MTSU students review ‘Lincoln’

Last week, the MTSU History Club gathered to see Lincoln. Wondering what real-life historians think of the film? According to student Harley, “His acting was spot on. He portrayed himself as a loving caring father, outspoken politician when with his cabinet members and a very concerned husband when confronting his wife about her mental issues. This film is so in depth and everything is so authentic: from the furniture to the wardrobe; from the actors similarity of their character to the dialog.” Click through to read the rest of Harley’s review on her blog Harley Makes History. 

 

New course on Work, Globalization, and Human Rights

Disability and Your Cultural Organization: Going Beyond ADA

“Disability and Your Cultural Organization: Sensitivity and Strategies for Going Beyond ADA” is a symposium that will provide resources and support to public organizations such as museums and schools to develop and improve program offerings to the under-served community of students and adults with disabilities.  This program will also provide an opportunity for professionals to learn best practices. The symposium will also help small museums with limited resources to be more inclusive in their programs and exhibits.

The workshop will take place on November 3rd from 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. in the Business and Aerospace Building at MTSU in Murfreesboro, TN (Directions and map available here.)

This event will feature keynote speaker Krista Flores from the Smithsonian Institute Accessibility Program.  In addition to the keynote speaker, who will address the major issues of accessibility in museums, our program includes, Dr. Lisa Pruitt, who will speak on disability history and the context of the workshop and Ms. Karen Wade of the Homestead Museum in Los Angeles County, California, who will speak on  welcoming diverse audiences to museums.  After the speakers and a brief break, participants will have the opportunity to hear a panel speak on disabilities and cultural organizations.  The panel includes Dr. Bren Martin, museum studies professor as moderator; Tracy Hamby, a recreational therapist; Dr. Craig Rice from the MTSU Special Education Department, and also our speakers.

In the afternoon, participants will have the opportunity to attend two of four breakout work sessions.  These 40-minute sessions are designed to give museum professionals the opportunity to discuss strategies for their own sites and to share tactics they have used or plan to use.   Possible session include: museum and exhibit design, sensory impairments, strategies for the physically impaired, and cognitive and developmental delay.

We expect to have approximately 60 participants in the program, and the workshop will also be filmed, and data and literature from the conference will be made available after the initial conference via internet and email.

Registration for this workshop is $20, and this fee does include lunch.  Space is limited, so please register early.  Registration will be closed on October 26th or when the seats are filled.

The registration form and flyer are available at: 
http://mtsu.edu/history/disability_workshop.php

You may email the registration form to me at mks2x@mtmail.mtsu.edu, but please send in payment to the address above. Confirmation will be sent upon reciept of payment. *Please make checks payable to MTSU History Department. 

A big thank you to our sponsors: MTSU History Department and Public History Program, the Association of Graduate Students in History, Tennessee Association of Museums, and the Inter-Museum Council of Nashville, and to our planning partner, the American Association of State and Local History.  

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at mks2x@mtmail.mtsu.edu

We look forward to seeing you there!

This has been a guest post by Katie Stringer, a Ph.D. candidate in Public History and organizer of the “Disability and Your Cultural Organization: Going Beyond ADA” workshop. Katie plans to graduate in May and you can read more about her work by visiting her website Something Old, Something New.

History Department Call for Award Nominations

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

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

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

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.