The History and American Studies Department welcomes all to attend this Friday’s symposium in which students will present their senior theses. Sessions will be held from 9 am to 2 pm and are open to the public. Light refreshments will also be provided.
Schedule: (see here for a schedule file that can be downloaded)
History and American Studies Symposium
Spring 2013
University of Mary Washington – Department of History and American Studies
Friday, April 26, 2013
SESSION ONE. 9 AM. Monroe 210—Politics and Memory of the Civil War Era
Moderator: Dr. Porter Blakemore
James Hitch—The Federal Folly Along the Rappahannock (JM)
Hannah Laughlin—The Memory of Civil War Ironclads: The Battle of Hampton Roads in American Memory (JM)
Sarah E. Tagg—Analyzing the Rhetoric in the Seven Lincoln-Douglas Debates (WM)
SESSION TWO. 9 AM. Monroe 211—Forging National and Ethnic Identities in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern History
Moderator: Dr. Jess Rigelhaupt
James Myers—Let Me Be Frank: Conceptions of National Identity in the Frankish Kingdoms, 450-1108 (BO)
William T. Roark—”So Radical a Revolution”: The Ku Klux Act and Trials and the Retreat from Reconstruction (CF)
Stuart Bolling Smith—Warriors of the Faith: Understanding Spartan Identity in the History of Sparta’s Religious and Societal Practices (BO)
SESSION THREE. 10 AM. Monroe 210—The Politics of Food Production and Urban Redevelopment in American Towns and Cities
Moderator: Dr. Steven E. Harris
Samantha Corron—Garnering Social Capital to Create Change: A Case Study of the Fredericksburg Community Garden (KM)
A. A. Shipman—Southern Exposure Seed Exchange: Seed Preservation in the Twenty First Century (KM)
Rachel Tippett—Stigma of the Court: Urban Planning in Post World War II Richmond, Virginia (JR)
SESSION FOUR. 10 AM. Monroe 211—Battles and Campaigns of Total Wars in the 20th Century
Moderator: Dr. Jeff McClurken
Dan Healy—The Allied Failure at Anzio: 1944 (PB)
Matthew Meyer—Ambiguity in Victory: The East Prussian Campaign of 1914 (PB)
Aakash Ramsay—It Was As If the Very Gates of Hell Had Opened: The United States Marine Corps in World War I (PB)
SESSION FIVE. 11 AM. Monroe 210—Midwives, Mothers, and Fighters: Constructions of Feminine Identity
Moderator: Dr. Susan Fernsebner
Kelsey Matthews—”Here Again, Let It Be Observed and Remembered”: Midwifery Education in Early America (KM)
Kendall Simonpietri—Ignorant Mothers: Infant Mortality and the Role of Mothers in the Early Twentieth Century (JM)
Amalia Richards—The Forgotten Fighters: British and American Women in the Second World War (PB)
SESSION SIX. 11 AM. Monroe 211—The Radical Politics of Anarchists and Assassins in American and Russian History
Moderator: Dr. Claudine Ferrell
Josh Furnary—Anarchist Interpretations of the Russian Revolution (SH)
Erin O’Neill—History’s Greatest ‘Who Done It?’: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy (CF)
Quincy Schmidt—Leon Czolgosz: Motives for the McKinley Assassination (WM)
SESSION SEVEN. 1 PM. Monroe 210—Steelworkers, Nurses, and Miners at the Forefront of the American Labor Experience
Moderator: Dr. Bruce O’Brien
Michael Corrigan—“When We Lost It, We Lost Everything”: An Oral History of Pittsburgh Steelworkers (JR)
Kelly FitzGibbon—Nurses, Labor and the National Labor Relations Act Amendment in 1974 (JR)
Calvin Sherwood—Raging Boomtowns Among Gold Mines: The Turbulent and Diverse Demography of the California Gold Rush (JM)
SESSION EIGHT. 1 PM. Monroe 211—American Popular Culture at the Crossroads of Race, Gender, and War
Moderator: Dr. Allyson Poska
Josephine Appiah—Muhammad Ali and Jack Johnson Creating a New Version of Black Masculinity in the 1910s and 1960s (CF)
Kaitlin Barrell—Protest Songs in the Vietnam Era: Movement Meets Counterculture (CF)
Rachel Icard—The Little Black Dress and the 1920s Cultural Climate that Led to Its Success in America (KM)
SESSION NINE. 2 PM. Monroe 210—The Role of Women in American and European History
Moderator: Dr. Will Mackintosh
Kelly McKenna—Women and Gender in the Workplace in World War II (CF)
Mary Ogle—Ladies of the Blue and Gray: Female Soldiers and Spies in the Civil War (JM)
Karita Redmon—Teresa, Reformer, Teacher, and Saint (AP)
SESSION TEN. 2 PM. Monroe 211—The Power and Rationale of Great Power Diplomacy
Moderator: Dr. Jason Sellers
Arielle Carrick—Israel: A Result of the Cold War (JR)
Will Hechmer—The Impact of the British Consulate in Japan from 1854 to 1870 (SF)
Jared Smith—Soviet Union: Significance of Art in the First Half of the Cold War (SH)
Many History and American Studies majors apply for and win internships for the summer. It’s a great way to build upon the training one gains in the classroom while adding new skills to one’s repertoire and also to gain practical experience for use in diverse fields after graduation. This summer, we’ll be featuring introductions to current Mary Washington students and the internships they’ve undertaken. Stay tuned!
We are pleased to announce that UMW alumna 
Dr. Allyson Poska, Professor of History at UMW, has been awarded the Waple Professorship. The Waple Professorship is a new program supported by a generous gift from the Waple family. Three professorships have been awarded in this inaugural year, one to a leading faculty member from each of the three colleges (Arts and Sciences, Business, and Education) at our university.
On Thursday, April 4th, 
On Friday, the University of Mary Washington will be hosting a series of lectures, a live music performance, and documentary film screening devoted to the topic of Japan’s 3/11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.