Our Students
Student Representatives, 2007-2008
Representatives for American Studies:
Lauren Hicks, Andrea Meyer
Representatives for History:
Sarah Herzog, Cassandra Hill, Megan McCrum, Justin Simeone
Department Awards and Scholarships
2006 Department Scholarship Winners
UMW HISTORY STUDENTS PRESENT RESULTS OF
SUMMER RESEARCH AT MEDIEVAL STUDIES CONFERENCE
Three University of Mary Washington seniors presented the results of research they conducted during the summer in England to the 20th Medieval-Renaissance Conference at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.
Irene Frankofsky, Josephine Fu, and Elizabeth Kuhl read scholarly papers that summarized what they have culled so far from research they pursued in England during their summer vacations. Fu and Kuhl worked in manuscript sources in the British Library in London while Frankofsky worked on a Norman-era archaeological site in Lincolnshire in the north of England. All three used sources written in Old English, an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland from the mid-fifth to the mid-twelfth century. All three student arrived in England with research skills they acquired during the spring semester. The orthography, or the ways letters are written, of Old English differ dramatically from modern English, Fu, Frankofsky and Kuhl learned to translate Old English to modern English working with Professor Bruce O’Brien, the UMW faculty member who directed their summer research. Meeting weekly with O’Brien, all three had by the time they departed for England gained the skills they needed to decipher ancient texts.
At the Wise Conference, Irene Frankofsky summarized the results of her analysis of ceramics recovered at the site on which she worked in a paper entitled "Material Effects of the Norman Conquest: Pottery and Status in a Lincolnshire Site." Josephine Fu explored the mingling of Saxon healing practices with other cultural traditions in her paper “Pagan Ritual in Christian Medicine,” and Elizabeth Kuhl presented “The Organization of British Library MS Cotton Vespasian D. xiv,” a summary of the early results of her research efforts.
O’Brien said, "The conference at Wise welcomes scholarly papers on all areas of medieval and renaissance studies, including literature, history, philosophy, art, and music, encouraging interdisciplinary approaches."
TEN MAJORS ELECTED TO PHI BETA KAPPA
Congratulations to our ten majors who were selected for membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 2006, generally recognized as the most prestigious of all academic honorary societies. This year’s graduating class of majors boasts the greatest number of Phi Beta Kappa members of any class in the Department’s history. In addition to the five majors pictured below, other honorees include Sarah Hof, Benjamin Franklin, Kathryn McGillicuddy, Nicholas Ross, and Nancy Williams. The Department takes great pride in their outstanding achievement.
New Phi Beta Kappa members, L-to-R, Miriam Rush, Lauren McCreedy, Emily Mushen, and Thomas Cogliano--all History Majors--and Amy Miller, American Studies. All were members of the 2002 First-year Seminar in American history.
WRITING CONTEST WINNERS
Once again, History majors have won laurels in the campus-wide writing contest sponsored by the Writing Center. In the 2006-2007 contest, Justin Simeone had a second paper recognized by the Writing Contest judges.
The 2005-06 winners in the category of Natural and Social Sciences were:
- Lauren McCreedy for her HIST 485 paper written under the direction of Professor Blakemore: “World War II Comes Home: German and Italian Prisoners of War at Fort Meade, Maryland.”
- Justin Simeone for his HIST 299 paper written under the direction of Professor Ferrell: “Defining the Debate over Science and Religion: Clarence Darrow, Agnosticism, and the Scopes Monkey Trial.”
Congratulations to Lauren and Justin!
Other News
The first class of the History Department's Freshman Seminar graduated in May 2005. Read about their experiences and successes>>
Student Web Projects
To see some of the exciting work with history and the web that Mary Washington students are doing in the department, click here.
Major Spotlight
Marcy Crockett, American Studies, ‘03
A native of Virginia Beach, Marcy Crockett has been involved in a variety of extracurricular activities at MWC, most of them related in some way to Southern history. Read more>>
Priscilla Tomescu, History, ‘03
Priscilla Tomescu is the first member of her family to be born in the United States. Both her parents, as well as her older brother, were born in Romania...
Read more>>
Internships
Dana Angell, History ‘02
Dana, a senior History major from Midlothian, Virginia (just outside Richmond), says that she had wanted to intern at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History since she was in high school.
Read more about Dana in our "Careers" section>>
See What Our Alumni Are Doing...
In our "Careers" section, read stories about how our past History and American Studies majors have applied their degree to a broad variety of careers and post-graduate work. Now featuring:
Stephanie Hamlett, History '81
Austin Merrill, History '91
Bruce Loving, History '86
Hank Elliot, History '98
Tim Landis, American Studies '93
Amy Bradley, History Major '02