News

Aug 5, 2011

Jessica Gillespie – CHASS Thesis Award

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences selected Jessica Gillespie’s “Loved to stayed on like it once was’: Southern Appalachian People’s Responses to Socio-Economic Change–the New Deal, the War on Poverty, and the Rise of Tourism,” written under the direction of Professor Craig Friend, for the 2010 CHASS Thesis Award. Jessica graduated with her M.A.…

May 11, 2011

Reynoldstown: Race, Blight, Disease, Highway Construction and the Transformation of Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Cruise, Shane. “Reynoldstown: Race, Blight, Disease, Highway Construction and the Transformation of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.” (Under the direction of Dr. Blair Lynne Kelley.) Reynoldstown: Race, Blight, Disease, Highway Construction and the Transformation of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, contributes to the historiography of the urban South by exploring the transformation of Winston-Salem between 1948 and 1962. In…

Apr 28, 2011

An Ever Closer Union? European Integration in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

Popowycz, Jennifer. “An Ever Closer Union? European Integration in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century.” (Under the direction of Dr. Thomas Ort.) In the 1970s three countries from Southern Europe applied to become members of the European Economic Community (EEC), which is now the European Union (EU). Greece, Portugal, and Spain all had newly…

Apr 27, 2011

Vindicating the Confederacy: Confederate Female Spies and their Memoirs 1863-1876

Matthews, Melissa. “Vindicating the Confederacy: Confederate Female Spies and their Memoirs 1863-1876.” (Under the direction of Dr. Susanna Lee.) Belle Boyd, Rose O‟Neal Greenhow and Loreta Velazquez were all Confederate female spies that risked their lives to support the Confederacy. Their memoirs completed either during or after the Civil War are pieces of Confederate propaganda…

Apr 7, 2011

The Twelfth Century Renaissance and the Religion of Intent: Interiority and the Emergence of Selfhood Across Religious Boundaries

Elliot, Serena. “The Twelfth Century Renaissance and the Religion of Intent: Interiority and the Emergence of Selfhood Across Religious Boundaries.” (Under the direction of Dr. Julie Mell.) This thesis explores the emergence of faith statements in both Jewish and Christian culture in the long twelfth century (c. 1050-1200). Such faith statements, found in both cultures…

Mar 23, 2011

History Weekend Educates and Enlightens

The Tea Party in America. Pirates of the Atlantic. Murder in America. Each year, the Department of History sponsors History Weekend “to ignite discussion, and to invite the public into that conversation,” according to Department Head Jonathan Ocko. “We bring first-rate speakers to campus to help explore and explain what historians do and how history…

Mar 16, 2011

The Public History of the Civil War, a Sesquicentennial Symposium

by Lauren Lopez-Ibanez, CHASS Communication Intern On April 12, 1861, the Battle of Fort Sumter triggered the beginning of the American Civil War–a war that would consume our country for four long years and change it forever. As the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaches, the Department of History is holding a symposium to…

Mar 16, 2011

“Make the Letters Big and Plain” : A History of Black Education in North Carolina

Duncan, Eric. “‘Make the Letters Big and Plain’ : A History of Black Education in North Carolina.” (Under the direction of Dr. Susanna Lee.) This paper traces the history of black education in North Carolina from the antebellum era through Reconstruction. During the antebellum period, this paper examines how slaves, through largely individual efforts, used…

Mar 15, 2011

Found in translation: student reflects on why he studies the Middle East

Evan Garris (Political Science 2011) says he was overcome with emotion recently while watching television reports of the jubilant crowds celebrating Hosni Mubarak’s resignation in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The Smithfield, NC, native described his reaction to his Arabic teacher in the email reprinted below. Garris had spent the summer of 2010 travelling in the Middle…

Jan 5, 2011

The Pains of Withdrawal: Carter and Korea, 1976-1980

Brown, Aaron. “The Pains of Withdrawal: Carter and Korea, 1976-1980.” (Under the direction of Dr. Nancy Mitchell.) This thesis focuses on President Jimmy Carter’s attempt to withdraw American forces from the Korean peninsula. During his presidency (1976-1980), Carter tried unsuccessfully to remove all US ground forces from South Korea. His policy was met with almost…