Phi Alpha Theta is the national honor society for history. It is one of the oldest honor societies in the country. Those who are seriously interested in the study of history should definitely join. Membership looks very good on grad school applications and etc., and it also has tangible benefits including:

• Prize and scholarship competitions.
• Participation in local and national conferences, where undergraduates are encouraged to present research.
• Subscription to the academic journal, The Historian.
• Ability to network with other students and members of the profession in our area and nationally.

To be considered for membership, you must have taken at least 12 history credits and have an overall GPA of 3.0. The one-time membership fee is $40. You will receive the journal for one year, a certificate, membership card, and lifetime access to all other society benefits. Membership applications are available in my office, G306. They are due by March 15, 2008. For more information on Phi Alpha Theta, please click here.

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I grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, just a half hour south of Green Bay, so you could say that football is in my blood. I attended my first Packer’s game at Lambeau Field when I was about seven years old. I’ve sat through every kind of weather imaginable there, including a game where it was -9 at kickoff.

I don’t think that younger fans fully appreciate a season like the Packers have had this year. They have not been 13-3 since 1998 (or when our freshmen were about eight years old), but the Packers have only had one really bad year in the last decade. I grew up in the years of Bart Starr (the coach), Forrest Gregg (the coach again) and the offensive genius Lindy Infante. Those were years of hopeless futility in Green Bay. All of that changed with Mike Holmgren, Ron Wolf, and Brett Favre. It did not happen overnight, but it did happen. I’m still amazed that the Packers are a good team. Appreciate these days Packers fans. It might not (and it has not) always be this way.

Now, why am I writing about the Packers in a history blog? Well, this has been a historic year in a lot of ways. Brett Favre broke just about every individual record for a quarterback, and he’s not missed a start since 1992! To put that into perspective, I was a junior in high school when Brett started his first game! I just think we should take a moment sometimes—between the beer and brats while we watch games—to appreciate how lucky we are to be fans at THIS moment in Packers history. Like Marv Levy used to say, “Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?” (See that…I did work history into this entry somehow)!

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Merry Christmas!

So sorry about not posting anything for awhile, we were having some problems with a system, but we are up and running once again. Just in time for the break.

Very pleased with the last semester, man, we had some great courses fulled with some great students. Now, it is on to planning for the spring semester.

Once again, I will be teaching HIS101. My other courses are Modern America. Latin America and then the Senior Thesis course. All of them are good courses.

Modern America goes from 1945-Present. We get to look at the Fifties and then the really bad Sixties, I am a firm believer that the Sixties really damaged this country in many ways and do not buy into the idea of the “Youth just trying to make the world a better place” stuff. This time I will also be using a book called 102 minutes that deals with the attacks on the towers on 911.

Latin America is a wide rangin course that goes from pre-Columbus Native Empires like the Aztecs and Incas to the present. This course is usually a real eye opener for students. In this course each student picks a country to focus on for a paper.

The Senior Thesis course is one of my favorites. Here we really sit down and learn about what makes history tick. We discuss historians and argue interpretations. We have big projects and the battle of the Little Big Horn to discover who was at fault for the loss. In this course the students do most of the talking and really learn what it means to be a historian.

Outside of that, three of our professors, Aaron Palmer, Patrick Steele and myself will be presenting papers at the Missouri Valley Historical Conference in Omaha this March. Next time, I will talk more about that.

See ya

Beck

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“I like history, but what can I DO with it?” I’ve been asked this question many times by students. The simple answer is that you can do many things with a history degree. As a discipline, history will help you develop research, writing and critical thinking skills, which are essential to a host of professional situations. If you are thinking about history as a major, you might want to check out the American Historical Association (AHA) website for history majors and history careers. They have an excellent introductory website on the topic, as well as a free booklet that even features profiles of history students who have followed various professional paths:

http://www.historians.org/pubs/Free/careers/Index.htm

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I have a lot of books.  Some might say I have too many books.  I have an entire room at home with nothing but books in it.  I really started building my collection in graduate school.  Once, for a graduate course at Marquette, the professor assigned books that were all out of print.  I was not really sure what to do, so I started hunting around on the internet.  I found a great site that I have been using ever since to find cheap, old and out of print books:  Bookfinder.  I highly recommend the site to fellow book addicts.  It is basically a network of used book dealers, and you should be able to find multiple copies of almost any book at a range of prices.

 www.bookfinder.com

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In August of 2008, I will be leading a research trip to three Presidential Libraries.   The first is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and museum in Abilene, Kansas.  From there, we will go to the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri.  Our final stop will include research time at the new Abraham Lincoln Library in Springfield, Ill.  It is a great opportunity for students to conduct this type of primary research while still undergraduates.  Costs have not yet been set, so please watch for an announcement about the trip and an expanded agenda when it is completed.

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This is the third time that I have taught the World War I course. I find it a fascinating period. It gets over shadowed by World War II, yet it is such an immense conflict that has such ramifications for world history.

Right now, week six, we have just finished the military offensives of 1914. Prior to this we spent time discussing why the war came and had a great debate over which country was at fault for the war. And no, it was not automaticallly Germany as so often we hear.

One thing I like to do with the class is show movies dealing with the war. I start with Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas) about the amazing Christmas truce of 1914 that the soldiers themselves declared on the western front. I also show Gallipoli, Dawn Patrol, Paths of Glory and All Quiet on the Western Front. There are several others that I’ve shown from time to time.

I also looked forward to the debate the class has over whether the US should have entered WWI. I have some strong feelings on that one so it is always fun to hear what the students have to say about it.

I am building up quite a library on WWI. To have to chance to speak on the Naval and Air aspects of the war, the affects of the war on the home front, fascism and the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War is really something.

Later

P Beck

I also enjoy speaking about the war in the colonies, like Africa. It is amazing how Lettow Von Vorbeck held out for the entire war in German east Africa. Even more so that so few people even know about him.

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If you ever need a quick and accurate reference for formatting footnotes in Chicago style, now you can go right to the source:  www.chicagomanualofstyle.org.

The entire manual is NOT available for free, but the University of Chicago Press has put together a short, free guide that you can use as a reference for the basics.  The big style book is usually about $50 at book stores.  The online version is half that price, and it is continually updated.

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A lot is going on at WLC this fall for history enthusiasts.  Here are just two highlights of events outside of class.

Monday evening at 7 PM on October 1 world famous Israeli archaeologist Gabbie Mazor will be giving a slide talk on the biblical city of Beth-Shean in the Schwan Concert Hall.  The event is free and open to the public.

On Sundny afternoon Oct. 21 students and faculty will be traveling 45 min. to a small cemetery near Burlington WI called Mt. Hope.  This cemetery was active from 1840-1888, sits in the back of a farmer’s field, and has been abandoned and left to nature for over 100 yrs.  The WLC Student History Association will start a renovation and preservation project that will involve surface archaeology, historical research and mapping and preservation of the site.  This will be a great hands-on opportunity to learn and prserve a historical site.  The project will continue with a full-day of clean-up of the site in November, and further preservation projects in the spring.  We will be working together with members of the Burlington Historical Society, and this will serve as the History club’s community service project for the year.

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Greetings once more.

We are fiour weeks into the semester. If you are thinking about becoming a history major or coming to WLC, then you may want to know more about the people and the program that makes up the History Department.

There are four professors of history, which for a college of our size is really really good. Ive been here the longest but all of the faculty is very experienced.

In their evaluations of our courses, students will often say that we show a passion for history. Its true, we love what we do and we want you to enjoy it as well. History is story telling. It is about real people and all the fighting, loving, joys and sorrows that mankind has gone through. WE mainly lecture because we find that is the best way to get the story across to students. Although, in some of my classes I like using films to help describe the past. Professor Steele likes using power point to bring people. documents and events more to life.

We want to make sure that you get to study the history that you find most compelling. Thus, we have, or will soon have, three emphasis areas, American, European and World History. A History student will take the majority of their courses in one of those areas.

More soon

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