Prof. James Article Nominated for Berkshire Prize
The editors of the journal Western Historical Quarterly have nominated Prof. James' article "Toward Alaska Native Political Organization: The Origin of the Tundra Times" for the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians 2011 Article Prize.
Prof. James article examines the evolution of the Tundra Times from a newspaper that intended to connect isolated Native Alaskan communities into a venue for the assertion of a pan-Alaskan Native political identity. The article originally appeared in the Autumn 2010 issue of the Western Historical Quarterly.
The winner of the Prize will be announced this summer. We wish Prof. James the best of luck!
[updated 15 February 2011]
Prof. Gavorsky Presents on
"Blockheads with Hearts of Gold"
On Saturday, 12 February 2011, Prof. Gavorsky delivered a paper entitled "Blockheads with Hearts of Gold: Catholic Nobles and the Expansion of Primary Education in Nineteenth‐Century Angers" at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Society for French Historical Studies in Charleston, South Carolina.
As part of a panel on "Surviving Untimely Nobility," Prof. Gavorsky will discuss the very active roles played by Catholic nobles in the construction of local education infrastructures and national education policies in post-Revolutionary France. The paper focuses on the noble members of the Association religieuse et royale of the western French city of Angers. Although dismissed by contemporaries as the "têtes-de-bois" ("blockheads"), the Association established, funded, and oversaw a growing number of free schools for boys in Angers from 1817 through the early 1870s. By the 1840s, members such as Alfred, the Comte de Falloux (pictured left) helped parlayed this local experience into national policies that continue to influence French primary education.
[updated 15 February 2011]
Prof. Dunscomb's
Japan's Siberian Intervention
Published in Hardcover and Paperback
Prof. Dunscomb's new book, Japan's Siberian Intervention, 1918-1922: 'A Great Disobedience Against the People', is now available from Lexington Books in both hardcover and paperback.
During a fifty month period starting near the conclusion of World War I, Japan's military occupied part of Siberia. Nominally undertaken as an effort to insure Japan a significant role in a post-Great War world order, the Siberian Intervention provoked an extensive public debate on the nature of Japanese political life during the "Taishō democracy" period.
Utilizing newspaper and magazine articles discussing the ramifications of the Siberian Intervention, Prof. Dunscomb argues that the debates illuminate the various tensions within the embryoic Japanese democracy. Issues such as the relationship between Japan's military and its civilian government, the role of cabinets in political decision-making, the domestic effects of foreign policy, and the responsibility of government to the demands of the governed were evident in these public debates. Prof. Dunscomb also illustrates that these concerns were not only limited to the major metropolitan centers of Tokyo and Osaka but also the smaller cities of Mitō, Nara, Ōita, and Tsuruga.
[posted 22 December 2010]
Prof. Dunscomb Discusses
"The Heisei Period as History"
On 15 October 2010, Prof. Dunscomb delivered a talk on "The Heisei Period as History" at a workshop on Contemporary Japan sponsored by Johnson County Community College and the Asian Studies Development Program.
The Heisei Period, marking the reign of the current Japanese Emperor Akihito (pictured at right with Empress Michiko), began on 8 January 1989. The twenty-one years of the period cover some of the most drastic changes in modern Japan, including the "Lost Decade" of the 1990s in which Japan's economy stagnated and a series of debates about Japan's imperial past and role in the post-Cold War world.
Prof. Dunscomb's talk argued for the need to begin studying the period from a historical perspective.
[posted 19 October 2010]
Prof. James Headlines The Western Historical Quarterly
Prof. James' article "Toward Alaska Native Political Organization: The Origins of Tundra Times" has been selected as the lead article in the latest issue of The Western Historical Quarterly, the premier journal of the history of the American West.
The article is part of a book she is currently writing about the impact of the Native Alaskan newspaper Tundra Times on the development of Alaskan politics. Founded in 1962 as a means to connect isolated Native communities, the Tundra Times rapidly evolved into an influential news source read by Natives and non-Natives alike.
Congratulations to Prof. James on this noteworthy success.
[posted 21 September 2010]
History Department Welcomes Another Academic Year
(left to right) History Professors Dennison, Ha, Dunscomb, Gavorsky, and James look forward to another great academic year.
[posted 20 August 2010]
Prof. Ha's The Rise and Fall of the American System Published
Professor Songho Ha’s book The Rise and Fall of the American System: Nationalism and the Development of the American Economy, 1790-1837 has been published by Pickering and Chatto of London as part of their Financial History Series. The book analyzes the American System, which was a political, economic, and cultural policy package proposed by the Whig Party in the early 19th century that emphasized the role of the federal government in promoting economic and cultural unity. He also made three presentations on the topic in the spring and summer 2010: “The American System as a Cultural System,” an invited talk for the Complex Systems Group, University of Alaska Anchorage, March 19, 2010; “Two Americas: the History of a Divided Nation, 1789-1845,” an invited talk for the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Anchorage, Alaska, June 27, 2010; and “The American System as a Cultural System,” for The 32nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, Rochester, New York, July 23, 2010.
[posted 16 August 2010]
Prof. Dunscomb Continues Work in Japanese History and with the UAA Confucius Institute
Professor Paul Dunscomb has shipped the corrected proof of his book, A Great Disobedience Against the People, Japan's Siberian Intervention, 1918-1922, to the publisher. The book will be published by Lexington Books for their New Studies in Modern Japan Series. It is the first complete narrative on the topic in either English or Japanese. The book will appear in the second half of 2010.
Dunscomb also hosted a conference of the partner institutions of the Confucius Institute June 23-27, 2010 in the capacity of its UAA Director. The conference brought together delegations from UAA's Chinese partner institution Northeast Normal University (NENU) based in Changchun and from NENU's other affiliated Confucius Institutes at Dong-A University in Pusan, South Korea and Valencia University in Valencia, Spain. Officials of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco also attended.
[posted 16 August 2010]
Prof. James Conducts Diverse Research into Histories of the Nez Perce and Native Alaskans
After a May vacation in England, Professor James spent most of the summer on research projects. She worked on final edits of her article, “Toward Alaska Native Political Organization: The Origins of Tundra Times” which appears in the Autumn 2010 issue of the Western Historical Quarterly. The article is the basis for a book manuscript she is currently developing about the impact of the Native Alaskan newspaper Tundra Times on Alaskan politics. She also completed revision of an article about tuberculosis on the Nez Perce reservation during the early twentieth century.
She also reviewed the book Beyond Bear’s Paw: The Nez Perce Indians in Canada by Jerome A. Greene for the WHQ. In June, James attended the Oral History Institute at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. The Institute instructs professionals from a wide background of disciplines and occupations in planning, managing, and accomplishing oral history projects. In addition to researching the Tundra Times, James is now working on a paper and panel proposal for the 2011 Western History Association meeting which will be held in Oakland, California.
[updated 16 August 2010]
Prof. Gavorsky Finishes First Year at UAA
In addition to enjoying a wonderful Alaskan summer in between classes, Professor Gavorsky hosted a well-attended international panel on the continuing significance of the French Revolution in honor of Bastille Day (July 14th), the traditional start of the Revolution. He has also begun work on a series of articles in preparation for a book project tentatively entitled A Tale of Two Societies: NGOs Building Schools in Nineteenth Century France. First up are articles on the pedagogical debates on education and the nationalism models embedded in them, and a look at the efforts of Catholic nobles to use participation in education organizations to mold a new place for themselves in post-Revolutionary France.
[posted 16 August 2010]
Past Faculty & Staff News Archives
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Prof. James' Latest Article Headlines
Distinguished Emeritus Professor Stephen W. Haycox honored the attendees with second annual Phi Alpha Theta banquet on 26 February 2011 with an address on "The Nobility of History."
On Tuesday, 12 April 2011, faculty from the UAA Departments of History and Political Science presented a public forum on the legacy of the American Civil War at the UAA Campus Bookstore.
Prof. Dunscomb Discusses "Japan's Siberian Intervention"