Letter from the History Department Interim Chair: Dr. Derek Heng
Fall 2024, and the History Department has been off to a wonderful start! We welcomed a new cohort of students, many of which, we hope, would be inspired to read history as a significant part of their undergraduate education. We also enrolled eight new students into our MA History program, and look forward to mentoring them through the next two years here at NAU.
This semester has seen quite a bit of change in the department. Dr. Iuri Bauler Pereira has officially joined the department as a full-fledged faculty member, after successfully completing a year as a Future Faculty Fellow in 2023. Associate Professor Thomas Finger has begun his appointment as Coordinator of the MA History Program. Prof. Finger takes over the reins from Prof. Michael Amundson, who had served, both faithfully and effectively, in that capacity for more than ten years. A big shout out to Prof. Amundson for his contributions to the MA program!
It is with some sadness that Dr. Shaine Scarminach will be leaving us after December 2024. Dr. Scarminach, who specializes in U.S. diplomatic history, has been a member of our department since fall 2023, and over the last three semesters, has grown to be a much-appreciated colleague and teacher. We will miss him greatly!
One of the key highlights for the History Department was the winning of a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to run a summer program for teachers, entitled “Indigenous Histories of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands.” To be conducted with the Institute for Native-Serving Educators (INE), we look forward to hosting around 25 teachers from across the U.S., as they come to NAU to learn, and share, about teaching the histories of our Native-American nations.
The fall semester has been, introspectively, an important one. As a society, we have become more aware of the challenges that we face, both in the U.S. as well as internationally. As a department, we have been trying to cultivate a culture and environment where we can ask questions, and try to seek answers, to the issues that have come to the fore. Firstly, we have broadened our portfolio of courses in the soon-to-be-launched General Education program at NAU, to provide classroom content on social and political worlds, American institutions, global diversity, and inclusiveness. Secondly, we have continued to bring scholars onto the campus to share their insights into pertinent issues. These have included the history and future of college debt in America, school choice for the Hispanic community over the last 100 years, and the state of democracy and political discourse in Brazil through the Jair Bolsonaro presidency. Our History students, NAU body, and community members have benefited from these talks, and we look forward to hosting more in spring 2025.
Finally, our History students and alumni have also been making waves out in the world! Several students have undertaken internships as near to home as the NAU Cline Library Special Collections and Archives, and as far as the Washington Center (Washington D.C.), while our graduates have been winning awards and serving the community. Several of these stories are featured in this newsletter, and we look forward to hearing about the achievements of our students and alumni!