Around the Courtyard | 2018

  • 2018 News Archive

    • Congratulations to Louie Valencia on his latest peer-reviewed publication:

      “Tintin in the Movida Madrileña: Gender and Sexuality in the Punk Comic Book Zine Scene,” in European Comic Art, the journal of the International Bande Dessinée Society (Berghahn Press).

      Full Issue | Article Link


      Congratulations to Ron Brown, who has been named the FY2020-2022 Ingram Professor! The Ingram Professorship, which provides release time and monetary support for a senior faculty member to pursue his or her research agenda, was established by Callie Ingram and family to recognize a faculty member’s scholarly contribution to the discipline of history and to further the study of history at Texas State. Dr. Brown will use the resources provided by the professorship to complete, research and publish a contemporary institutional history of Texas State University.

      Ron will succeed Joseph Yick, who currently holds the professorship. Previous Ingram Professors include Elizabeth Makowski and Jimmy McWilliams.


      Dr. Ana Romo has an article in an edited collection that has just come out entitled The Making of Brazil’s Black Mecca, edited by Bernd Reiter and Scott Ickes and published by Michigan State University Press. The article, originally published in Portuguese in the journal Áfro-Asia is now in English and updated, as "O Que É Que a Bahia Representa? Bahia's State Museum and the Struggles to Define Bahian Culture." It reveals the debates that took place about what role black culture should play in museums from the 1940s into the 1960s.


      Congratulations to Louie Valencia, who has been nominated and selected for recognition by the Texas State Student Foundation! Each year ten people from Texas State University Faculty and Staff are recognized for having made “significant impact in both the lives of the general student population and to the university community.” Recipients are nominated and chosen by students. Louie will be recognized at the “Foundations of Excellence” dinner on Wednesday, October 17, 2018.


      Congratulations to Dr. Jeff Helgeson whose piece, “Politics in the Promised Land: How the Great Migration Shaped the American Midwest” has been published in a volume entitled Finding a New Midwestern History (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2018).

      In it, he argues that the making of regional histories is an essentially political process. The Great Migration, far from introducing a "race problem" in the Midwest, led to conflicts that reshaped a region founded upon Indian removal and hopes for a white producers' republic. We need to understand the long history of a regionalism grounded in racial formation, racism, and economic inequality--and the struggles against them--in order to see how we got where we are in that divided region, and perhaps to imagine a different future.


      The History Department celebrated National House Keeping week (Sept 9-15) by honoring Rosie, our outstanding custodian!  Thanks for all your hard work!

      RosieNational House Keeping WeekThank you messages to Rosie


      The History Department is proud to announce that Dr. Nancy K. Berlage, Associate Professor of History and Associate Director of the Public History Program, has been awarded the 2018 Golden Apple Award for Scholarly/Creative Activity from the College of Liberal Arts. Each year, the College honors the Presidential Award nominee who received the highest number of votes at the Liberal Arts Council during the University-wide nominating process. This award honors Dr. Berlage as the top scholar in the Liberal Arts College for the previous year.


      New book review essay by Dr. Jose Carlos de la Puente:

      De la Puente Luna, José Carlos. 2018. “Painting the Canvas of the Great Andean Uprising: Recent Research on the Age of Tupac Amaru.” Latin American Research Review 53(2), pp. 381–387.


      We are very excited to announce that Dr. Lynn Denton will receive the Texas State Alumni Association Teaching Award of Honor for this upcoming year.

      The award is given to one Texas State educator each year based on the following criteria:

      • Excellence in Instructional Delivery and Design
      • Subject Matter and Competency
      • Impact on Student Success

      The Illinois State Historical Society gave to Nancy Berlage’s book, Farmers Helping Farmers: The Rise of the Farm and Home Bureau, 1914-1935, the Award of Superior Achievement, in “Recognition of superior achievement that serves as a model for the profession and reaches a greater public.”


      Congratulations to Dr. Nancy Berlage, who is remaining busy. She just received an advance contract for her next book from the University of Nebraska Press.

       

    • Congratulations to Dr. Elizabeth Bishop. The Center for Russian and East European Studies has awarded her a grant for research in the National Archives of Azerbaijan in Baku, regarding Shi'i Muslims in the international "Partisans of Peace" movement in the USSR during the 1950s.


      Congratulations to Dr. Ron Johnson. The majors and minors in International Studies have selected him to be the International Studies Professor of the Year!


      Eighteen Texas State students and a faculty member brought back gold from Washington DC. At the National University Model Arab League competition (NUMAL, 5-8 April 2018), student-diplomats represent one of the 22 nation-state members of the Arab League. This year, the Bobcats represented Lebanon, with N'Deye Ndiaye (as the team's Head Delegate) and Devin Barrett receiving the "Outstanding Delegation" award.
      Of 2018's conference, Political Science major Patrick Maloney said, “I definitely improved upon my diplomatic skills. Working with other people has always made me a bit apprehensive. However, I gained a new respect and appreciation for diplomacy and working towards a collective goal." Maloney presented Lebanon's policies on the Environmental Affairs council, where Texas State faced stiff competition. Among the institutions of higher education qualifying for this year's Nationals were the American University in Cairo (Egypt), Adrian College, Bringham Young University, Converse College, George Mason University, George Washington University, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, the University of Arkansas/Little Rock, and the University of Houston. We're thankful for an excellent experience, and we learned a lot.

      Keynote speaker at this year's event was Al-Jazeera’s Washington D.C. bureau chief Abderrahim Foukara. Responding to his thoghtful remarks, Journalism and Mass Communication major Geoff Sloan reflected: "My highlight at NUMAL 2018 in Washington was the opportunity to work with students from universities around the world. I’ve had the pleasure of making connections with tomorrow’s practitioners in the Arab world and I look forward to our continued relationship." Sloan (photo attached, with Zehra Haque, representing Lebanon on the Political Affairs council) travelled with the National Council to Doha, Qatar during December 2017.
      The entire Model Arab League team gratefully acknowledges support from the College of Liberal Arts, Office of the Dean; College of Liberal Arts, Department of Geography; College of Liberal Arts, Department of History; College of Liberal Arts, Department of Political Science; College of Liberal Arts, Department of Psychology; Department of Engineering Technology; McCoy College of Business Administration, Department of Management; McCoy College of Business Administration, Dept. of CIS & QMST, Mr. Robert Mooney, Student Government's Rising STAR travel grants, the Student Organizations Council, from the Dean of Students’ Office, Student Service Fee funds, the Coalition of Black Faculty and Staff, and finally-- from the University Bookstore.


      Congratulations to Alex LaRotta -- one of our former students who has won a Mellon Fellowship to complete his Ph.D. the University of Houston!  Dr. Gary Hartman directed Alex’s MA thesis in 2012. That thesis became the basis for Alex’s article in the 2013 Journal of Texas Music History. The article examines San Antonio’s “West Side Sound,” a unique blending of Chicano, African-American, and Anglo-American musical and cultural influences.


      Congratulations to Dr. Elizabeth Bishop who was selected to be a Fulbright Scholar in Algeria next year!  Dr. Bishop will be going to be at the Université d'Oran, where Belkacem Belmekki is setting up a center for American Studies.  She also held a Fulbright in Algeria during 2007-2009, at the Université d'Alger, Bouzaréah campus. There, she taught courses on US literature, including a seminar where students read fiction written by James Baldwin, Chester Himes, and Richard Wright. The graduate students discovered their divergent discussions of North African politics during the 1950s and 1960s.


      Congratulations to one of our December MA graduates, Rachel Brown, who accepted a fully funded offer of admission to Tulane University this weekend. Rachel will pursue a Ph.D. in the Department of American History, and her emphasis will be on the history of women, genders, and sexualities. Her MA thesis, directed by Dr. Jessica Pliley, is entitled: "Repeal Politics: Abortion in Austin, Texas 1965-1975." Her proposed dissertation will be a comparative, transnational project focusing on how women travel for abortions across borders.


      Congratulations to Dr. Louie Valencia on the publication of his book, Antiauthoritarian Youth Culture in Francoist Spain: Clashing with Fascism available from Bloomsbury Press


      Congratulations to Dr. Leah Renold whose article, "The Mahatma and the Missionary: Gandhi's Conflicting Accounts of His First Encounter with Christianity," has just come out in the Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, published by Johns Hopkins University Press.  Leah wanted to put in a special word of thanks to Ken Margerison for reviewing the article and making suggestions.


      One of our MA students, Shina Shayesteh, has accepted an offer of admission to Penn. She will pursue a Ph.D. in the Department of History and Sociology of Science, and her emphasis will be on the history of medicine. Her MA thesis, which Ken Margerison directed, was entitled: "'THIS MOST TERRIBLE OF ALL DEFORMITIES': THE VICTORIANS AND SCOLIOSIS, 1849-1899."


      Congratulations to Dr. José Carlos de la Puente whose article on the colonial Incas, published in Revista Andina last year, has been awarded the “José María Arguedas Best Article Prize” of the Peru Section of the Latin American Studies Association! The prize is awarded to the best article, in English or Spanish, about Peru, published in the previous year.


      Congratulations to Public History graduate students Krista Pollett and Cori McDonald! They won first place and people’s choice awards, respectively, in the University 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) competition.

      They will advance to the University Final at the Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, April 3, from 1:00-3:00 pm. A reception with refreshments will be held at 1 pm with the competition starting directly after.  To learn more about 3MT visit the Graduate College Website.


      Elise Leal, a 2013 graduate of our master's program, will graduate this spring with a Ph.D. in history from Baylor and has accepted a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Early and Nineteenth Century American History at Whitworth University. Dr. Ronald Johnson, who was her thesis advisor, just shared the news!


      Dr. Ronald Johnson recently published a review article in the March 2018 issue of Reviews in American History: “Not your Fathers’ Revolution: Internationalizing American Independence.”


      Congratulations to Sara Damiano, who has received a fellowship to work on her book this summer! She will be participating in the Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture’s Scholars’ Workshop, a four week program focused on manuscript development and revisions for early scholars.


      Texas State's Model Arab League team returned from the Bilateral Chamber Regional MAL competition in Houston, receiving multiple awards for their representation of the Lebanese Republic.

      Model Arab League

      Competing at UHCL (16-18 February) against teams representing the Houston Community College's Honors College, Texas A&M University, the University of Arkansas Little Rock, the University of Houston Clear Lake, and the University of Houston Downtown campuses, Texas State students Brittlin Richardson and Aaron Gaul were recognized as "Outstanding Delegation" on the Joint Defense Council. About their work, Brittlin Richardson says; "we spearheaded a resolution to solve the issue of natural disaster preparedness in the Middle East/North Africa region."

      Model Arab League Group Photo

      Also receiving awards were Bobcats Sandra Sadek and Richard Geoff Sloan, who were recognized as "Distinguished Delegation" on the Political Affairs Council. About this, Geoff Sloan says: "I was thrown into heated debate about a range of issues from mending diplomatic ties to reworking the Arab League Charter. My skills in parliamentary procedure, diplomacy, and resolution writing earned my partner and I the... award."

      Finally, Head Delegate N’Deye Ndiaye was recognized as "Distinguished Chair." The Model Arab League team is grateful for support from the College of Liberal Arts, Student Government's Rising STAR program, and the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.


      Congratulations to Dr. Ellen Tillman who has a book chapter in the recently published Routledge History of Global War & Society!


      Congratulations to Dr. Leah Renold. Her book chapter “Maharaja and the Brahman: The Subordination of History to Myth” appears in Hidden Histories: Religion and Reform in South Asia, an edited volume that just has been published in India by Primus Books.


      Congratulations to Dr. Jeff Mauck – this year’s recipient of the Swinney Leave Award. He will be taking his leave during fall semester in order to work on course development.

      Thank you to the committee for their work on this!


      Congratulations to Dr. Nancy Berlage who was selected as a Liberal Arts nominee for the Presidential Award in Scholarly/Creative Activity!


      Congratulations to Dr. Ron Johnson whose article "Haiti's Connection to Early America: Beyond the Revolution" was published in History Compass last week!


      Dr. Nancy Berlage has contributed a blog entry on her book for the Rural Women’s Studies Association Blog.


      Congratulations to Dr. Peter Dedek.  His book Cemeteries of New Orleans has been named an “Honor Book” by the Louisiana Library Association, and will be recognized at the organization’s March conference.


      Louie Valencia has a weekly, five-part series titled “The Rise of the European Far-Right in the Internet Age,” published in EuropeNow (Council for European Studies at Columbia University), which is running concurrently with their February issue on “Nationalism, Nativism, and the Revolt against Globalism.” Each installment is around 2000-words on average.


      Congratulations to Dr. Joseph Yick on his recent publication. 
      Joseph K.S. Yick, "Yuan Shu: Chinese Special Service Agent & Spy, 1931-45," Southeast Review of Asian Studies, Volume 39 (2017), pp. 84-113.


      Congratulations to Dr. John McKiernan-Gonzalez on the publication of “Working at the Crossroads: A Guide for Border Crossing” in Kalfou, Volume 4, Issue 2 (Fall 2017).


      Congratulations to History grad student Jane Heffelfinger who has won a grant from Chapter IW (Horseshoe Bay) of the P.E.O. Sisterhood through its Program for Continuing Education!  P.E.O. stands for Philanthropic Educational Organization, and its mission is to support educational opportunities for women.


      Congratulations to Jose Carlos de la Puente! His book, Andean Cosmopolitans: Seeking Justice and Reward at the Spanish Royal Court, has been published by UT press.


      Congratulations to Dr. Elizabeth Bishop whose article “Indemnity Against The Government”: Prisons and Prisoners in Hashemite Iraq During the Cold War,” was published in Historical Yearbook, Romanian Academy “Nicolae Iorga” Historical Institute, vol. 8 (2017): 85-97.