Indiana State University

                        Indiana State University
      The History Department's
             Annual Newsletter

Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809. 1997-1998

Chandra R. de Silva, after seven years as Chair of the Department of History, will be resigning effective July 10, 1998 to take a position at Old Dominion University. We will greatly miss him, and we wish him well.

Richard Clokey will be the Interim Chair for the Department for the Academic Year 1998-99, during which there will be a national search for a new chair.

Wilson Warren, Ph.D. (Pittsburgh) 1992 joined our faculty in August 1997. He has since taken charge of the Social Studies Education Office and coordinates all work in relation to teacher training within the History department.

Edward Spann was awarded the 1998 College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor award on April 14, 1998. He will be presenting his Distinguished Professor lecture in the Fall 1998.

Wilson Warren and Robert Clouse won ISU Research Grants for 1997-98 in the amounts of $2100 and $2685, respectively. Richard Pierard received grants from Pew Charitable Trust and the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals.

History enrollments reached record levels in Fall 1997 reaching the highest level in over 25 years. A total of 2,082 students registered for 6,179 credit hours. Spring 1998 enrollments, though lower than in the Fall, with 1,620 students and a total of 4,688 credit hours, were higher than in 1997. In fact, the total of 10,867 credit hours for the academic year was another record. Graduate enrollments too were the highest since 1993‑94.

*Department Chairs and student advisors involved in the Social Studies Education program met twice during the academic year (August 27, 1997 and February 4, 1998) to discuss problems and policy.

*The number of Social Science Education majors rose from 120 in 1997 to 157 in 1998. Over 80% of them choose US history or World Civilization as their primary area of teaching.

Herbert Rissler organized one more seminar where local high/middle school teachers, met with teacher trainees and ISU faculty on October 17.

* Nancy Latta read Paper No. 17 of the History Department Seminar (HDS) on Some Things Change‑Some Things Never Do: Attempts and Failures to Save Terre Haute's Downtown, 1960‑1980 on March 4, 1998.

* Richard Clokey read Paper No. 18 of the History Department Seminar (HDS) on Curriculum Development at Indiana State University in the Sixties on Wednesday, April 29, 1998.

* The visit on February 26th of Dr Findley Campbell, candidate for Governor of Indiana in 1972 who played a major role in the Indiana Peace and Freedom Party and in establishing Black Student Unions, was supported by the History Department.

*Dr. Jim Davidson, author of After the Fact, and the history text, Nation of Nations, visited the Department and met with faculty and students on March 18 and 19, 1998.

* Professor Sudarshan Seneviratne, Visiting Professor at Carleton College and Professor of Archeology at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka delivered a lecture (illustrated with slides) on The Past in the Present: Recent Archeological Work in Sri Lanka and its Contemporary Political Implications on April 23. His visit to Indiana State University was sponsored by the Indiana Network for the Development of India Awareness (INDIA), a consortium of ISU, IU (Bloomington), De Pauw and the University of Indianapolis.

Phi Alpha Theta (the History Honor Society) revived under the energetic leadership of its new President Melissa Mauntel. Fifteen new members were recruited and inducted on April 15, 1998. Julie Wagner was Vice President and Van Hutchinson was Secretary/Treasurer.

The Social Studies Students Association hosted two speakers this year, Mardel Miller of the School of Education and Steve Pfrank, Social Studies teacher at North Clay Middle School. The office bearers were: President, Steven Rector, Vice-President, Mark Feldkamp, Treasurer, Shannon Jones and Secretary, Paul O'Dell (replaced by Brian Saylor in January 1998).

Twenty-six graduate students were enrolled during the year. Of them, 13 were from out‑of‑state.

* The Fall Welcome Back Party for faculty and graduate students was held at the Layton residence, 143, Barton Avenue on August 30.

*A faculty‑graduate student get together was arranged by Graduate Advisor Herbert Rissler on March 18 at Pizza City, 315, N. Second Street.

* The Roll award, presented to the best graduate student was jointly presented to John Abner and George Stachokas. The Biel award, presented to a graduate student who demonstrates exceptional knowledge of US and related history went to Marcy Shumway.

The Gemmecke Award for the outstanding senior was jointly awarded to Christopher Holland and Shannon Jones. The Harr award for the best junior was presented to Kendra Hall and Brandon Smith. The DAR Award presented to an undergraduate with good performance in US history was awarded to Melissa Mauntel.

*Nancy Latta, who teaches as an adjunct in the Department, successfully completed her Ph.D. from Purdue University in December 1997.

*Todd Schuman is finishing a Ph.D. in Public and Applied History at the University of Illinois.

*John Enyeart has finished all his course work at the Univrsity of Colorado and is working on his dissertation.

*Joel Vessels will visit France this year. He eventually intends to complete a dissertation on French history at SUNY, Stonybrook.

*John Palmatier is in the first year of a doctoral Program at Michigan State University.

Michelle Howard, our part‑time secretary resigned in August. Her place has been ably filled by Sue Dolle who looks after all Social Studies Education work.

* The Department Christmas Dinner Party was held at Generations on Saturday, December 6.

1997 was a good year in terms of publications for the Department with one new book, two republications of books, twenty articles or chapters in books, nineteen encyclopedia articles, and eighteen conference papers produced by the History faculty at ISU. Gale Christianson and John Williams both made appearances on television as academic commentators this year.

Gail E. Chrisitianson's book Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebulae, Bristol, England: Institute of Physics Publishing was re-published this year. He made the following presentations "The Education of Edwin Hubble: Chicago, Oxford and Yerkes" 109th Annual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, June 29; "Edwin Hubble: the Making of an Astronomer," Indiana University Department of History and Philosophy of Science Colloquium, March 4; and he was a consultant and on-camera participant for the PBS series A Science Odyssey which aired in January 1998. The articles he published were: "Edwin Powell Hubble at Yerkes Observatory: The Making of an Astronomer" Wisconsin Academy Review, Spring 1997, pp. 37-41; "The Night the Universe Changed Forever" Griffith Observer, Vol. 61, No. 6, June 1997, pp. 4-10; and an Introductory biographical and literary essay in the reprint edition of The Night Country Loren Eiseley, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997, vii-xiii.

He served as the advisor for the Social Science Education Club, as chair for the University Research Committee, and also chaired the General Education Subcommittee on Historical Studies. He received the First Place Award in the Griffith Observer Science Writing Contest for the best article in astronomy, astrophysics and space science. He also won the Research-Creativity Award from Indiana State University at the Spring 1997 commencement.

Richard M. Clokey chaired the General Education Committee on Mathematics Competency as well as the Founders' Day Planning Committee for this year. He was also a member of the NCA Certification Steering Committee, the General Education Council, and the Compliance Committee.

Robert G. Clouse continued to serve on the following: Faculty Senate; Executive Committee, Faculty Senate; Board of Directors, Friends of Cunningham Memorial Library; Health Benefits Review Committee; Faculty Economic Benefits Committee; and Secretary, Faculty Club; Director, Eugene V. Debs Foundation; Director, Central Renaissance Conference; and Director, Conference on Faith and History. He published "Diversity, Christianity, and Higher Education" Should God Get Tenure? Essays on Religion & Higher Education ed. David Gill, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdsman, 1997, pp. 103-116; "Eschatology and the Lord's Supper: Hope for the Triumph of God's Reign" The Lord's Supper Believers Church Perspectives, ed. Dale R. Stoffer, Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1997, pp. 129-139; "Forward" Revelation Four Views, A Parallel Commentary, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997, pp. XII-XV; and "Introduction--History of Women in Ministry" Muheres No Ministerio Quartro Opinioes sobre o papel da mulher na igreja, Sao Paulo: Editora Mundo Cristao, 1997, pp. 11-26. His book on Women in the Ministry was republished as Muheres No Ministerio Quartro Opinioes sobre o papel da mulher na igreja this year. He also published two encyclopedia articles in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. G.F. Anderson, New York: MacMillan, 1997. They were: "Estella Myers" and "Charles F. Yoder", pp. 483-484 and p. 756, respectively. He read the following conference papers "Dispensationalism and the Brethren" Anabaptists in Conversation Mennonite and Brethren Interaction, Elizabethtown College, PA, June 20; "Changes and Partings, Division in the Progressive Brethren Church" Church History in the Modern World, Bridgewater College, VA, October 3; and "Division in Protestantism" Bethany Theological Seminary, Richmond, VA, October 22. He also received a Research Grant from Indiana State University in the amount of $2,685.00.

Gary W. Daily served as director for Women's Studies Spring Film Series and Women's History Month Program, and was a member of the Women's Studies Advisory Board at Indiana State University. He was a faculty advisor for Women's Studies Minors as well as a member of the General Education Task Force II "Multi-culture" definition and requirements.

Chandra R. de Silva continued to serve as Chair, Department of History and Chair, Debs Fellowship Committee. He continues to serve as the President of the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies. He published three articles: "The Portuguese Impact on the Production and Sale in Sri Lanka Cinnamon in Asia in the 16th and 17th Centuries" Spices in the Indian Ocean World, ed. by M. N. Pearson, Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1997, pp. 25-38; "The Portuguese and the Trade in Cloves in Asia in the Sixteenth Century" Spices in the Indian Ocean World, ed. by M. N. Pearson, Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1997, pp. 251-260; and "Beyond the Cape: The Portuguese Encounter with the Peoples of South Asia" European and Non-European Societies, 1450-1800, Vol. 1 Global Encounters over the Longue Duree, ed. by Robert Forster, Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 1997, pp. 295-322. The second (revised) edition of his book Sri Lanka: A History, was published this year. He made six conference presentations: "Religious Leaders and Conflict Resolution in Sri Lanka: The Case of the Buddhists" South Eastern Conference of the Association of Asian Studies, Savannah, GA, January 17-19; "‘Indian Ocean’ but not ‘African Sea’: The Erasure of East African Commerce From History" Fourteenth Annual Pan-African Conference, Terre Haute, IN, April 12-13; "Islands and Beaches: Reflections on Indigenous Interactions With the Portuguese Who Visited Sri Lanka in the Wake of Vasco da Gama" Vasco da Gama Quincentenary Conference, Melbourne and Perth, June 21-29; "The State and Religion in Contemporary Sri Lanka" Sixth Sri Lanka Studies Conference, Kandy, Sri Lanka, August 9-11; "Agency and Hybridity: Some Reflections on the Portuguese Impact on Religion among the Sinhala" Coloquio: A Expansao Portuguesa e as Culturas do Oceano Indico, Lisbon, September 12-13; and "Education in Sri Lanka: A Development Oriented Analysis" The Political, Economic, and Social Reconstruction of Sri Lanka, Harvard University, Boston, Mass. organized by the World Peace Foundation and the International Centre for Ethnic Studies with the cooperation of the Harvard Institute for International Development, November 20-22.

Helen Dunstan continues her two year sabbatical leave serving as chair of the Chinese Studies Department at the University of Sydney.

William W. Giffin serves as a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Council and the Debs Fellowship Committee. He serves as Treasurer as well as a member the Executive Council and Membership Committee of the Indiana Association of Historians. He made two presentations this year. They are "Internal Mobility in Seventeenth Century Scotland: Migration from the Southwest Lowlands to the Southwest Highlands" Annual Meeting of the Indiana Association of Historians, Franklin, IN, February 22 and "The African American Experience and the Color Line in Indiana" Fourteenth Annual Pan African Studies Conference, Indiana State University, April 11.

Donald L. Layton continued to be active in the Vigo County Historical Society, and also served as a member of the University Speaker's Committee and the General Education in Action Subcommittee, besides being faculty advisor to the Roller Hockey Club and Sigma Nu Fraternity. Among his many other activities he served as acting chairman for the Fall 1997 semester.

Arvid H. Perez continued to serve as Coordinator, Arts and Sciences Seminar and Coordinator, History Department Seminar. He is faculty advisor to Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Richard V. Pierard served on the Administrative Affairs Committee and Faculty Senate. He is also faculty advisor to the American Baptist Students Association. He published the following articles: "A Child of the Bomb: Reflections on War and the Nuclear Age" The Uses and Abuses of Knowledge, Henry F. Knight and Marcia Sachs Littell, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1997, pp. 207-220; "Goldhagen's Book and the Right Wing in America" Hyping the Holocaust: Scholars Answer Goldhagen, ed. by Franklin H. Littell, East Rockaway, NY: Cummings and Hathaway, 1997, pp. 137-143 and 175-177; "Little-known or Remarkable Facts about William Wilberforce and the Century of Reform" Christian History, Vol. 16, No. 1, 1997, pp. 2-3; "Vouchers: The Wrong Medicine for the Ills of Public Education" Contemporary Education, Vol. 68, No. 4, Summer 1997, pp. 260-264; and "A Call to Responsibility: Baptists in the Balance: The Tension between Freedom and Responsibility" ABE Journal, No. 5, September 1997, pp. 12-17. He also contributed encyclopedia articles on: "Axenfeld, Karl," "Bender, Carl Jacob," "Doll, Ludwig," "Gaebelein, A.C.," "Gall, St.," "Graham, Billy," "Kähler, Christiane," "Kiernander, John Zacharias," "Rottler, John Peter," "Schmelzenbach, Harmon Faldean and Lulu," "Stanway, Alfred," "Stursberg, Julius," "Trobisch, Walter and Ingrid," "Vietor, Johann Karl," "Voskamp, Carl Johannes," "Walther, Christoph Theodosius," and "Warneck, Johannes" for the Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missionaries, ed. Gerald H. Anderson, New York: MacMillan Reference, 1997. He presented the following papers: "Civil Religion and the Political Parties" The 1997 J. M. Dawson Lecture on Church and State, Baylor University, March 5; "Seeing Our Academic Interests in a Cross-cultural Sense" Colloquium of the Research Enablement Program in Mission Studies of the Pew Charitable Trusts, Nashville, TN, June 1; "The Coming of World War I and the German Protestant Mission Societies" Annual Conference of the Yale-Edinburgh Group on the History of the Missionary Movement and Non-Western Christianity, New Haven, CT, June 6; "The Globalization of Denominational History" Conference on Studying Australian Christianity, Macquarie University, June 22; and "Germany and Nineteenth-Century Baptist Expansion in Europe" International Conference on Baptists Studies, Regents Park College, August 15. Also, he received a grant for living and travel expenses for participation in the North American Consultation of North Atlantic Missiology Project in Madison, Wisconsin from Pew Charitable Trusts. He also received a grant for living expenses while in Australia from the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals.

Herbert J. Rissler continued to be Graduate Advisor in the Department; member, Presidential Scholars Interview Committee; chair, University Archives Committee; vice-chair, University Administrative Affairs Committee; and member, Peer Group Committee. He coordinated two Social Studies Teachers' Conferences at Indiana State University. He also spoke at North Clay and Van Buren Elementary Schools.

Richard S. Schneirov served as a member of the Debs Fellowship Committee and faculty advisor to the History Club as well as a member of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the Indiana Magazine of History. He is also President of the ISU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

Rebecca S. Shoemaker was a member of the following: Special Events and Publicity Committee for the 1998 Annual Meeting, Organization of American Historians; Committee for the Study of the History of the Federal Courts in Indiana; and committee for the production of a CD-ROM on the Indiana Constitution and its history. She also served on the College of Arts and Sciences' Promotion and Tenure Committee. She made two presentations: "James D. 'Blue Jeans' Williams: Indiana Governor, 1877-1880" Indiana Heritage Lecture Series, Marian College, February 6 and "The Constitution in American Culture" Caroline Scott Harrison Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Indianapolis, September 5.

Thomas Siefert continued to serve full-time as Associate Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.

Wilson J. Warren, the coordinator of the Social Science Education Center, was quite active as a member of the following committees: School of Education Teacher Education Committee; School of Education Education Preparation Assessment Committee; School of Education Educate Indiana Grant, Professional Development Schools; and School of Education Special Methods Courses Task Group. He published "The Limits of Social Democratic Unionism in Midwestern Meatpacking Communities: Patterns of Internal Strife, 1948-1955" Unionizing the Jungles: Essays on Labor and Community in the Twentieth-Century Meatpacking Industry eds. Shelton Stromquist and Marvin Bergman, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1997, pp. 128-158 and "Evangelical Paternalism and Divided Workers: The Nonunion Era at John Morrell and Company in Ottumwa, 1877-1917" The Annals of Iowa, Vol. 56, No. 4, Fall 1997, pp. 321-348. He made one conference presentation entitled "Benefits of the Lodge: Workers' Participation in the Greater Beneficial Union in Western Pennsylvania" North American Labor History Conferences, Detroit, Michigan, October 25. He also received a Research Grant from Indiana State University in the amount of $2100.00.

John H. Williams had three articles published. They were: "Desde la mira del fusil: Algunas observaciones acerca del Dr. Francia y el miltarismo paraguayo" in Thomas Whigham and Jerry W. Cooney, El Paraguay bajo el Doctor Francia, Asuncion, El Lector, 1997, pp. 45-74; "Victory in the Jungles of Southeast Asia" The Cyclone Warfighter's Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, Summer, 1997, pp. 6-16; and "Shame with no Name" Great Commanders in Action (a special issue of Military History), Spring 1997, pp. 169-178. He also made a television appearance this year when he narrated the film "The First Texan," on The History Channel--"Movies in Time".