Beyond the Classroom
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Beyond the Classroom is a compilation of materials and sources gathered by professors and students in the History department. This information is intended to aid the students in finding extracurricular activities, internships, conferences and other department information easily. In this section of the website you will also find personal stories of former and current History students about their participation in numerous activities linked to the department. BTC is intended to complement the excellent classroom experience provided by Augustana's outstanding professors, and hopefully will inspire the student to seek out new adventures in a broader setting.
| Study Abroad | Student Opportunities | What's up with the Professors | F.Y.I. | |||
| Alumni | Clubs | Funds | Careers in History |
Study Abroad
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Amanda and Penguin at the Magalhães family farm in Maceio, Brazil
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Amanda Beveroth, Brazil 2012
My study abroad experience in Brazil was extremely rewarding both on an education and personal level. During my time in Brazil, I was able to see and experience first-hand places, attitudes, and historical traditions that I had spent time researching and writing about. Brazil term gave me the opportunity to move beyond the classroom and fully immerse myself in my major. I built relationships with Brazilians, who explained Brazilian history from their own perspective. The close relationship I formed with my host family enabled me to participate in Brazilian traditions from daily activities, such as eating together, to religious traditions, such as the Yemenja festival.
In addition, my time in Brazil enabled me to explore my vocation. From my experience I discovered an interest in law, which I believe will allow me to utilize the tools and interests that I have developed from my history major. My time in Brazil also helped me to develop life skills, such as the ability to adjust and thrive in unfamiliar situations that are outside of my normal routine. I learned to be more accepting of different cultures and attitudes from my experience with my host family, who welcomed me into their home and made me feel like a member of the family. My overall experience taught me that by challenging your personal perceptions about culture you gain greater insight into yourself and become a more understanding and compassionate person in the process.
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Front Row: Magaret Lewis, Patrick Howell, Back Row: Amanda Beveroth, Professor Molly Todd, Konnor Pemberton,and Michael Rodgers |
Margaret Lewis, Brazil 2012 Brazil provided a variety of opportunities for me as a History major. The first was that I was able to take a history class with an Augustana professor, allowing me to directly apply what I learned in Augustana classes to my daily experiences. I was able to visit a new country and encounter a new culture while getting college credit, without being fluent in the language, which opened up new opportunities to learn. Seeing the sites that applied directly to class was another great opportunity. We visited the Valongo wharf, an archaeological site that was previously a port where African slaves were traded and as a class was able to look at artifacts and find out more about the history behind the slave trade in Brazil. On a daily basis we were able to see the legacy of the slave trade through the prominence of the Afro-Brazilian culture. By knowing Brazil's history we were able to better understand Brazil today. We also visited Palmares, the site created by slaves who ran away and formed their own free community. The site demonstrated the resilience of the Afro-Brazilian people and helped to reiterate their presence within Brazil. Each day as a history major I was able to make connections in the way the past was impacting Brazil today. Living in Brazil and experiencing daily life helped me to ask more questions and make broader connections locally, nationally, and internationally between history, politics, cultures, and economics.
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Andrew in front of Casa Rosada (Argentina's "White House") with
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Andrew Shaffer, 2011 Argentina Research Experience
In my second term at Augie I took a history class that exposed me to the modern realities in Latin America for the first time. This class, taught by Dr. Todd, piqued my interest in the region and in Argentina specifically. Through conversations with Dr. Todd and others, I learned that my interest didn't have to end once the class finished, and we set about making a plan to get me to Argentina to do my own research. A few months later, with the help of funds from the Freistat Center for World Peace and an Augie Choice grant, I was on the ground in Argentina, taking Spanish classes and performing my very own research. While I was there I toured some of the most historically important areas of Buenos Aires, participated in a protest for marriage equality, became mostly fluent in Spanish and made the first inroads into research that I am continuing now in my graduate study.
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Angela in Otavalo, Ecuador |
Angela Corsa, 2010 Ecuador Research Experience During my third year at Augustana, I was encouraged to apply to receive funding for my senior research project. Because of the support of professors in the of professors in the Spanish and History departments, I won the Summer Research Grant and returned alone to Otavalo, Ecuador, which I had visited the previous summer during a study abroad program through the Spanish Department. There, besides learning firsthand about my topic, I became more self-reliant and confident in my ability to speak Spanish. I also developed friendships with many of the indigenous people in the area and still maintain contact with them.
As a result of my field research experience and my membership in Phi Alpha Theta on campus, I was also able to participate in both the Phi Alpha Theta conference in San Diego and the North Central Council of Latin Americanists (NCCLA) conference which was held at the Augustana campus. For the San Diego conference, I was also lucky in that the conference was being held near to another conference for the American Historical Association, and I was able to visit that as well. Each of those events allowed me the invaluable opportunity to discuss my ideas with others in the fields of history and Latin American Studies, as well as meet with faculty from across the country.
My time at Augustana College gave me the skills I needed for graduate school as well as the basis for my current research topic. Since graduation, I won another research grant and was able to return to Ecuador for a third time. I am currently working to finish my thesis.
Student Opportunities
The Professors in your department are constantly receiving new and exciting internship, conference, and job postings related to the History Department. Check the expiration date and plan ahead! Also in this section, you will find articles Professors believe contain information pertinent to the History student.
Expires 6/1/2013 - Student Position On Conduct Archival/Research Work This Summer
The History Department, in support of a Quad City Mexican/ Mexican American Research Initiative, invites history students to apply for a position working with the local Latino community and organizing historical research materials.
The project involves:
-- 80-85 hours of work (approx. l5 hours per week, hours flexible). The grant available is for $600 to be paid at the College work-study wage rate.
-- Gathering of materials on the Mexican/Mexican American histories of the Illinois Quad Cities through general search engines
-- Developing a system to archive current and past documentary, oral, and visual research material
-- Conducting some research in the local community on a topic or subject determined in conjunction with Professors Tom Brown and Araceli Masterson-Algar and consistent with the student's own interests.
The position is open to all history students. Students with interests in Latin/o American history, ethnic studies, local/ community history and/or archival studies might be particularly interested in the project. Spanish language skills could be useful but are not required to effectively access and archive materials. Please send a brief statement of interest, a copy of a transcript and the name of a reference, preferably a history professor, to Prof. Tom Brown (tombrown@augustana.edu) or Prof. Araceli Masterson (aracelimasterson@augustana.edu). Feel free to contact either of these professors to find out more about the initiative or get any clarification.
Articles
Romancing the Capstone: National Trends, Local Practice, and Student Motivation in the History Curriculum by Jones, Barrow, Stephens, and O'Hara, The Journal of American History, March 2012.
Decline of the West or the Rise of the Rest? Data from 2010 Shows Rebalancing of Feild Coverage in Departments, by Robert Townsend, Perspectives on History, September 2011, pp. 34-37.
Debt by Degrees, by James Surowiecki, The New Yorker, November 21, 2011.
The Education our Economy Needs, by Norm Augustine, The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2011.
What's Up With the Professors?
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03/13 Dr. Steve Warren was recently appointed to help with an effort by the Ohio Historical Society (OHS) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to increase and share knowledge about Midwestern Native American tribes with community college educators.
The project, titled "Native Americans in the Midwest: Bridging Cultures at Community Colleges," is designed to increase the community college participants' knowledge of existing research and scholarship on the history of tribes and their removal; introduce faculty to contemporary Native American cultural experiences; and facilitate a community of learning and research through course development and enhancement. To learn more, follow these links: http://www.augustana.edu/x5635, NEH Bridging Cultures Grant Release
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02/13 Dr. Tom Mayer has two new books out! The first is The Roman Inquisition, A Papal Bureaucracy and Its Laws in the Age of Galileo. It was recently published and is already being talked about in The New Yorker. Follow this link to read more: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2013/02/11/130211crat_atlarge_gopnik?currentPage=all
The second book is The Trial of Galileo, 1612-1633. It provides extensive commentary about the history and issues surrounding Galileo during his battle with the Church. To learn more, follow this link: http://www.utppublishing.com/The-Trial-of-Galileo-1612-1633.html
01/13 Dr. Lendol Calder spoke at a workshop for the University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center, focusing on their theme, Flipping the Classroom. Dr. Calder's talk, named Have I Flipped?: Teaching Disciplinary Thinking Through Signature Pedagogies, pushed historians and educators towards a different kind of experience in the history classroom, and strived for them to learn how to design effective learning experiences that strays away from the usual textbook and lecture approach to teaching history. For more information please go to http://trc.virginia.edu/Workshops/2013/JTW_2013.html
12/12 Dr. Lendol Calder has taken the lead in trying to better equip history majors with the tools to become better educators. Many history students become teachers and the American Historical Association hopes to prepare them for that possibility. Dr. Calder has instituted a program at Augustana that requires prospective history professors to prepare a 50-minute colloquium on their teaching philosophy along with the other materials needed to apply at the college. On a national level, the AHA is assembling a committee of experts to look at what methods work best for teaching history to undergraduates. Dr. Calder has been named to this advisory committee because of his previous work in the field. At a recent AHA conference, Dr. Calder was a featured speaker on the topic, sparking laughs by dividing the audience by what title they would put on their taxes: historian or educator. The divide on the issue nicely illustrates the bridge that Dr. Calder is helping to build between the two titles. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/07/aha-session-focuses-role-teaching-discipline
11/2012 Dr. Lendol Calder has accepted an invitation to advise the graduate history program at the University of California, Berkeley as they redesign their Ph.D. program so that it will train historians to be effective teachers of history. The new program, funded by the Teagle Foundation, will be the first of its kind in the country and a model for other graduate programs to follow.
08/2012 Dr. Hui Zhao joins the History department as the Asian Studies professor replacing Dr. Van Symons, who retired this past spring. Hui received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2012, and received a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching from Harvard University in 2008 and 2009. Her area of study is Constitutional history with a particular emphasis on East Asia reception of the concept from the West in the late 19th and early 20th century. She is interested in questions about the purposes of modern constitution with which early East Asian constitutionalists incorporated their indigenous modern state-building. Her research interests include: constitutionalism, legal history, comparative thoughts, East Asian history, Chinese philosophy, and Western political philosophy.
06/2012 Dr. Jane Simonsen was on Talk of Iowa last June in conjunction with a talk she gave at the German-American Heritage Center (it's about drinking and prostitution!). To listen to this very interesting conversation click here: http://news.iowapublicradio.org/post/suds-brewing-history-quad-cities Dr. Simonsen begins at just about the 15 minute mark.
06/2012 Dr. David Ellis will be conducting research in Germany as he broadens and deepens his study on "The Protestant ‘Awakening' and Cultural Warfare in Prussia, 1816-1856". Dr. Ellis will spend four weeks in Berlin working in the archives at Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz deepening his analysis of the Innere Mission and social question in Prussia. He will also consider the relevance of the "Awakening" to Prussia's response to the Crimean War. He plans to incorporate these additional elements with previous work and publish his analysis as a book.
2012-13 Dr. Lendol Calder will be on partial research leave to work on a history "untextbook" for use in introductory US history courses. "Uncovering the American Past" will offer an alternative to traditional textbooks good for revealing the essential cognitive moves of historical thinking that are most useful and necessary for citizens in everyday life. Dr. Calder will also be representing the Augustana History Department in an exciting venture sponsored by the American Historical Association (AHA) and the Lumina Foundation. Working with a select group of sixty historians and representatives from the worlds of business, government, and the professions, the AHA hopes to build consensus for what undergraduate history majors should be able to know, do, and value when they graduate from college. Called "The Tuning Project," history is the first discipline selected by Lumina for this national initiative to improve undergraduate teaching and learning.
05/2012 Brian Leech will be a Teaching Fellow in the History Department for the 2012-2013 academic year. Brian has been a part-time Assistant Professor on campus and is finishing his Ph.D. in history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this year. His teaching and research interests focus on the environmental and social history of the American West. He is currently working on a history of open-pit copper mining in Montana.
05/2012 Dr. Molly Todd has accepted the University of Washington's fellowship offer. Next year, she will be the Mellon-Sawyer Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Jackson School of International Studies. Her focus for the year will be making progress on her second book project on forced displacement in Cold War Central America. In addition, she will be involved in the University's Sawyer Seminar, "B/ordering Violence: Boundaries, Indigeneity and Gender in the Americas." She will work closely with other scholars whose research "considers the complexities of external national borders as well as the multiple internal borders that characterize the politics of belonging for diasporic and Indigenous communities in the Americas." Spring quarter, she will be teaching a graduate seminar related to her research.
05/2012 Dr. Todd Cleveland was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and will be spending the 2012-2013 academic year in Ghana, Africa. He will be continuing his research on African diamond mineworkers and will also be teaching graduate seminars at the University of Ghana in Accra (Legon). Dr. Cleveland will also look forward to the arrival in January of approximately two dozen Augustana students who will be participating in the West Africa study abroad in Ghana.
04/2012 Dr. Jane Simonsen speaks out in the Quad City Times in the article "Let Issues Draw Women Voters, posted Tuesday, April 17, 2012. The article begins with...I'm disappointed that both politicians and the media trivialize the devaluation of household labor by framing it as a "mommy war" and a "spat" rather than a critical economic issue. Some news reports characterized the comments by Ann Romney and Hilary Rosen as a catfight, and both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama attempted to distance themselves from the problem. Both Romney and Rosen are making important points, yet the media and candidates deflect a real economic problem and pit women against each other. Click here to read the full article.
04/2012 Dr. Tom Mayer has been wandering around Indiana and Central New York spreading the gospel of Galileo. Mostly he lectured on "Trying Galileo," a general overview of his trial (surprisingly enough) at Notre Dame, Indiana University and Hartwick and LeMoyne Colleges, in an effort to seek ecumenical balance; Hartwick's Lutheran and LeMoyne Jesuit. For variety, he gave a different talk at Cornell University, about Galileo's telescopic demonstrations in Rome in 1611 and their implications for an alternative organization of 17th-century science.
While at Indiana, he inspected two more copies of Galileo's Sunspot Letters (1613), the book that got him in trouble. One of these was owned by a wealthy lawyer whose brother and son held important positions in the papal hierarchy, his son becoming a cardinal. This copy is particularly interesting since somebody-maybe that owner-made a few notes of how Galileo's observations agreed with scripture. That they didn't was the charge that eventually led to Galileo's condemnation. Those notes provide evidence that the Roman hierarchy was not a monolith and that Galileo wasn't wasting his time trying to cultivate support in some sections of it. Click here to read more about Dr. Mayer's research.
04/2012 Dr. Jane Simonsen will be presenting a paper on Davenport native Susan Glaspell's 1921 play The Inheritors (which is set at a liberal arts college on a hill overlooking the Mississippi in Illinois....) at the Mid-America American Studies Association conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma April 2-3.
03/2012 Dr. Molly Todd gets a shout-out in an article on the history methods course in the March Journal of American History, for an assignment from her 200 Gateway course. Everyone teaching 200 will want to read this article: "Historiographic Mapping: Toward a Signature Pedagogy for the Methods
Course," by Laura Westhoff.
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Dr. Simonsen at the
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03/2012 Dr. Jane Simonsen was the keynote speaker for the March 28 Women's History Month program put on by the Army Sustainment Command at the Rock Island Arsenal and was also part of a series of guest lectures on women and work during the March celebration of Women's History Month at Black Hawk College in Moline.
01/2012 Dr. Todd Cleveland spent time on the York University campus in Toronto, Canada. He spoke to the student body on the topic of "Athletic goals, Life Goals: African Soccer Players Labor Strategies and Migration Within the Portuguese Colonial Empire, 1945-1975", click here to read more, and "Diamonds in the rough: Corporate Paternalism and African Professionalism on the Mines of Colonial Angola, 1917-1975" click here to read more.
In 2009...
Dr. Steve Warren was the historical consultant for a PBS documentary, "Tecumseh's Vision". Click here for more information.
F.Y.I.
The Organization of American Historians (OAH) Distinguished Lectureship Program
OAH Distinguished Lecturers speak around the country every year, not only visiting college campuses and addressing undergraduate and graduate student conferences but also leading teacher seminars and engaging general audiences at public events sponsored by historical societies, museums, libraries, and humanities councils. Follow this link to find lectures happening in your area http://lectures.oah.org/lectures/
Happenings From the Annual History Banquet
On April 16, 2013 the History department gathered for their annual banquet. The banquet was held at classical Wilson Center. Twenty plus students, professors and distinguished alumni gathered to enjoy dinner, an awards presentation, and speeches from the alumni about the course that the History Department has taken over the years. Pictured below are the award winners.
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Cletus Melchior Award winner Alex Mayszak |
Daughter of the American Revolution Award winner Gina Balestri |
Dr. David Ellis talks to history majors |
Alex Vlastnik, the O.F. Ander/Outstanding History Major award winner |
History Awards
Each year the professors of the History department gather to choose the individuals who represent the outstanding graduate majoring in history and the outstanding graduating senior who plans to teach history as a K-12 educator. The two awards are as follows:
O. F. Ander Award
The O.F. Ander Award is named in honor of O. Fritiof Ander, a long-time professor of history at Augustana College. Mr. Ander was a Swedish-American immigrant who graduated from Augustana in 1927, before getting his doctorate at the University of Illinois and then returning to Augustana. He spent his entire career in the History Department, eventually serving as the department chair. In addition, he was a founder of the Augustana Historical Society and the Quad City Council for Social Studies. In 1960, he was a delegate to the International Congress of Historical Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden after having been nominated by the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. For his service to Swedish history, he was made a Knight of the Order of the North Star by the King of Sweden in 1961. Professor Ander was a highly respected and well established historian who helped launch the careers of dozens of Augie grads during his three plus decades of service to the college. The O.F. Ander Award is given annually to an outstanding graduate majoring in history and honors Mr. Ander's long service to Augustana and its history students.
The Cletus Melchior Award is named for the long-time Rock Island School District social studies teacher and adjunct professor at Augustana College. Mr. Melchior taught junior and senior high for 20 years and served as the district's social studies coordinator for eight of those. In addition to that, he taught courses in Augustana's education department on Methods of Teaching Social Studies. Mr. Melchior founded the local chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, the national fraternity for educators and later served as its president. Because of his love of social studies and association with Augustana, the Cletus Melchior Award is annually awarded to the outstanding graduating senior who plans to teach history as a K-12 educator.
In the words of Mr. Richard Dulaney, who knew him personally: "Cletus Melchior was my Government teacher and American History teacher at Rock Island High School in 1958-1960. He was also my Political Science teacher at Black Hawk College...later was a Political Science professor at Augustana College in Rock Island. He was the teacher who gave me the inspriation to become a teacher of Social Studies...Mr. Melchior had...'an iron fist in a velvet glove,' suggesting that he was tolerant and firm in controlling student behavior...the legacy he left was one of dedication and excellence in a profession that he loved. I am glad to know that there is a Cletus Melchior Award that is given annually to outstanding students at Augustana College".
2012 Freistat Grant Award Winners Announced
3/15/12, the 2012 Freistat Grant Awards were announced. Two of our history professors, Dr. Cleveland and Dr. Ellis, join Drs. Tom Mayer, Molly Todd, and Steve Warren who have previously received research grants from the Center, to continue research in their area of interest. Click here to see the full grant awards listing and read Dr. Symons final letter as the William F. Freistat Professor of Studies in World Peace.
Alumni
(2).jpg "Andrew Shaffer at Feria de Mataderos") |
Andrew Shaffer at Feria De Mataderos |
Andrew Shaffer, Class of 2011
The research that I did in Argentina in summer 2010 put me in contact with one of the professors from the University of San Francisco, an Argentine herself and a specialist in human rights and post-war memory issues. I am now at USF pursuing a master's degree in International Studies. Not only am I studying with her, I am also working as her research assistant, a coveted position that I am able to use to help my own research efforts as well. My classes have intense discussions that regularly last beyond the allotted time and continue as my fellow students and I go out for an after-class coffee or meet up later for an after-homework drink. Already I am able to see how well my professors at Augustana prepared me for grad school, by always challenging my assumptions, by encouraging lively debates in class, and by treating me more as a fellow scholar than a chore to be dealt with. Grad school is hard - it's really hard - but it would be much, much harder without the background I had at Augustana.
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Caroline Sallee &
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Caroline Sallee (nee Skaggs, Augustana '02 )
Caroline is the Director of Public Policy and Economic Analysis for the Anderson Economic Group, a research and consulting firm that specializes in economics, public policy, market and industry research, and financial valuation. Her office is in downtown Chicago and she's been with the Anderson Group for 6.5 years. Before that, she was enrolled in the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, receiving a Master of Public Policy degree in 2005.
"My education at Augustana prepared me for my future career in two important ways. First, the courses I took for my history and economics majors gave me a set of concrete skills, which include critical thinking, economic reasoning, and written communication. Second, the process of aquiring these skills through the liberal arts model forced me to think about my place in society and what I wanted to do with my life both professionally and personally."
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Todd Dresser |
Todd Dresser (Augustana '99)
Todd is a graduate student in history at the University of Wisconsin. After earning an M.A. from the University of Chicago, Todd went to Madison to study environmental history with renowned historian William Cronon. Todd's interests focus on the environmental history of American agriculture and rural development and the historical intersections between religion and the environment. Now that he has completed his dissertation ("Nightmares of Rural America: Fearing the Future in the Transition from Country Life to the Family Farm, 1890-1960"), Todd is preparing to go on the job market. Todd is currently an adjunct instructor in American history at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
My first course at Augustana was a history class by another name, Introduction to Biblical Thought. There, Professor Haack showed us students that history is the art of story telling and he convinced me that story telling is among the most important things that people do. After that first term, I quickly changed my major from Economics to History and found professors who gave me the tools to craft historical narratives. Professor Mayer instilled in me the wonders of primary sources. Professor Symons helped me see that good history makes the past seem strange and familiar at the same time. Professor Calder impressed on me the importance - and the fun - of approaching the world with historical questions in mind: why is this the way it is; has it always been this way; why did it change? Moreover, his class in Western History opened my eyes to Environmental History, now my primary field of inquiry. The lessons I learned at Augustana prepared me well for graduate school and I try to pass them on to my students.
Clubs
Phi Alpha Theta recognizes excellence in the study of history. The Alpha Pi chapter of the society was founded at Augustana in 1946 and is among the older chapters of the national honor society which was established in 1921.
The History Club, a student-led organization, promotes the discussion of historical topics outside the classroom. Typical activities include critical movie screenings, lectures, and public debates.
If you are interested in either of these two clubs, please contact Dr. Steve Warren at ext. 7467.
Funds
Augustana has many funding opportunities available to help finance special projects throughout a
student's college career. The items listed below are only a starting point in finding ways to fund
internships, research projects, and conference attendance.
Augie Choice
Augie Choice guarantees students the opportunity for the kinds of learning that will make them stand out when they start careers or go on to graduate school. All students receive $2,000 to support a qualifying hands-on learning experience of their choice, such as international study, a service-learning project, research or an internship. For more information please go to: http://www.augustana.edu/x4793.xm
William F. Freistat Center Grant
Established in 1992, The Freistat Chair for Studies in World Peace was established by William F. Freistat,
of Piedmont, Calif., Augustana alumnus and retired Kaiser Industries executive. The Freistat Chair
supports multi-disciplinary involvement in peace studies and furthers the development of the Peace
Studies program at Augustana through research, seminars, lectures and forums. For more information please go to: http://www.augustana.edu/x11381.xml
Hasselmo Prize for Academic Pursuit
Established by Dr. Nils Hasselmo, Class of 1957, in recognition of the ways in which his Augustana education both informed and transformed his life and vocational calling. Hasselmo funds are to be used to fund a yearly prize to enrich the experience of a student who has demonstrated academic excellence and who expresses intent to pursue higher education teaching and/or research as a vocation. This is not an endowed fund but the prize offers $5,000 to each recipient, which could help fund a student's research/conference travel needs. This new award has one winner per year. Students are nominated by department chairpersons for this award. For more information please go to: http://www.augustana.edu/x35204.xml
Evelyn E. Nicholson Academic Venture Fund
Established by Evelyn E. Nicholson, Class of 1950, in recognition of the importance of student and faculty
research, and the College's creative, innovative and dedicated faculty. The purpose of this fund is to provide support for and encourage faculty and student research, and innovative program development that further distinguish Augustana's academic program and standing. For more information please go to:
http://www.augustana.edu/x2689.xml
Augustana Student Research Committee
The Augustana Student Research/Inquiry Committee has established a program to encourage and underwrite the participation of students in professional conferences. A requirement for applying for funding is that the student be a formal presenter (for example a paper, report or poster) based on a research project conducted by the student under the supervision of an Augustana faculty member.
Monies granted to a student through this program may be used for conference registration, travel and housing at the conference. Reimbursements for food and incidental expenses are not included. It is expected that this request is made for funds needed in addition to any that are available through your department. For more information please click here.
Alumni Departmental Assistantship Award
Annually provides funding for an outstanding student to work closely on a research project with a member of the
Augustana College faculty. Click here for more information.
Careers in History
Why History Makes You Employable
The following articles can be helpful for picking out words and phrases describing what you learned as a history major that makes you valuable to employers. But don't just take a bullet list to interviews. Use your list of employable skills to craft a story about what you know, what you can do, and what you value.
Rachel Maddow urges students to master the art of argument
"I look for people who have done mathematics. Philosophy. Languages. "And really," she concluded, "History is kind of the king."
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/march/rachel-maddow-speech-031913.html
The Education Our Economy Needs; We lag in science, but students' historical illiteracy hurts our politics and our businesses.
Norm Augustine. Wall Street Journal (Online). New York, N.Y.: Sep 21, 2011. "It's not primarily the memorized facts that have current and former CEOs like me concerned. It's the other things that subjects like history impart: critical thinking, research skills, and the ability to communicate clearly and cogently."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904265504576568351324914730.html
What do employers really want from college grads?
Boyes sounds like a lot of the employers who responded to our survey. More than half of them said they have trouble finding qualified people for job openings. They said recent grads too often don't know how to communicate effectively. And they have trouble adapting, problem solving and making decisions - things employers say they should have learned in college.
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/education/what-do-employers-really-want-college-grads
Wealth or Waste? Rethinking the Value of a Business Major
Melissa Korn. Wall Street Journal. April 5, 2012. The biggest complaint: The undergraduate degrees focus too much on the nuts and bolts of finance and accounting and don't develop enough critical thinking and problem-solving skills through long essays, in-class debates and other hallmarks of liberal-arts courses.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304072004577323754019227394.html
Want Innovative Thinking? Hire from the Humanities
Tony Golsby-Smith. Harvard Business Review. March 31, 2011. "The main thing a student needs to be taught is how to study and analyze things (including) history and philosophy."
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/03/want_innovative_thinking_hire.html
Transferable skills from the history major
Image of slide from a resume presentation given by the Career Center at Marshall University, derived from NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) reports.
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