In Recent News...
Congratulations to our Fall 2024 Graduates!
Dr. Matt Kotowski (Security Studies) and Dr. Ken Smith (History)
MA Graduates
Sydney Wolgast
MA Thesis: “'Genius equall to that which wrought another most beautifull Poem': Classical Communication in the Writings of Mercy Otis Warren and Judith Sargent Murray."
Holly Hill
MA Thesis: "Midwest by southeast: Aircraft manufacturing and the journey to Lao community building in Wichita, Kansas, 1975—1995”
Dr. Andrew Orr appeared on a 3-part PBS documentary on Kansas and the World Wars as part of the Cottonwood Connections series. It aired on Smoky Hills PBS stations and KTWU Topeka and it is available on YouTube (see episodes below).
Dr. Nadia Oweidat gave a talk at the Wilson Center (see video below) that inspired a high school student to reach out to her and create a documentary.
2023 News
April 2023:
January 2023: Interested in international studies? Are you perhaps considering a study abroad experience? Tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 31) is the Education Abroad Fair in the Union Courtyard from 11am to 1pm. You can find out about all the programs K-State is offering in Summer and Fall 2023. Also, the K-State in Prague program includes a course by Prof. Brent Maner about history, museums, and identity. The offering can be paired with a communications class about the career of Vaclav Havel, one of the heroic voices of protest during the Cold War and a key actor in the transition to democracy in Eastern Europe after 1989. You can learn about this program and these great courses at: https://ksu.studioabroad.com/_portal/tds-program-brochure?programid=13157
2022 News
March 2022: The Civil War Weekend public outreach event at Virginia Tech was a success! It drew about 100 attendees who came to learn and interact with scholars, and some went on a field trip to Harpers Ferry. A new initiative to "teach the teachers" was launched. Ginette Aley spoke about her current project, "Land of Lincoln, Land of Women."
March 2022: The Russian Invasion of Ukraine - Roundtable Discussion: Discussing the history of events that lead up to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and what to possibly expect next - Presented by the Security Studies program, along with the Departments of Political Science and History. If you missed it, check out the recording.
March 2022: Black Perspectives features graduate student Kenneth Smith's essay, "Tuskegee's Civilizing Mission": "This essay looks at how Tuskegee educators and supporters promoted Booker T. Washington’s Hampton-Tuskegee model of education in Africa during the age of American and European imperialism from the Berlin Conference of 1884 until the opening of the Booker Washington Institute in Kakata, Liberia, in 1929. The push for a Tuskegee Institute in Liberia indicated a coordinated diasporic effort to mobilize resources and institutionalize Black uplift. In the current age of Black Lives Matter, understanding the diasporic history of Black peoples is important to understanding how African Americans and Africans connect with each other in an era of continued discrimination and exploitation." https://www.aaihs.org/tuskegees-civilizing-mission/
February 2022: The History Department congratulates doctoral student Billy Croslow, who has landed a position as Command Historian for the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama. His main responsibility will be to teach military history to Army Aviation officers. Billy successfully passed his preliminary exams in Fall 2021, and is now in the process of researching and writing his dissertation that focuses on Japanese-American military service during World War II. It’s looking like Billy has some busy, busy days in his immediate future. Congratulations, Billy Croslow!
January 2022: PhD student Hannah Palsa recently had a paper/presentation nominated for two awards by the Northeast Popular & American Culture Association (NEPCA) from their Fall 2021 conference. Hannah's presentation at the October 2021 conference was titled “Tommy and His Dog, Hurry: War Dog Children’s Books, Films, and Cartoons of World War II.” In the presentation, she spoke about how media produced for children in the form of cartoons, literature, and film taught children about Dogs for Defense, Inc. and why their dogs were valuable to the war effort. In examining children’s literature, she also spoke about how books taught children about racism and patriotism through the use of fictional war dog platoons and their missions. This topic was based on a paper that Hannah wrote as a Masters student and her presented topic for the Kansas Military History Seminar at K-State in the Fall 2021. The topic was nominated for two prizes - the Carol Mitchell Prize and the Amos St. Germain Prize. Congratulations, Hannah!
January 2022: The History Department is proud to announce that Dr. Ginette Aley has been invited as a speaker at the Civil War Weekend held at Virginia Tech in March 2022. She will speak on a panel of former Prof. James Robertson's students and on her work on Lincoln and Midwestern home front women. More information about the event is HERE.