On April 24th, 2006, the Department of History hosted an “Evening With Young Historians,” a public symposium organized to provide students with an opportunity to present the results of their senior thesis research to the larger ENC community.

The papers that made up the program were extremely diverse.  Grounded in original primary sources, they held perspectives guided by interpretations from many branches of the discipline—social, cultural, political, and military.  Papers ranged geographically from the United States to North Africa, Great Britain and back again.  They encompassed over 100 years of the human story in the West, from the first official battle of a young American nation at the beginning of the nineteenth century to the last official war of an American superpower at the midpoint of the twentieth.  As can be seen from the titles below, the subject matter ranged from moral indictment to moral imperative while covering much in between.

John Reid
Jefferson’s Loophole: The Barbary Wars and the Development of American Foreign Policy

Ron Kling
Grey Ghost? Colonel John Singleton Mosby and the War Between the States

Paule-Lorine Demosthenes
A Passion for Justice: Ida B. Wells-Barnett and the Anti-Lynching Campaign

Alain Poutre
Locating Bayard Taylor:  Views Afoot and the role of 19th century American Travel Literature

Rachel Jester
Arsenal of Democracy or Merchant of Death? Defining the Legacy of the DuPont Company

Heather Warmuth
Architecture of Memory: St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Battle of Britain

Daniel Wooster
The Grateful Dead’s Long, Strange “Trip”

Each spring semester senior History majors must take two sets of examinations as part of their senior comprehensive examination process. The first exam is the Major Field Test in History compiled and scored by the Educational Testing Service in Princeton. It consists of 160 multiple choice questions given over two hours. The second is an oral exam in which the ENC History faculty fires questions at groups of 2-4 students in an effort to assess how well the students think and respond in a setting that many will face in graduate school or in employment interviews. 

The eight graduating seniors in the class of 2006 compiled impressive results in the Major Field Test, based on comparative data from over 100 institutions also administering the exams. ENC seniors scored in the 92nd percentile overall in the exam, with 92 percentiles on the United States and Non-Western History components and a 95 percentile on the European History component. “We are very pleased with these results,” said Department chair Donald Yerxa. “It is one significant indication of how well our students stack up with those from other institutions.”

As a result of their high scores on the Major Field Test and their impressive performances in their oral examinations, two students—Ron Kling of Leesburg, VA and Alain Poutre of Oxford, PA—received High Honors on their senior comprehensives.

Josh Burley, a sophomore from Otter River, Massachusetts, has been awarded the Kyung and Jung Kim Scholarship for 2006-2007. ENC Class of 2004 graduate Jonathan Kim established the scholarship in honor of his parents for a deserving History major who is also active in student ministries.

In fall 2005, the ever-active History Club sponsored a number of history-related and social events.  A party at professor Yerxa’s house in early September 2005 got the semester off to a good start.  About twenty students and faculty attended the barbecue and game night festivities.  (See pictures from Yerxa’s party here.) 

History Club members and fellow travelers challenged business majors to a softball game in late September.  In summary, the business department draws more athletes to its ranks than does the history department.  The History Club proved to be much more successful at raising funds for future events at the annual Homecoming fair.  This year’s earnings were a record for the Club. 

Every semester, there are countless opportunities to see world-renowned scholars and public figures speak in the Boston area.  In addition to that, there are hundreds of historic sites, museums, and libraries, within a few miles of the ENC campus.  The History Club and ENC history majors are taking advantage of the city's many intellectual resources.  On September 19, 2005, professor Carla Lovett took the History Club to see Elie Wiesel’s Boston University lecture, “Why Pray?”.  Nobel laurete Wiesel argued that “people must bring to prayer the fullness of their experience—including doubt, disappointment, or even anger—in order for their prayers to be meaningful.”*  Several weeks later, professors Yerxa and Stephens took five history majors to Bentley College for a forum on Pauline Maier's forthcoming book on the ratification of the U. S. Constitution.  Sponosored by the Historical Society, the forum gave students and faculty a chance to see a master historian at work on what will surely be a groundbreaking study.  Luis Rodriguez, the History Club’s Vice President, led another field trip to the historic Adams Family Estate in November. (Read Rodriguez’s account here.) 

Club members gathered again later in the semester at the History Department’s Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas Party.  (See photos from the Christmas party here.) 
 
 

HISTORY CLUB COUNCIL, 2005-2006

. L-R: Luis Rodriguez: VP; John Sullivan: Member of Parliament (MP); Heather Warmuth: President;  Anne Reilly: Scrivener; Rachel Jester: Treasurer; Professor Carla Lovett (not pictured): Faculty Advisor

HISTORY CLUB EVENTS, SPRING 2006 Feb 9: Cranuium match with the Biology Club, Shrader Hall March 18: Boston Scavenger Hunt (will be rescheduled for later) March 25: Regional CFH Conference. Come see Professor Lovett present a paper at Gordon College. April 1: Boston State House Trip, Sponsored by the Business Society. April 6: Public Lecture by Historian Brian Ward “Bigger Than Elvis, More Popular Than Jesus: The Beatles, Race, Religion and the American South,” 7:00 p.m. – Shrader Lecture Hall. April 10: Senior Defenses, 6:00 p.m.  April 20: Senior Banquet April 22: Phi Alpha Theta Conference. Spend a spring day at Yale and support your peers while they present papers. April 27 or 28: Softball Game, History v. Psychology and Sociology

September 16: Freshmen Welcome Reception at the Yerxas
September 19: Elie Wiesel lecture (at Boston University)
September 23:  Softball game vs. Business Department
September 30:  David McCullough lecture (at Boston South Church)
October 7: Study Break -- dinner & games at the Lovetts
October 15:  Homecoming -- bake sale, t-shirts, & street music
October 27: Pauline Maier lecture (at Bentley College)
October 29: History Club trip to the Adams National Historic Park
November 10: Jon Roberts, ENC Distinguished Lecture
November 14: Department Thanksgiving Dinner
December 6:  David Hackett Fischer, ENC Distinguished Lecture
December 7:  Department Christmas Reception