MTSU History Department

History Department Call for Award Nominations

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:53:00 +0000

Every year the history department awards scholarships to our graduate and undergraduate students. The awards are funded by generous contributions from alumni and former faculty. In the past, we've asked faculty for nominations. This year we are opening the process to self-nomination. If you are a history major at the undergraduate or graduate level at MTSU, you might be eligible for one of these awards. Undergraduate majors, click here to learn more. Graduate students, click here. Or, use the navigation bar in the column to the right.

Unfortunately, our only award for which graduating seniors are eligible is the Tennessee Historical Commission's Certificate of Merit. We are working on adding to that list!

Best wishes to all who apply.

Spring Semester Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:39:00 +0000

Typically, the start of spring semester doesn't feel quite as crazy as the start of fall semester. But with four searches ongoing, we are all scrambling. By the end of the semester, we will have a new Africanist, a new Europeanist, and new public historian, and a new chair.

In the meantime, we are also keeping busy with lots of other activities. History Day is coming up on Friday Feburary 24. If you'd like to volunteer, contact Dr. Becky McIntyre. And, of course, February is also African American History Month.

In March, MTSU will host Phi Alpha Theta's annual conference March 23-24. Paper proposals are due February 15, 2012, and you can download the CFP here: Phi Alpha Theta Call for Papers. Or you can contact Dr. Amy Sayward for more info.

Strickland Visiting Scholar, Marla Miller will be here March 26-28 to talk about her research on U.S. women's history, which is appropriate since March is also Women's History Month!

Maybe we will be able to catch a collective breath in April...

Remember there is always an open invitation to guest blog. Contact me, Susan Myers-Shirk, if you are interested.

Wishing everyone a productive and rewarding semester,
Susan

Remember to follow MTSU History on Facebook and Twitter for updates on department events.

Strickland Scholar Arrives Next Week

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:07:00 +0000

Dr. Donald B. Redford

Each year, because of the generosity of Lucy Strickland and her family, the MTSU History department is able to host a visiting distinguished lecturer. Ms. Strickland established the program to honor her husband, Roscoe L. Strickland, Jr., a former MTSU history professor. Ms. Strickland passed away in 2008, but her legacy continues. This year's lecturer is internationally recognized Egyptologist, Donald B. Redford. Dr. Redford will be lecturing in history classes beginning next Wednesday after fall break and will give a public lecture on Thursday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the State Farm Room. The lecture is titled “Mendes: City of the Ram and Fish, Microcosm of Ancient Egypt.” Spread the word!

Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:24:00 +0000

Welcome to all our new students and new faculty. And welcome back to our returning students and faculty. We are looking forward to a busy and intellectually challenging year.

The department has had some changes over the summer. After four years of dedicated service to the department Dr. Sayward has stepped down as chair and Dr. Robert Hunt has agreed to serve as interim chair for the academic year, 2011-2012. Dr. Kristine McCusker has taken on the job of undergraduate director. Dr. Ed Beemon steps in as director of general studies and Dr. Pippa Holloway returns as graduate director. Thanks to all of them for making life in the history department easier!

As always, we are looking for folks willing to blog about life in the history department, so if you are in the history department (undergraduate, graduate, alumni, or faculty) and have something you'd like to say, stop by the department or post a comment here and we'll welcome you as a guest blogger. Many thanks to graduate student, Matt Bailey, for managing the department blog in spring 2011.

Along with the rest of MTSU, we'll be celebrating the centennial this year, so check back for updates and new postings about the history of MTSU and the history of the department.

NCPH 2011 Photographs

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:42:00 +0000

Click here for NCPH 2011 photographs!

Intellectuals

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:59:00 +0000

I recently finished Thomas Sowell's book, Intellectuals and Society. Sowell is arguably the most influential living intellectual behind modern conservative thought (the ghost of Milton Friedman does not count as living). Punditry on the right is often just the garbled form of Sowell's arguments. Sadly, his arguments are engaged and critiqued far too infrequently. So, I'm going to roughly summarize one argument from his book that impacts historians.

In Intellectuals and Society, historians are one of many groups he places in the "intellectual" category. He argues that there is often an inverse relationship between intellectuals with specialized knowledge within their field and intellectuals with broader knowledge outside of their field. The fact that many intellectuals step out of their specialty is one part of the problem.

Sowell argues that knowledge is very disperse. He proceeds as follows. Intellectuals have more knowledge than the average person but the congregate knowledge of all the average people is significantly greater than the knowledge of intellectuals. However, because intellectuals are more intelligent than the average person, there is a tendency to overestimate their own intellectual superiority. This is magnified when they step out of their field of specialization, making pronouncements that are backed by prestige gained in another field.

Additionally, Sowell argues that some fields are significantly more self correcting than others because they have a greater degree of external validation. For medical doctors, the health and/or sickness of patients is the source. Engineers have to make sure the buildings stand and the bridges do not fall. However, other professions substitute external validation for internal validation. Sowell argues that when the worth of one's work is only judged by his or her peers, false premises are not corrected as fast. That immense ability is often more dangerous because it can take valid arguments built on false premises further than lesser ability.

Furthermore, Sowell argues that many professions are flawed in the method in which people are judged to have obtained mastery. Specifically, he notes that in the medical profession, one can simply learn and master the body of knowledge and techniques in order to be considered a doctor. However, in professions that require PhDs, a simple mastery of the profession is not enough. One must increase the body of knowledge both to receive the terminal degree and to eventually gain tenure. He writes that in conjunction with a self validating profession, this is exceptionally dangerous. These problems corrupt the search for "truth" in a way that other professions could not afford.

So, I'm curious to see what you all think?

Video Interview with Layton Carr

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:09:00 +0000

Here is a recent interview with MTSU graduate student Layton Carr at Marina's in downtown Murfreesboro.

p.s. Does anyone have advice on how to make the Flip Camera's less blurry?

Looking for Video Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:32:00 +0000

We're looking for a few good people to guest video blog. We want to hear about your life, your work, and your thoughts about MTSU. I bring the video. You bring yourself. We both bring fun.

I am reminded of kindergarten...

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:29:00 +0000

while working on my thesis. When I was in kindergarten, I loved this instrument. While learning the alphabet, I wrote and rewrote letters over and over, forcefully erasing the previous version each time. Sometimes, my furious revisions created a hole in the paper. But this is not about revisions. It's about closely scanning a page to find any faint marking. The difference between kindergarten and graduate school is that in kindergarten I erased that marking. In graduate school, I want to throw a party.

You're probably asking where in the world could I possibly be going with this. Has our resident blogger gone mad? No, not yet. I'm currently examining church association minutes between 1817-1833. A few of the names are clear. Others...not so much. I bet if I could see myself, I would laugh. Move the paper closer. Move it away. Put it under a light. Remove it from the light. Tilt the paper. Tilt my head. And so on...all in an attempt to find out if those two lines were part of a "u" or an "n."

When I finally decide that the letter is a "u," I still feel more like an artist than a scientist. First off, I do not know if consistency was valued less in the early 19th century, but apparently it was the in-thing to vary the spelling of church leaders and ministers each year. Ok, that is a slight exaggeration. Still, even after I figure out the spelling in 1826, I have to decide if the 1826 spelling trumps the 1825 spelling. Then, sometimes the census has a completely alternate spelling different from both. All of this leaves me feeling like the artist above, instead of the scientist below.

But surely, once I find the correct name, the rest should be easy. When the name is something like "Obediah Wimpy" it is pretty easy. Apparently, there weren't many Wimpy people in Kentucky in the early 1800s. I can quickly type the name into ancestry.com and enjoy how much easier their search feature has made my life.

But what do I do when the name is "John Wilson?" There were quite a few John Wilson's in Kentucky in the early 1800s. This is where I feel closer to the above artist. I check the location of all the messengers from the same church. Generally, this fixes the problem. If I have eight other people from the same church who lived in Logan County, Kentucky, then there is a really good chance the John Wilson from Logan is the right one. Still, it isn't exact. Sometimes, I never figure out which person is the right person.

MB

Regression to the Mean & Giving Praise

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:42:00 +0000

Hello to all the beautiful people out there following the MTSU History Blog. After a long and fun day of working on my thesis, I've been relaxing and reading The Economic Naturalist by Robert H. Frank.

The book has been everything I expected and more. Granted, my expectations were only so high considering that I bought it for $2 at McKays in Nashville. I expected to find silver. But I struck gold. It was buried deep within the book (or it was on page 146, whichever sounds better).

Frank answers "Why do managers tend to overestimate the efficacy of blame and underestimate the efficacy of praise?" As a former teacher and coach, this question was extremely relevant. I know the best literature available says be positive, give X (significantly large) number of compliments for every X (significantly small) number of criticisms, etc. Still, there were times when criticism seemed to work really, really well.

So, why is that? According to Frank, it has to do with regression to the mean. People vary in their performance. Sometimes they do great. Sometimes they do poorly. Sometimes they do average. The person that does poorly one week will generally do average or even great the next. Poor performance is often met with criticism. That criticism is too often seen as the cause of improved performance. The reverse is also true. Someone who performs well one week is likely to do worse the next. That's one of the reasons why compliments sometimes seem to do little good, or even worse, harm. So, if your gut tells you to be negative, don't listen to it. Hand out some praise!

If I butchered that last paragraph, please forgive me. Given how bright this audience is, I'm sure you got the idea :)

Matt Bailey

The History Day Interviews - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 18:03:00 +0000

An Interview with Brad Wright.

Welcome to the second part of our History Day series. History Day is on February 25th. Faculty, graduate students, and volunteers all create an exciting day of learning for students throughout Middle Tennessee. This year's effort is led by Dr. McIntyre and three graduate assistants - Katie Rosta, Brigitte Eubank, and Brad Wright.

MB: Hello Brad. Thank you for joining me for the second part of the History Day Interviews. Will you tell us a little bit about your background?

Brad: I grew up in south Arkansas. I went to undergrad at the University of Arkansas where I majored in philosophy. Then, I took a bit of a detour and went through a certification process and got licensed to preach in the United Methodist Church. So, I went to seminary at the time at Phillips Theological in Tulsa and completed 20+ hours of graduate work there.

MB: That's interesting. What brought you to Murfreesboro and MTSU?

Brad: My wife got a job in Smyrna, and I thought I better come with her. I took a couple classes at Vanderbilt Divinity School, but I started working full time in community organizing with Hispanic immigrants.

MB: Can you speak Spanish? Tell me a bit more about your work.

Brad: Yes I can. We were constantly advocating some sort of comprehensive immigration reform. We ended up working on a lot of legal issues and putting people in touch with legal resources. Helping people with language issues was a constant thing. Then, it was just listening to the people and letting them articulate the challenges and concerns they were having and how they thought the community could be a better place. For example, the 2010 flood in Nashville hit the immigrant community particularly hard. They tend to live in the low lying areas. That brought up a lot of issues around housing and other things to the surface that people had not worried about before.

MB: What are your academic interests? Do they tie into your work?

Brad: I'm going to specialize in Latin American history, particularly the relationship between the United States and Mexico. But I've got a wide range of interests, such as race and class. I'm going to use Spanish to examine primary sources in Latin America, and I will have to spend some time in Mexico (where I can have fun staying with my lovely mother in law).

MB: Before I forget, how do you like working as a graduate assistant for History Day?

Brad: I like it. The project is quite an undertaking because there are several different categories and so many students involved. But I am really impressed by some of the entries and topics we've gotten so far with this year's theme of Debate and Diplomacy. It is exciting to see students learning how to do research and spending extended periods of time working on a project in history.

MB: Before we close, is there anything else you would like to say or that we've missed?

Brad: Sí Se Puede!

Your New Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:05:00 +0000

Matt Bailey

Greetings to all the MTSU History blog followers (we're up from eight). We want to grow the blog with regular posts, interviews, guest bloggers, video blogs, and more! I'm the newest blogger to join the team. It's a good time to tell you all a bit about myself.

I've been a graduate student at MTSU for 2 and 1/2 years. Currently, I'm working on my thesis, which examines the split between Primitive and Missionary Baptists in the early 19th century. I use association and church records with federal census records from 1820 and 1830 to give me quantitative data about individuals on each side. Next, that is compared and contrasted with circular letters, periodicals, and biographies from the time period. As you can probably tell from my thesis topic, American religious history is my favorite subject in history. I find all the social sciences interesting because of their "sheer complexity" (as Richard Herrnstein put it). This is especially true of religious history, an area where people seem move from the "rational" to the "irrational." Explaining the rhymes and reasons behind this behavior is fun.

Along with my interest in American religious history, I have another interest. I'm currently working on becoming highly qualified in special education. I've taught a total of three years in public schools - one as a special education teacher and two as a social studies teacher. Higher education is part of an important continuum with secondary and primary education. Research should be able to filter smoothly from professors through their students at universities to children in a variety of settings (schools, museums, libraries, historic sites, archives, etc). At the same time, it's important for researchers to keep the "end game" of education in mind while they are doing their work.

There's much more you'll find out about me in the coming months. I'm a Yankee/Southerner hybrid. Some of my mothers family sadly does not realize the Civil War is over. I'm not sure if parts of my Dad's family realize the Revolutionary War is over. But that's all for now.

Tell your friends! Graduate Program Open House

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:28:00 +0000

On February 12, 2011 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., the department is hosting an open house for anyone interested in pursuing graduate study in history at MTSU. Download an invitation here: OPEN HOUSE INVITATION. RSVP is requested, but not required.

The History Day Interviews - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:04:00 +0000

An Interview with Katie Rosta

Welcome to the first part of our History Day series. History Day is on February 25th. Faculty, graduate students, and volunteers all create an exciting day of learning for students throughout Middle Tennessee. This year's effort is led by Dr. McIntyre and three graduate assistants - Katie Rosta, Brigitte Eubank, and Brad Wright.

Our first interviewee is Katie Rosta.

MB: Hello Katie. Thank you for joining me for the History Day Interviews. Will you describe some of your work with History Day?

Katie: This is my second year as a graduate assistant working on History Day. We help coordinate the Middle Tennessee competition. We partner with Kelly Wilkerson the state coordinator to assist teachers with workshops, registration questions, topics for history, and even going out to the schools to help teachers.

MB: That sounds exciting! How does History Day this year compare with last year.

Katie: This year's theme is Debate and Diplomacy in History. Last year's theme was Innovation in History. We are expecting another exciting day just like last year.

MB: Do you still need volunteers?

Katie: Yes. We can always use volunteers. There are a variety of categories to judge, including exhibits, documentaries, performance, websites, and papers.

MB: Do you have any other thoughts about History Day?

Katie: Working on History Day has been a wonderful opportunity for me. I enjoy working with teachers and students. It ties in with my career goals to work in museum education.

MB: So tell me a bit about yourself. How far along are in the program?

Katie: I'm in my fifth semester with a museum studies concentration. Right now I'm taking Material Culture with Dr. West and Research Methods with Dr. Holloway.

MB: Do you have any advice for new graduate students?

Katie: Have Kate Turabian's book as a second pillow!

MB: Haha. What are some of the skills that you have learned while in the program?

Katie: I've learned exhibit design and curriculum development in Dr. Martin's classes. Last semester in Dr. West's class we gathered and compiled information about the Old City Cemetery in Franklin. There's so much I've gotten to do while here.

MB: Is there anything else you would like everyone to know?

Katie: I've enjoyed my graduate school experience. For anyone that gets overwhelmed at times remember there is light at the end of the tunnel.

MB: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview.

Matt Bailey with the MTSU History Department

Guest blogger Kristine McCusker about her research

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 17:38:00 +0000

Dr. Kristine McCusker is a faculty member in the history department. She has a Ph.D. in American History, Folklore, and Ethnomusicology from Indiana University and is the author of Lonesome Cowgirls and Honky-Tonk Angels: The Women of Barn Dance Radio (Illinois, 2008). In this blog entry she talks about her new research:

   I once said to a group of people that I study dead people. One person, John Lodl, head of the Rutherford County Archives, responded, “Kris, we all study dead people.” Yes, but my folks are already dead when I find them so I really do study literally dead people. My new manuscript, entitled Just Enough to Put Him Away Decent, is a National Institutes of Health-funded study of Southern death rituals between 1918-1945. It examines the evolution of “death care”: the burial of the dead, the grieving of the loss and the comfort given the grief-stricken. But I’m examining death care in era when Progressives were focusing on “life extension,” a campaign literally to extend life. Intriguingly, some of that impetus came from Southern Baptist Churches and some of my more interesting searches have been at the Southern Baptist Library and Archives in Nashville. The Southern Baptists founded hospitals and tuberculosis retreats to stave off early death, but in doing so, messed substantially with biblical prescriptions regarding life span. You were supposed to live three score and ten and then, go to your heavenly Father. What happened theologically, then, when Southerners began to live to eighty, ninety and even one hundred years?

   Some have found this research (and me) somewhat morbid. In fact, a dear friend said to me, “I realize you find this all interesting, but just so you know, you’re in a really weird place right now.” Yes, I am morbid, but when I started the work, my dad had just died and it helped me personally to see people grieving and then, being able to move on with their lives. These days, some three years into the project, death does bother me sometimes, although I find I am still quite comfortable being in that weird place. Seeing the large number of babies being buried has been difficult as has been the utterly painful, tragic deaths – the young woman who died because she ate a safety pin (probably an unidentified suicide) or the three children who died and were buried together during the Spanish Flu epidemic.

   But I have been charmed by the kindness extended to the grief-stricken. Frank Essex, professor emeritus in Political Science, told me about his funeral director father who had the Stuttgart (Arkansas) Air Force Base contract. His father buried16 men who died in airplane training accidents. Southerners believed that one had to bury the whole body, yet airplane crashes were catastrophic events for a body. How did Mr. Essex fix this? He used clothing to recreate the body. He tucked the socks into pants where there were no feet or legs, tied a tie around the neck that no longer existed, and all to complete the expected ritual because he knew it brought comfort to the family.

   So, I study dead people and it is morbid, but it is profoundly important work that reveals how well some acted even at the most difficult times in life.

Invitation to guest blog

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:16:00 +0000

With the new school year upon us, I want to remind everybody that guest bloggers are welcome. If you are interested, please let me know.

Wishing everyone a productive and intellectually stimulating school year.

CRM Field School 2010: Stewardship of the NPS at FOVA

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:33:00 +0000

The Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (FOVA) is composed of several historic components within a unified site. One part of the site contains an historically accurate re-creation of a former fort of the British Hudson's Bay Company's fur trading operations. The fort was established around 1824 and continued operating under British control until 1846 when the Oregon Treaty set the US–Canadian border at the 49th parallel north thus placing Fort Vancouver within American territory. The fort is situated on its original site near the Columbia River in present day Vancouver, Washington. Fort Vancouver was made a National Monument in 1944, and in the 1960s its boundaries were changed and it was redesignated as Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

MTSU CRM Field School 2010 students arrive on Monday, May 10 for the introductory session of the class.

MTSU students spent the first week of the CRM Field School Maymester class at Fort Vancouver getting an inside view of how the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service (NPS) works, particularly at FOVA. Our daily schedule included both classroom instruction and park tours conducted by the various NPS staffers who oversee operations at FOVA.

We received instruction about how the park staff implements the FOVA General Management Plan.

The NPS staff took turns guiding us around the various park assets. We were treated like V.I.P.s during our stay. NPS Rangers Kimm Fox-Middleton, Greg Shine, and new Ranger Aaron.

Cortney Gjesfjeld conducts one of the lectures for the CRM Field School.

Cortney C. Gjesfjeld, a Historical Landscape Architect and Cultural Resources expert with the Pacific West Region of the NPS, served as a special liaison and instructor for the entirety of our stay. Her involvement in our Field School was integral to our understanding of the complexities of cultural resources management. Plus, she was a great guide around Portland at night during our down time!

The restored fort is built on the footprint of the original fort but the orientation of the entrance has been moved to the rear to accommodate access to the visitors' parking lot.

Thus, visitors approach Fort Vancouver by means of a stroll through an interpretation of the original fort garden. It was a typical English garden and was located behind and outside the boundary of the fort, just beyond the massive gate.

To the east and west of the gardens are the original agricultural fields and apple and cherry orchards which are now being restored with historically accurate plantings.

Cortney gave us much insight into the process of re-creating a natural and cultural landscape accurately.

These stunning arbors are planted with hops!

Fort Vancouver CRM Field School

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:34:00 +0000

This semester, nine public history graduate students, along with Dr. Rebecca Conard, are studying cultural resource management practices at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington. The Cultural Resource Management (CRM) Field School, a Maymester class, commenced on Monday, May 10. For two weeks we will study the wide variety of national, state, and local partnerships that are involved in managing The Fort Vancouver National Historic Site as well as the Historic Columbia River Highway, the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, and the Timberline Lodge National Historic Landmark. Our goal is to get a fix on the complexities of applying scholarship, theory and philosophy to cultural resource management.
In addition to Dr. Conard, participants include Virginia Wallace,
C. Sade Turnipseed, Keith Schumann, Katie Merzbacher, Meghan Fall, Brigitte Eubank, Kristen Baldwin Deathridge, David Calease, and Mona Brittingham. Our base of operations is across the river from Fort Vancouver in Portland, Oregon. We are staying at the Portland Hostel, a member of Hostel International, where we are enjoying a camaraderie reminiscent of the undergraduate college dorm.
We will report in from time to time to share our experiences.

From the Chair: The Tyranny of National Histories

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:07:00 +0000

I got back last night from a conference at the University of Heidelberg in Germany where I participated in a conference entitled "Lives Beyond Borders: Toward a Social History of Cosmopolitanism and Globalization." Although I definitely felt like the least cosmopolitan person there (all the papers and comments were in English, though I was almost the only person whose first language was English), it really gave me an opportunity to think more deeply about the people I study--international civil servants of the United Nations--as well as an entire host of other people whose histories--whose stories and biographies--don't naturally fall within the history of a particular country.

For example, one of the heroes of my book The Birth of Development, is Sir John Boyd Orr, the first Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1949. Since the British government had actively campaigned against his nomination to the FAO in the first place, it's not all that surprising that he's not remembered in British history. But he's equally forgotten in Scotland. If you visit Scotland and find yourself at the William Wallace Monument outside Stirling (because you haven't yet taken Dr. Beemon's course and learned that Scotland is about more than Braveheart, kilts, and whiskey), you'll find Scotland's Hall of Heroes within the monument. Poet Robert Burns is there, Robert the Bruce, economist Adam Smith, and Sir Walter Scott, but no John Boyd Orr. Why? Perhaps he's not important to the history of Scotland. But in which Hall of Heroes should a man like Orr, who devoted his life to trying to feed people and eradicate hunger, be?

That was basically the question of the conference. When people have lived their lives in the world, when they've been important to the world, who keeps that historical memory? One commentator talked about the tyranny of national histories to describe the ways in which nations have become the keepers of historical memory. The danger in this is that we lose important histories and stories.

One of the papers that I commented on was the biography of Zhang Pengchun. He was the product of a new, modern education offered in the Nankai Middle School before studying at Clarke and Columbia universities in the United States (where he studied with John Dewey). He then served as Dean of the Tsinghua School in Peking and helped launch Peking opera in the United States. But by far his most significant contribution came from his work with the U.N. Human Rights Commission, where he worked tirelessly and largely as an individual with few instructions from his government (which was in the process of losing the Chinese civil war). In this role, he managed to hammer out a set of human rights (in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights) that exceeded Western ideas and that offered the promise of protection for people beyond the bounds of the nation-state. Where is his history commemorated and remembered? Certainly not in the country in which he was born, which is one of the chief human rights violators in the world. So if nations generate and keep histories, whose histories are lost and forgotten? How are we made poorer for forgetting these stories?

So take a moment to think about someone in your own research or reading who is important beyond the borders of a nation and why it's important that we study and know about her or him. Feel free to share as a comment and join in the conversation!

Check out History Research Blog

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Ken Middleton, an MTSU History Department alumni and faculty member in the MTSU library has started a history research blog. Check it out here: History Research Blog. Ken will also, upon request, meet with your history classes to teach them about some of the research tools available in the library. Take some time to explore Ken's great new blog.

New department blog

noreply@blogger.com (MTSU Department of History) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:59:00 +0000

So this is the beginning of the MTSU History Department blog. Ok, so blogging's been around since the 90s. We're not exactly on the cutting edge. But we are trying to do better at communicating as our department continues to grow and exciting stuff (well, exciting from a scholarly point of view) is happening all the time. We're hoping this blog will give us a chance to highlight the accomplishments of our students, faculty, and alumni, advertise events in the department, and explore the history of our local community a bit, and just generally improve communication. Feel free to leave comments or, better yet, volunteer to be a guest blogger. You know you want to.