the classroom, but outside of their regular blocks of instruction. Personally, my attraction is to the first half of the 20th century in US history, but one of the greatest classes I took was Dr. Sefton’s HIS 302 course on the Crusades. I had very little knowledge of this topic beforehand, and it still astounds me today how much understand-ing of that time period I was able to walk away with in a semester’s time. The vignettes on professors and course quality at Eastern are boundless, but it was these attributes that made my education at EKU an adventure.

3. What advice would you give to one of today’s EKU History majors?

My advice to current History majors would be to take advantage of the time and courses offered. Everyone has their personal historical interest, but do not be afraid to expand outside of your concentration. Also, get to know your professors. Building a relationship with your educators not only helps you in the classroom, but in the future as well. Do not just limit your learning to the Univer- sity building. Each of the professors in the department has their own unique histories and experiences that you can benefit from. Lastly, I would advise you to read; do not stop short at your required readings, but expand your subject base. I promise this will not only make you a better historian, but will also help with your writing abilities and more.

Catching up with some of our alumni...Dr. Doug Whitlock

(B.A. in History, Class of 1965)Current President of Eastern Kentucky University

1. How did your time in the EKU History Department help to prepare you for the work that you do today?

One of the reasons I am excited about our goal at EKU of making our students informed critical and creative thinkers who can communicate is that I believe that’s exactly what my Eastern education did for me. That is particularly true for my experience as a student

of history on this campus. My passion in history is social and intellectual history. I have always thought that focusing on the “who” and “why” of history alongside the “what” and “when” are particularly powerful when teaching students how to discern and evaluate; in fact, how to learn. I am a firm believer in the transfer of learning and am convinced that the mental “skills” I gained from the study of history have helped me with any topic I have tackled. I am convinced that whatever strategic view I have is grounded in my study of history. Not sure who I heard say it first, but I do not believe history repeats itself,

but that it often rhymes.

2. Is there a particular memory (class, professor, fellow student or students) that stands out to you in some way as a symbol of your experiences as a student in the EKU History Department?

Jack Jackson and Tom Coffey were classmates of mine in history and we are dear friends to this day. The Ideological Foundations of Western Civilization classes, which we shared, were among the most powerful learning environments I have ever experienced. I would stack the classes I took with Bill Berge, Clyde Lewis, George Robinson, Gene Forderhase (never had Nancy) and Bob Stebbins against any history classes anywhere.

3. What advice would you give to one of today’s EKU History majors?

Don’t worry about those who question what the study of history prepares you to do. From my perspective and experience, it prepares you for any profession where the ability to think critically and creatively are valued. That is almost anything. I was (and am) a student of history and I have taught journalism and computer science. Now, I have been blessed to be president of my alma mater. There may be someone I am missing, but I am aware of five Eastern graduates who have become college and university presidents. Four of the five were history majors. That’s not bad.

Fall 2012


Boone’s Dispatch

Doug Whitlock, Hugh Haynie, Mary Ann Nelson & Keen Johnson

Doug Whitlock, Yearbook Portrait

1963-1965

1963-1965

1963-1965

Doug Whitlock writing on board.

In Memoriam...William (Bill) Henry Berge

EKU Class of 1957, Professor Emiterus1995 Hall of Distinguished Alumni

A 1957 graduate of Eastern, Professor William H. Berge returned to his alma mater in 1961 as a faculty member in the EKU History Department, where he taught for thirty years until his retirement in 1991.

Through his three decades on the faculty, he inspired thousands of students, and the results of his leadership on several vital issues are still manifest across the EKU campus today.

As much as any member of the EKU community, Professor Berge worked actively and conscientiously to foster a climate of racial inclusiveness on our campus in the 1960s. He served as faculty advisor to the predominantly African American student EKU Gospel Ensemble that functioned as a key ambassador for EKU across the state and region in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also faculty advisor to Omega Psi Phi—EKU’s first predominantly African American Greek letter organization. The vital legacy that he and his wife Marion built on these issues lives on in the Dr. William and Mrs. Marion Berge Scholarship Fund for African American students at EKU.

Professor Berge was also an innovator within our discipline, working to establish EKU’s Oral History Center, housed in the EKU Archives, which now bears his name. His work is also still visible at the Blue Heron Outdoor Historical Museum at the Big South Fork National River and Recreational Area, of which he was one of the principal initial designers. The universal respect which he held throughout our campus community was reflected by the decision of President Robert Martin to name Professor Berge EKU’s Ombudsman in 1969.

Selected for the EKU Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 1995, Professor Berge was a campus leader through a vital period of growth and transition at EKU, and he will be sorely missed.

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Boone’s Dispatch

Eastern has lost, at least not to be seen again physically, a true giant, a literal legend, someone who cannot be adequately replaced. No one’s influence and presence has crossed more lines, and created more interest at this institution than this unpretentious, honest, and forthright man. I take particular pride and honor in having known my mentor and friend for over fifty years, an eyewitness to his many contributions to Eastern Kentucky University. Dr. Berge never ingratiated himself to individuals, but showed genuine respect to everyone he met. One can find his im-print on student, faculty, and staff activities and initiatives all over this university. Most of what I’ve accomplished at Eastern and beyond I owe to Bill Berge. I’m reminded of venerable Texan and former Houston Oiler [N.F.L] Head Coach, “Bum” Phillips, who shared a very special relationship with football player Earl Campbell. Once questioned by a sports reporter about the greatness of Hall of Famer, Earl Campbell, as to what ‘class of running backs would he (Phillips) would put Campbell in,’ the crusty old coach thought for a minute and said ‘I don’t exactly know what ‘class’ you’d put him in, but it wouldn’t take long to call roll!” So it is with Bill Berge, a true pillar of this institution who’ll never be forgotten.

Jack Jackson

A tribute by EKU History alumnus Jack Jackson

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Boone’s Dispatch

In June of 2012, the Board of Regents approved the naming of the Eastern Kentucky University Oral History Center in honor of emeritus history professor, Dr. William H. Berge. Housed in Special Collections and Archives in the EKU Libraries, the Berge Oral History Center continues the work of the original center that was estab-lished in 1977 under Dr. Berge’s direction.

HistoryThe EKU Oral History Center began amid a state-wide initiative, coordinated by the Kentucky Bicentennial Oral History Commission, to establish and support oral history projects for the celebration of the bicentennial of the nation and Kentucky. Eastern first used commission funds in 1976 to support the Robert R. Martin Oral History Project, which was organized by Charles Hay of the University Archives, and continued the use of commission funds for Oral History Center projects, as a supplement to its university budget allocation. Through the efforts of Dr. Berge and his successor, Dr. William Ellis, who took over in 1986, the program was very effective. Nearly 3,000 interviews were completed on various topics important to the university’s service region, such as educa-tion, coal, politics, the Kentucky River, the Great Depression, veteran’s reflections, and EKU history. Although university funding for the center was cut in 1994, additional interviews have been completed since that time, and currently over 3,600 interviews have been organized, preserved, and made accessible in Special Collections and Archives.

Reviving the CenterBuilding on the work of the original center, the Berge Oral History Center is committed to taking a more proac-tive role in the process of saving and sharing the stories and history of the region. Its mission is to collect and preserve recorded interviews that document the history and culture of Kentucky and Kentuckians. This includes establishing a virtual center to provide better access to interviews and collaborating with EKU faculty, staff, students, and community members to continue the tradition of documenting Kentucky history through the spo-ken words of its people.

The Berge Center staff continues to be responsible for the long-term preservation of oral history interviews. They also connect project managers with resources to conduct high-quality interviews by allocating recording equipment and by providing training and resources. The staff has developed and articulated standards and guide-lines for file formats and legal documentation, and plans to help connect potential project managers with fund-ing sources. At this time several projects are underway including: Stinking Creek: 50 Years of Progress, Model Laboratory School History and Veterans of Foreign Conflict.

Reviving the Oral History Center at EKU honors and expands on the exceptional work done by Eastern alumnus and faculty member William H. Berge. Please contact Jackie Couture ([email protected]) or Debbie Whalen ([email protected]) for more information.

The Berge Oral History Center: Honoring the Work of William H. Berge

mailto:jackie.couture%40eku.edu?subject=The%20Berge%20Oral%20History%20Center

mailto:debbie.whalen%40eku.edu?subject=The%20Berge%20Oral%20History%20Center

Catching up with a few of our current students and recent alumni...

Joy Freeman (B.a. 2012) has been accepted into the M.S. in Library Science program at the University of Kentucky.

Katherine LittLe (B.A. 2009) is currently employed full-time at the Madison County Library in Richmond, KY.

Krista (ZaBawa) rhodus (B.A. 2007) has just completed a Master’s in Public Administration and has since begun a Master’s in Library Science. She is currently employed as the Assistant Director of Library Advancement at EKU Libraries.

steven riLey (B.A. 2007) completed his Masters in Secondary Social Studies at the University of the Cumberlands and is currently in his 5th year of teaching at Henry Clay High School in Lexington, KY. He currently teaches Social Studies, serves as the cross country coach, and is the treasurer of the Fayette County Education Association.

angeLa roLLs (B.A. 2012) has started the M.A. in Teaching program at Georgetown College in Special Education and is teaching special ed. in Prestonsburg, KY.

James (Jas) smith (B.a. 2011) is now teaching Social Studies at Paris High School in Paris, KY.

danieL weddington (B.a. 2007) holds an M.S. in Library Science from the University of Kentucky. He has recently taken a new job as the inaugural Digital Archivist at the College of William and Mary.

dustin hiLL (m.a. 2011) has begun work in the M.S. in Library Science program at the University of Kentucky.

neiL KasiaK (m.a. 2012) works in the EKU archives and is teaching Dual Credit courses for us (the EKU History Department) in Danville and Irvine.

dan royaLty (M.A. 2012) was accepted into the Ph.D. program in Higher Education Administration in the University of Kentucky’s Department of Educational Policy Studies & Evaluation.

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Boone’s Dispatch

Are you interested in recruiting prospective students in your area to come to Eastern? The EKU admissions office is stepping up its recruiting efforts and making better use of EKU alumni. If you are interested in learning more about how you might become involved, please send your contact information (Names, address, telephone number, email address) to the History Department Chair, Chris Taylor. at [email protected]. Do you know any prospective students who might be interested in coming to Eastern next year or even in the next two or three years? If so, also send their contact information to Chris Taylor (name, address, telephone number, email address, year in school, and, if known, area of interest). Remember that if you know of students who are interested in majoring in History or History Teaching, we can arrange not just a campus visit, but during most days of the week, attending one of our upper division history classes.

Alumni Opportunity

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Boone’s Dispatch

The EKU history department has long been known for the quality of its outreach programs. Throughout the 2012-13 academic year, the department is spearheading the university’s campus-wide observance of the 150th anniver-sary of the American Civil War. Titled “Shadows of Blue and Gray: The Civil War in Kentucky,” the commemoration is designed to offer students, faculty, and Kentuckians at large the chance to take part in a number of events tailored specifically toward the war in the commonwealth.“I’ve worked with departments across campus in putting together lectures, teacher workshops, and unique courses,” commented Tom Appleton, professor of history and campus coordinator of the yearlong project. “We picked 2012 to begin the sesquicentennial observance because the pivotal year for Kentucky in the conflict was 1862. That year saw the Battle of Richmond in August followed by the Battle of Perryville in October. Perryville was the decisive battle for Ken-tuckians, for it settled the question of whether the commonwealth was going to remain in the Union or possibly secede and join the Confederacy.” “The Civil War is considered the defining event in American history,” Appleton continued. “You often hear that war doesn’t settle anything. Well, in the case of the Civil War, it did settle the question of slavery in the United States. Unfortu-nately, little was done to help the freed people make the transition from slavery into freedom, and we’re still living with the consequences of that deferred promise today.”Appleton applauded the cooperative spirit he has encountered. “Some departments are offering special courses

for the first time. Glenn Campbell, a senior lecturer in geography, for exam-ple, is currently teaching ‘The Geography of the Civil War.’ His students are in for a real treat because he has arranged field trips to battle sites, especially in central Kentucky. The department of art and design, led by Herb Good-man, recently mounted a juried exhibition on the theme ‘Reverberations of the Civil War.’ In spring 2013, the department of philosophy and religion will hold one of its popular Oxford-style debates on whether reparations should be paid to descendants of former slaves. My colleagues in the history department are sponsoring a half-dozen speakers, including James Klotter, professor at Georgetown College and state historian of Kentucky.”Minh Nguyen, who directs EKU’s Chautauqua Lecture Series each year, is bringing several Civil War specialists to campus to deliver evening lectures. Two of the speakers, Eric Foner of Columbia University and Mark Neely of

Penn State, have received the Pulitzer Prize in History. In March, Catherine Clin-ton of Queen’s University, Belfast, a biographer of Mary Todd Lincoln, will make a return visit to campus to speak on women in the Civil War. “We really want to get the community involved in the commemoration, so of course the community will be able to attend all of our public events free of charge,” Appleton noted.

Faculty UpdatesOgechi Anyanwu is happy to report that a book he co-edited with Salome Nnoreomele came out this year: Retracing Africa: A Mult i -disc ipl inary Study of African History, Societies, and Cultures (Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2012). His article, “Challenging the Status quo: Alan Pifer and Higher Education Reform in Colonial Nigeria,” has been accepted by History of Education. Anyanwu recently completed a book review assignment for African Studies Quarterly. He currently serves as editor-in-chief of a new peer-reviewed journal on African studies, Journal of Retracing Africa.

Tom Appleton recently published book reviews in the Journal of American History and the Journal of Southern History as well as a “Kentucky Voices” column in the Lexington Herald-Leader. In April, he spoke at the University of Memphis as part of its centennial celebration. He spent much of May traveling in Western Europe.

John Bowes is in the midst of an eagerly anticipated fall semester sabbatical and is doing his best to complete the book manuscript on northern Indian removal that has been in progress for several years. Other

side projects continue to keep him busy, including one week this past December when he took the stand as an expert witness for the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Indians during a National Labor Relations Board settlement hearing in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. In addition, the October 2012 issue of The Journal of Military History includes his article, “Transformation and Transition: American Indians and the War of 1812 in the Lower Great Lakes.”

David Coleman recently spent an amazing four months (March through June, 2012) with his family in Seoul, South Korea, where his wife (EKU sociology prof. Elizabeth Underwood) was on a sabbatical teaching assignment at Yonsei University. In addition to a guest lecture at Yonsei’s College of Theology and several amazing cultural and historical tours around the Korean peninsula, he used his time to make progress on two articles emerging from his own 2007 sabbatical research in Málaga, Spain. Those two articles should both appear in print in 2013. He also presented papers at the American Historical Association’s annual meeting in Chicago in January, and the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference in Cincinnati in October.

He is also very much enjoying his return to team-teaching with his colleague Bruce Maclaren in EKU’s Honors Program this fall.

Carloyn Dupont: New York University Press will publish Carolyn Dupont’s book, Mississippi Praying: Southern White Evangelicals and the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1975 in the Spring of 2013. Dr. Dupont says another highlight of the last year was teaching during the summer in Paris with the Kentucky Institute for International Studies (KIIS). She has recently been named director of the KIIS Denmark Program.

Todd Hartch has spent the last two years working on a history of Christianity in Latin America since 1960 that he just sent off to the publishers. He was most intrigued by the ways in which the rapid growth of Protestant churches contributed to new Catholic evangelization efforts. Many of the chapters in the book first took form as lectures in the “History of Latin American Christianity” class that he taught in 2011.

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Boone’s Dispatch

Faculty UpdatesJackie Jay continues to work on her book on ancient Egyptian storytelling and presented some preliminary conclusions at the annual conference for North American Egyptologists held in Rhode Island in the spring. The highlight of her summer was a month spent in China while her husband taught a civil engineering course at South China University of Technology in Guangzhou; the opportunity to visit the terracotta soldiers of the Qin emperor certainly gave new meaning to the Chinese section of World Civ this fall. She continues to enjoy interacting with the EKU History Club (especially with the new furniture in the student lounge – stop by and check it out!), and also appreciates the opportunity she’s had this semester to teach the graduate introductory Historiography class for the first time.

Jennifer Spock has recently had two of her articles appear. She co-authored a piece with Michael A. Pesenson of the University of Texas, Austin, “Historical Writing in Russia and Ukraine,” in The Oxford History of Historical Writing, Volume 3: 1400-1800. (Oxford, 2012). Over the summer, “Administering a Right Life: Secular and Spiritual Guidance at Solovki Monastery in the

Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries” appeared in Russian History 39, no. 1-2, (2012). Jenn is in her last weeks as President of the Association for the Study of Eastern Christian History and Culture. After 9 years as an officer (treasurer, VP, and then president) she is grateful for the experience, and looking forward to relinquishing the responsibilities! She is also looking forward to presenting a talk for EKU in February on Cassius Clay in Russia.

Catherine Stearn: This has been an exciting year both personally and professionally for Catherine Stearn. She found out last May that she had been awarded tenure, and two weeks later she found out that she and her husband, Rod, will become parents for the first time! Since then, they found out they will welcome a little boy in early February. While preparing for the little one’s arrival, Catherine is teaching three sections of the department’s Historical Methods and Research Class (HIS 290) for the Fall 2012 semester. She has decreed that her students will know how to cite their sources correctly in both footnote and bibliographic format if it is the last thing she does!!!! She is also teaching a graduate class on Early Modern European Women (1500-1800). Next semester she will teach a term paper class on the subject of Elizabeth I, who ruled England from 1558-1603, and three sections

of an on-line World Civilizations to 1500 course. Catherine has also been lucky enough to renew her partnership with Dr. Jackie Jay as faculty advisors for the History Club this academic year. The Club is already planning on putting together a series of talks that will highlight the different career options open to those who graduate with an undergraduate degree in History. In addition to her teaching, Catherine has kept up with her scholarship too. In March 2012, she had the pleasure of travelling for the first time to New Orleans to attend the South Central Renaissance Conference where she moderated two panels sponsored by the Queen Elizabeth I Society. Finally, she has an article, “Critique or Compliment?: Lady Mary Sidney’s 1573 New Year’s Gift to Queen Elizabeth I,” coming out in the Sidney Journal next month.

Rob Weise: In November 2012, Rob Weise attended the conference of the Southern Historical Association in Mobile, Alabama, to participate in a panel on social activism in Appalachia. Meanwhile, he is busy co-editing, with EKU alumnus and Morehead St. history professor Tom Kiffmeyer, a special issue of the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society on Interpreting 20th Century Kentucky History, due out in 2014.

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Boone’s Dispatch

Faculty UpdatesBradford Wood has had a productive and enjoyable 2012 so far. He just returned from his third academic paper presentation of the year and his first visit to Nova Scotia. His biggest achievement may be the completion of his co-edited volume, Creating and Contesting Carolina, which will be out in 2013. This fall also finds him teaching the last semester of EKU’s required Honors Civilization sequence, but he has already designed a new Honors course for the spring and looks forward to learning new material and teaching strategies.

Mina Yazadini: Mina taught her first graduate course, “Iranian Modernity,” in fall 2011. She found the experience

rewarding and instructive. She spent the break between the two semesters working on two encyclopedia entries for the Oxford Encyclopaedia of Islam and Women, and coauthored an entry for Encyclopedia Iranica. In the spring semester, she taught “History of the Modern Middle East,” and enjoyed the presence of a number of serious and enthusiastic students in her class. Thanks to the EKU Junior Faculty Summer Research Grant, she spent most of the summer in Toronto working on a project that is a natural extension of the research that culminated in her PhD dissertation. The outcome of a portion of her summer research appeared in another Encyclopaedia Iranica entry that is

currently under review. Her paper titled “Orientals Meeting in the West: Foes Become Friends” will appear in an anthology in April 2013. In August she participated in the ninth biennial conference of the International Society of Iranian Studies (ISIS) in Istanbul where she presented a paper. Early this fall her paper “Anti-Baha’i Polemics and Historiography” was published in the latest issue of Baha’i Studies Review. Currently, she is teaching a course on the history of Islamic Societies and is particularly enjoying the sections on Islamic thought, and the fact that she now sees familiar faces in her class.

Fall 2012


Boone’s Dispatch

Phi Alpha Theta Update

EKU History majors Byron Teater and Madalyn White presented papers at the 2012 Phi Alpha Theta Kentucky Regional Conference hosted by Thomas More College. Five EKU students also became new members of Phi Alpha Theta. They were Trenton Ackerman, Neil Kasiak, Lindsey Murphy, Amanda Smith, and Joanna Wynkoop.

Catching up with...George Robinson

Professor Emeritus

Fall 2012


Boone’s Dispatch

In 1986 I stepped down as Chairman of the History Department and then

spent five years in “early retirement” teaching part time. Since then I have followed the progress of the History Department with great interest. Looking back, three particular projects in my tenure as chair stand out - the establishment of the graduate program in history that was initiated by Clyde Lewis and me; the Oral History Project developed by Bill Berge with the assistance of my wife, Norma; and my own research on Governor Bert Combs and Senator Alben Barkley.

Norma, a Richmond native and EKU graduate, taught at Model and part time in the English Department and finished her career in the Office of Student Development. In her retirement she is active in several organizations and her church.

Since my retirement I’ve shifted my reading program in the direction of mysteries and historical fiction. I played golf regularly up until 2012 when arthritis caught up with me. I’ve also become partially literate in computers, being proficient in news and sports scores and enjoy jigsaw puzzles and challenging the New York Times crossword.

Catching up with...

Hank Everman Professor Emeritus

1. How are you staying busy in retirement?

With retirement my long-time purpose ended. Despite hobbies, the calendar fills with visits to the doctors for us and friends I chauffeur. Two acres of grass, woods and seven flower beds require summer attention. Music remains vital with church choir and recreational piano playing. After fifty years I joined a book club and have recommenced reading novels, mysteries and historical fiction. This spring I chaired a Church Archival Committee and helped destroy 80% of the unnecessary materials (1960-2010) while storing pertinent records in some thirty carefully sorted and indexed boxes.

2. What do you miss most, and least, about teaching at EKU?

More than anything, I miss the interaction with students in the classroom and in our one-on-one office conferences. It was exciting to see their learning progress and hear of their goals for life. Too, I miss the close colleagues of some thirty years. Retirement limits those contacts and the resultant intellectual exchanges. I keep in touch with some but distance and health often prevent actual visits. I do not miss counterproductive committee meetings or the merit evaluation of dear colleagues.

3. Is there a favorite memory or two of your faculty colleagues and/or students that stands out as emblematic of your work in the EKU History Department?

I will share two special memories of students. I always spent a unit comparing the world’s religions in the 246 course and emphasized the beauty of all. At the end of one semester, a student thanked me for converting her to Hinduism! Several semesters later, her friends informed me that she remained true to her new faith. Sometimes I required my students to interview older relatives or friends who lived during the Great Depression or WWII. A ninety-year-old man told his grandson that he had driven a laundry truck in Chicago and had collapsed from hunger inside Al Capone’s house. Learning the driver had five hungry children at home, the gangster gave him a “wad of ten-dollar bills” which sustained his family for months. A local Nursing Home contacted me about how much patients enjoyed being interviewed by my students.

There are too many memories of special colleagues. However, during my time at EKU, most faculty kept long office hours with open doors and encouraged, even required, students to see us for help. Teaching was our number one purpose and students continue to say how much our concern and encouragement meant to them.

Fall 2012


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Fall 2012


Boone’s Dispatch

New Technology in the Classroom

Beginning this autumn, Dr. Ron Huch’s History 203 classes began using a classroom technology known as Top Hat Monocle. The purpose of this technology is to provide students in large lecture

sections with an opportunity to interact with their instructors by using their laptops or their cell phones. Top Hat Monocle is not a “clicker” system, but students do need to purchase a “key” (number) from the book store to participate.

The way it works is the instructor can project multiple choice questions on a screen and ask students to provide the correct response. This is intended to provide students with an immediate indication as to how well they are following the lectures and their reading assignments. They are given about 20 seconds to record their response. Top Hat Monocle then provides a pre-centage of those who answered correctly.

Dr. Huch has not used the system as a scoring tool this term, for there are some issues that need to be resolved. For one thing, not all students have a

laptop or a cell phone that they can bring to class; for another, if too many students are using Verizon (or any other connector) there is a delay in their ability to record their response. On the other hand, it appears that Top Hat Monocle can be a worthwhile learning tool. Students are able to access questions outside of the classroom as well as in the classroom, and this seems to be quite helpful.

Dr. Huch has not yet explored all of the ways in which Top Hat Monocle can be employed. It is far more than just a multiple choice response mechanism. Top Hat Monocle personnel keep in regular touch with information on how the system can be expanded to include essay questions and seminars. He is hoping to expand its scope in the spring term.

According to Dr. Huch, that he has been able to use Top Hat Monocle at all is owing to the four Graduate Assistants assigned to these two large American History sections. They have the computer knowledge and enthusiasm to make it function. Anna Smith, Chasity Hunt, Dewayne Millard and Greg Carroll are, without question, truly outstanding. He states that he would be lost without them. To the extent that Top Hat Monocle is assisting the students, they are the ones responsible.

On Saturday, March 17, EKU was fortunate once again to host the district component

of Kentucky’s National History Day contest. The theme this year was “Revolution, Reaction, and Reform in History.” Nearly 70 students presented their work on a number of projects encompassing the media of websites, documentaries, and poster presentations.

Members of the History Department faculty as well as graduate students served as

judges. Every year we find ourselves impressed by the effort and intelligence of these middle and high school students from the surrounding counties, and look forward to March 2013 when we will host for the fifth consecutive year.

History Day CompetitionMarch 2012

Fall 2012


Boone’s Dispatch

History Club UpdateFor the academic 2012-2013 year, History Club has continued to meet every other week throughout the semester under the direction of Drs. Jackie Jay and Cat Stearn. The club has its own space on the hallowed 3rd floor of the Keith Building (room 341), and the room has received new furniture and will also serve as the site for history tutoring, which begins in the Spring 2013 semester. As for special events scheduled, the History Club is planning to see the new “Lincoln” movie coming out in November, and for the Spring 2013 semester, History Club also hopes to sponsor a series of talks that will inform current history and history-teaching degree students about their future career options. Starting last year, History Club also put together its own Facebook page, which we try to keep updated with announcements. Please feel free to follow us as we continue to provide both entertainment and information for our past, current, and future majors!

Re-decorated Student Lab/Tutoring Center

Fall 2012


Boone’s Dispatch

After

AfterBefore

Due to the expense of printing and the tight budget contraints, we have decided to go exclusively to an online publication. While we know that this may be inconvenient for some of our alumni we feel that it is the best way for us to continue to stay in touch with alumni and reach as many future students as possible. Please feel free to contact us with your comments, concerns, news and updates at the following email address. You may also send us snail mail at the address listed below.

Email address:

[email protected]: “Boone’s Dispatch”

Snail Mail: Boone’s Dispatch EKU History Department 323 Keith Building 521 Lancaster Avenue Richmond, KY 40475

Phone: 859-622-1287 859-622-1357 FAX

Have a great year and we hope to hear from you soon.

The staff of Boone’s Dispatch

Editorial StaffDavid Coleman Diane V. Tyer

Contact Information

Fall 2012


Boone’s Dispatch

Boone’s Dispatch · events, praising them for their achievements, and offering them assistance if...

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