Special Events Archive

Congratulations to our 2021 Graduates!

Join us and the whole of Indiana University, the Bloomington campus, and the College of Arts and Sciences as we congratulate the class of 2021. Swipe to see history majors in IUB's graduating class of 2021 "walk" across our virtual stage.

**Andrew Ardizone —** I am from Carmel, Indiana. I grew up in Indianapolis and grew up in a loving home with my two parents, brother, and loyal dog Wrigley. My grandfather was a veteran of the Vietnam War and I grew up being regaled in his stories. My spark of curiosity was ignited and my passion for understanding only grew. All through school I devoured books and history became the story I loved the most. The impact of history is felt in every aspect of every day life, allowing me to better understand my world around me. My favorite experience as a history student was having any class with Professor McGerr or Professor Linenthal. Both were highly effective communicative agents of information, masters of their fields, but also could deliver the information in an interesting way. The classes never failed to hold my attention or make me laugh, while learning so much more about the middle decades of the 20th century. Listening to them tell the stories of history and how it should be written, reminded me of my grandfather and opened my mind immensely to the difficult challenges that present themselves in history.

**Reegan Behles —** I'm from New Paris, Indiana--a small one stoplight town that I've lived in since the sixth grade. Before that, I lived in North Carolina, but I consider Indiana home. I checked out a book on Classical Greek Architecture when I was in the third grade from my school library and have been hooked ever since! To me, history has always been about the links between people, and what connects us to one another as humans. Despite the time and distance and space between us, there are always stories and events that we share, that make us more similar than we are different. IU's History department has shown me time and time again the decision I made was the correct one! I've been lucky enough to have semesters filled with classes I was excited and eager to go to, and the majority of the work I've done has been centered around subjects I'm deeply invested in. My favorite primary source would have to be the Odyssey, as I haven't gone a semester since sophomore spring without reading it for at least one of my classes, but I would also recommend Plutarch's Alcibiades to anyone who loves an obnoxiously flamboyant man with loose morals who lives for the tea.

**Mark Bennett —** Bolingbrook, Illinois The most significant influence on my decision to become a History major was my enrollment in IU Army ROTC. I wanted a major that would set me up for success in my chosen career field. On the surface, a History major would allow me to take classes on military history. More importantly, however, History would force me to think deeply, read and write well, and stay organized, all of which are essential skills for an Army officer. After considering how History would prepare me for the profession of arms, declaring a History major was an easy choice. The most interesting part of my History experience was that I always took classes on completely different subjects. Courses I took at the same time include Roman Empire with History of the Holocaust; Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages with American Civil War; and American Lives of Crime with History of Puerto Rico and Cuba. This variety meant I was always busy, but it also meant I was never bored! While my underclassman courses were fun, I'm most proud of the work I accomplished senior year. I was fortunate to have professors like Professor McGerr and Professor Cullather guide me as I explored my interest in unconventional warfare. I studied the OSS in Burma during WWII first semester, then I focused on MACV-SOG's operations in Vietnam. Not only was the research interesting, but I also felt like I learned something that would benefit me as an Army officer.

**Samuel Bowden —** I am from Greenwood, IN. I am the youngest of 3 siblings. Growing up in suburbia where history seems to be diminished to simple patriotism, I felt connected to the subject as something cosmopolitan and exciting. I could travel the world and be more worldly through knowing different culture's stories, struggles, and traditions. From a young age, I was obsessed with social studies and memorizing trivia about the world. While other kids read adventure novels, I would read atlases and explore Google Earth in my free time. This initial love for learning about the world was replaced in middle and high school with the lofty goal of going to medical school. But before coming to college, I realized I would be happiest pursuing my original, truest passion. History was my favorite subject all throughout school and seemed like the perfect fit for me. My favorite primary source is a humorous column from 1913 newspapers titled "A Suffragette Lexicon." This glossary of women's suffrage vocabulary is satirical and blatantly anti-women's rights, containing such confusingly funny definitions as "SUFFRAGETTE--Something the squirrels always follow". My favorite history class was the first one I took at IU, G200 Issues in East Asian History, Taiwan Between Empires, with Professor Fei Hsien-Wang. Taiwan is incredibly fascinating, a microcosm of human history in the way that geopolitical issues, colonialism, indigeneity, and transculturation all play out on such a small scale. I am most proud of my Senior Honors Paper, where I balanced music history, Native American studies, and history to write about the indigenous folk musician Buffy Sainte-Marie's early career. It was the most fun I've ever had writing a paper because the topic was so intriguing!

**Alicia "AJ" Boyd —** Grew up in Huntsville, Alabama then moved to Covington, Indiana when I was 14. I am proudly Black and Mexican, the daughter of Christopher and Rosy Boyd. I came to college knowing I would study history, but I truly a developed a love for it at IU. History for me was how I discovered who I am and where I come from. My history had been hidden from me, and I lived for discovering the history that was rightfully mine. My favorite class was Dr. Jakobi Williams's ""African American History II"" during my freshman year because it introduced me to the Black history I never knew. That is the class that would then define the rest of my scholarship and career at IU. In that class, I first dipped my toe into researching the Black experience in WWII which I would then continue to work for the next four years. My proudest moment was the semester where I took three upper level history courses, which was overwhelming but incredibly rewarding when I managed all of them successfully and produced some of my best work. For example, my paper on Black activism during early WWII and one on Ida B. Wells as a model for Black Feminism. My time as an IU History student has been incredible, and I will be taking everything I have learned to my next step in life.

**Nicholas Dye —** Auburn, IN I've tried to expand beyond the military history that initially drew me in. First documentaries, then books, then better books. It was AP history classes that finally got me thinking about history as a field of study rather than a hobby providing me a way out of engineering. For D330 with Prof. Kenney, I got to write a paper based on Review: Yugoslav Monthly Magazine focusing on its coverage of Yugoslav music in the 60s and 70s. It was a wonderful combination of historical culture and politics, and an opportunity to look at the official treatment of different genres of music in a country divided into so many ethnic groups.

**Carson L. Ebert —** Avon, Indiana “A page of history is worth a volume of logic.” Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

**Brendan Esch —** I grew up in the suburbs of D.C. in Potomac, Maryland. I am the youngest of 5 children. As the youngest, I spent most of my time bothering my older siblings and learning from their mistakes and successes. Needless to say, I have never made a mistake. I have always been fascinated in history. History provides the opportunity for someone to imagine a time and place outside of their own reality. It also teaches people that there are two sides to every story. At a young age I became enamored by the fantastical escapism of history and the very real application to the world around me. The honors seminar course was my favorite class at IU because it truly allowed me to take everything I have learned about researching and writing to the next level. I was able to create my own research project about a topic that interested me and find sources that I enjoyed. Without that course, I would never have gained the experience of completing a research project and the challenges associated with it.

**Kirby Fleitz —** I grew up in Carmel, Indiana with one younger brother. I knew I wanted to major in History before arriving at IU. Once I could read I fell in love with history. It was always an interest growing up and a source of comfort. The stories and little anecdotes of history hooked me from a young age. A few of the books in my room I read so often they wore out over time. Once I arrived at IU the decision to declare a History major was a really easy one and I did so during my freshman year. I have throughly enjoyed my time as a history major at IU. All of the professors that I have had have been great and each history class I have taken I have enjoyed throughly. If I had to pick a favorite class it would be prof. Kenney's Eastern European History course. That class in addition to the other Polish classes I took led to my Polish Studies minor and hooked me on Poland and Eastern Europe as my main academic area of interest.

**Mark Foster —** I went to DeKalb High School in Waterloo, Indiana, but I grew up in Auburn, Indiana. My father was a pastor for a large church in the community and my mother was a public school teacher at the elementary and middle school levels. When I was in middle school, I had a really excellent history teacher who showed me for the first time that studying history could actually be fun and exciting. This prompted me to take a large number of AP history courses when I got to High School, where I met several teachers who explained the basics of studying history at a higher levels. I learned how to interact with primary sources, about constructing proper historical arguments, and about the difference between simple historical fact and more complex historical narratives. From my interactions with these educators, I became convinced of the importance of understanding history, as studying history both benefits at an individual level and helps society progress in more positive directions. I don't have a singular favorite class, but I took two classes with Professor Kuromiya that I would consider to be my favorites. He's easily one of the most interesting people I've ever met, not to mention how incredibly knowledgeable he is on 20th Century Eastern Europe. The paper I'm most proud of was easily my Capstone paper. Considering the freedom we were given, researching for that paper allowed me to go wild with some of my craziest ideas and caused me to be passionate about areas of historical study that I previously had no interest in, to the point where I'm considering grad school to study those fields further.

**Lucas Ganyard —** Elkhart, Indiana I chose to study history because I’ve always had a fascination with it. My step-grandfather went to Texas tech to study history. Growing up I’d always pick his brain about what he knew. Some kids listened to fairytales growing up, while I liked to listen about the past. My favorite primary sources have been from the Roman Republic and Empire. It is incredible that 2,000+ years later we have these resources. My favorite class has been with Professor Elliot. I enjoyed both of his Roman Republic and Roman Empire courses. My favorite paper is was in my HIST-J 425 course. You may be sensing a theme here, but that paper was about the impact of the grain trade on the Roman Empire.

**Kassidy Grangier —** Sellersburg, Indiana I originally planned to minor in History, but after taking a few classes I became fascinated by the subject. I ultimately chose to major in History because I didn’t want to stop learning about it. My favorite class as a History student at IU was History of the Sixties because it was very interesting to learn more about such an influential decade in the United States.

**Caitlin Harshberger —** Carmel, IN I knew I wanted to major in history when in high school, I would come home every day and force my family to listen at the dinner table as I recited to them what I had learned that day about the Thirty Years' War or whatever subject I was learning about at the time. History has always fascinated me, and I could not imagine a better way to spend my undergraduate years than as a history major. Being a history student at IU has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I am now a better researcher, communicator, and critical thinker. One of my favorite memories is when my H270 class went to the Lilly Library to learn about primary sources. I was examining the book Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King Jr. only to open the cover and see that Martin Luther King Jr. had written and signed an inscription inside. I still have the picture on my phone.

**Erika Helding —** I grew up on the Southside of Chicago, but my family relocated to the Indianapolis area when I was in high school. I have always loved history since I was a child. I had a huge collection of American Girl dolls and I loved reading historical fiction novels and watching the history channel. My favorite history class was Civil War and Reconstruction with Professor Andrews. I learned so much and got a whole new perspective on the trajectory of American history.

**Max Hermann —** I grew up in Davie, Florida. I have one older brother, Zach, who was a 2019 Indiana graduate. I started my history minor in the fall of my Junior year and had switched it to a major by the spring. The myriad of courses offered to history majors was very appealing to me and I have learned so much along my journey. I loved all of my history classes at IU. My favorite course was Digital History with Professor Craig in which we designed and developed a network of objects collected from IU students in what was referred to as a ""History Harvest.""

**Noah Hines —** I'm from Auburn, IN. Going to IU has been a family tradition. My mother and grandfather both went to IU and so did two of my siblings! I believe that understanding our history, both in a personal and global context, is integral to understanding ourselves. Many modern problems would be greatly helped by new historical discoveries and better history education at all levels. I loved utilizing IUs library system to learn about American history and seeing how Indiana has been an important setting for this nation's story.

**Mallory Keenoy —** I grew up near Michigan State University in Okemos, Michigan. I have always been drawn to storytelling and history was another way for me to pursue that passion. My favorite part of being a history student was getting to know my professors. They are interesting, smart, and caring people who have been great to work with.

**Lance Lange —** I am from Vincennes, IN.

**Maxine Lightfoot —** I'm from Saint Paul, Minnesota. History is the story of humanity. It is the grandest epic, spanning the entire world. What could be more interesting than that? What I loved most about studying at IU was the sheer number of classes available. It was so difficult narrowing down my course list each semester, everything looked so interesting!

**Robert Steven Mack —** Irvine, California History was always my passion in high school. I enjoyed seeing the role ideas played in shaping United States history. After a survey course in modern British history, I declared it as my major. As a Ballet major at Jacobs, I could have simply pursued an Outside Field, but I felt it was important to me to soak in the full liberal arts experience. My favorite primary sources were letters from the crotchety but brilliant John Ford for my honors thesis on the noted director. Working with those sources at the Lilly Library was a highlight of my undergraduate academic career. My favorite courses include the first course I took here, Modern British History, as well as Russian History Through Films, the Roman Republic and the Civil War. One of my favorite papers was a paper I wrote for my Cold War Seminar, detailing how the Soviet Union used ballet to promote communism both at home and abroad. It was a fascinating synthesis of my two interests.

**Dakota Blue Matthews —** Bloomington is my hometown and I've always been proud of it. I spent many years away while serving in the U.S. Navy and I was happy to return and attend my hometown university. You never quite appreciate it as much as you do when you've gone away for some time. While I've always enjoyed being in a ""learning state"" - sometimes education feels like an incredible chore. Since I was a kid, however, one subject has always been incredibly interesting and fun for me to learn - and that was History. As I sought to continue my education and had the first chance to specialize, it was an easy choice to pursue the subject that I've always loved. The most enjoyable class I had was regarding the Vietnam War. I knew very little about the subject, and the approach that our instructor took combined the American culture, the war, the anti-war sentiment, and the incredible political situation all in one in a way that made every single class incredible. It was one of the first classes where my fellow students and I would engage in broad debates about the subject material and I found myself looking forward to every class. One highlight of that class I recall is our instructor would have us review newspapers clippings and magazines for each week as the war advanced and we saw the incredible change in public opinion in real time.

**Reilly Nist —** I'm the youngest of 3 from Fishers, Indiana. I had always found history fascinating growing up, but a history teacher of mine in high school helped me realize that it was something that I wanted to pursue further. I loved being a history major here, the advisors, faculty, and staff were all wonderful, and I made some really great friends with other students in the program. My favorite class was professor Andrews' Civil War and Reconstruction, which really sparked my interest in the Reconstruction period.

**David Paris —** Valparaiso, IN. I am the youngest of 3 siblings. I majored in History because it was always my favorite subject. The research paper that I had the most fun completing was my research on the history of college fraternities with a focus on Jewish fraternities.

**Ben Parnin —** I am from Fort Wayne Indiana. I like history and wanted to learn more about it. My favorite class was the Honor Seminar class. I enjoyed it because everybody in the class got to choose their own research topic. This allowed me to learn about history topics I would have never encountered on my own. I also got to explore my own research interests. All of this made it the best history class I took at IU.

**Dominick Rainelli —** I am from a small town called Auburn, Indiana. I knew I wanted to attend law school after undergrad, and I believe the history major set me on a good path for my future. My favorite professor in the department is Professor McGerr. I enjoyed his class ""The Sixties"" so much I signed up for another one of his classes, ""Rock, Hip Hop, and Revolution."" He was a large influence on my undergrad experience and I would take both of those classes again in a heartbeat.

**Sam Reitenour —** I am from the small town of Cicero, Indiana. I knew from high school that I wanted the freedom to study the world in a flexible, exploratory way. IU's history program offered this opportunity by enabling students to choose courses based on their personal interests and find their path forward in their degree on their own, without the rigid course requirements of STEM or even some other humanities disciplines. For me, history has always been a no-brainer, and as I grew and evolved as a student and scholar here at IU, while I have been grateful for my experiences with other departments as well, my commitment to the discipline has only increased. I have had a wonderful experience as a history student at IU. The faculty and staff of this department have created an enjoyable learning atmosphere year after year. Our advisor, Pete, is stellar, and I have never taken a history course that I did not enjoy or worked with a professor who did not create an inclusive, accepting, engaging environment. I would say that I definitely had the most fun with my senior honors thesis, which is also the paper I am the most proud of. This thesis was my opportunity to show how much I have learned--not about history per se, but about the discipline itself, how to write and think historically, and how historians' work can be put to use. I am so grateful to IU's history department for always pushing me to do my best work and molding me into the student I am today.

**Alexandra Schrader-Dobris —** Reading historical fiction and visiting history museums throughout my childhood inspired me to love history, major in it, and make a career based on it. Fueled by a desire to uncover the historical context for Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, The Book Thief, and countless other books, I began a formal study of historical topics in high school AP classes. At IU, I embarked on a study of history from an intersectional, multi-cultural perspective to pursue a career in both history and the law. Outside of the classroom, I continued my history education by returning to the museums I visited as a child, this time, as an intern. Each summer, I was privileged to work with talented professionals at three of Indiana's great museums: The Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Children’s Museum, and The Indiana State Museum. This summer, upon graduation, I have been afforded the incredible opportunity of working with The Smithsonian, where I will put my previous experiences as an intern, to the utmost use. One of the particular joys of majoring in history, is having the opportunity to examine primary sources from different time periods and a myriad of cultures. My favorite of these was, The Enlightened Judgements- written accounts of crimes committed at the time of the Song Dynasty in China, during the 1300s. Through my analysis I found that to punish lawbreakers, the judiciary often victimized the poor, uneducated, and women, by allowing wealthy, educated men to slip through the legal system, even when they committed similar crimes. These original writings expose the divergences from, and some surprising parallels to, the current U.S. penal code.

**Lauren Schumacher —** I am from Columbus, Indiana and am a graduate of Columbus East High School. I have always had a love for history. My parents put up with my Ancient Egypt phase, Ancient Greece phase, and longing looks at every museum gift shop. However, by the time I was looking at colleges, it was clear this wasn't a phase, and that I truly wanted to pursue History as a career. I wanted to study the experiences of individuals and investigate how historical events impacted everyday lives. I was also interested in Anthropology and found I could combine these interests by studying Historical Archaeology. In doing so, I was able to examine elements of material culture and interpret them alongside historical documents. One of my favorite classes was K392, my first Honors seminar. While I enjoyed studying the evolution of women's pockets and their connections to the women's suffrage movement and was proud of my first long-form, independent research paper, the company of my classmates was what made this class memorable. The comradery formed in stressful academic environments is truly something to behold, and my experience in the History department would not have been the same without that group.

**Sydney Seigel —** Granger, Indiana I majored in history because of my desire to understand people and the circumstances that have created the world we live in. I didn't expect to focus on U.S. history, especially not in any concentrated way, but I found that it was an avenue through which I could attempt to understand the U.S. today. Learning about how much I didn't know about the history of the country I grew up in was one of the hardest things I had to learn in college, but it has also helped me open my eyes to the world as it is today, and work towards helping others understand as well. My favorite part of majoring in history was in the flexibility it provided me in being an interdisciplinary student. I managed to combine three majors into a single honors thesis, through a different department, that was focused on Civil War death notification letters and their cultural significance. This project allowed me to interact and analyze primary source materials in the forms of Civil War letters, early American texts, and mourning manuals and newspapers from the antebellum era. I really got the chance to understand not only the history of these letters, but their literary structure and the cultural resonances that are inherent within them.

**Brock Snouffer —** Roanoke, Indiana I came to Indiana University as an economics major. After taking a few history courses to satisfy my gen-ed requirements, I decided I wanted to minor in history. Not long after, my minor turned into another major because I enjoyed the courses so much. I thoroughly enjoyed the J400 and J425 courses. The freedom in researching my own project was quite enjoyable and built confidence in the skills I learned along my history career.

**Charlie Stewart —** I’m from Indianapolis, but have also lived in Connecticut, Argentina, and Spain. I love history because it’s the memory of all human life and civilization that came before us. History is a vast narrative that paints the picture of this mysterious phenomenon called existence, and the present in which we now live is just the snowball of the past on its most recent place down the infinite hill of time. Nothing regarding humanity can be understood without a knowledge of history. My favorite primary source was Lord Byron’s Don Juan, and I loved the last two seminars because I had maximum freedom to pursue my personal intellectual interests.

**Kelsey Striegel —** I am from New Albany, Indiana and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. I majored in history because I love to read and write and found that history brings out my skill set and passion. My grandmother is from Tours, France which made me want to focus my history courses on Western Europe. I enjoyed all of my history courses but my favorite class was the Women’s Social History of Great Britain. I enjoyed this class because I found the women I learned about inspiring.

**Cara Sullivan —** I grew up in Chesterton, IN. My high school had a summer experience called Trailbound, we went around the country for a week camping and learning about U.S. history, by visiting parks, museums, and monuments. I have fond memories of these trips and realized history was something I wanted to pursue in college! It's so difficult to choose a favorite of anything! I've really enjoyed being able to explore so many aspects of history from Greek to environmental to Native American.

**Cole M Tapiaaguilar —** I was born in Vincennes, IN. I grew up with four sibling in a small home. IU was a dream come true. Political Science and History.

**Sarah K. Theohares —** Born and raised in Madison County, Indiana, I'm a proud Hoosier through and through. From a young age my passion for history was nurtured by my parents. They took my older brother and me on countless vacations to visit historical sites around the country and always encouraged us to read about the topics that interested us. I quickly became fascinated with the American presidency after my family's trip to Washington D.C. when I was four, and my interest in the history of American politics hasn't wavered since. Considering this, it's no surprise to my family or me that I'm graduating with a BA in both History and Political Science. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my parents, my brother, and all the teachers who've supported me throughout my education, especially Professor Linenthal. None of my success would have been possible without all of your encouragement and your steadfast faith in me.

**Sydney Tomlinson —** I grew up in Noblesville, Indiana in a family of Hoosiers. Both of my parents graduated from IU - Bloomington, and attending IU basketball games and visiting campus were a big part of my childhood. History and English were always my favorite subjects in school, and my high school history teacher had a profound impact on me (thanks, Jake!). Although I came to IU as a journalism major, I knew I wanted to take history classes when I could. Eventually, I was enjoying my history electives so much I decided to add it as a second major and I’m so glad I did. I’ve loved my time in the history department at IU. I’ve grown so much as a writer and thinker, largely thanks to some incredible professors and mentors. My favorite class was Professor Sarah Knott’s J300 History of Motherhood. It was everything I could’ve asked for in a class, and in a professor, and it really cemented my passion for this discipline.

33rd Annual Paul V. McNutt Lecture

In October 2020, the IU Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences virtually hosted its 33rd annual Paul V. McNutt Lecture with University of Maryland Professor Robyn Muncy.

Since 1920, many journalists, activists, and even historians have celebrated the ratification of the 19th Amendment as the moment when American women won the vote. Professor Muncy asks whether that makes sense: Did the 19th Amendment actually enfranchise American women? To answer, she explores state-level victories of women’s suffrage before 1920 and ongoing struggles of women for admittance to the polls after 1920. In the process of revealing the raggedy, piecemeal process by which women have won access to the ballot, she illuminates how American democracy works and what it demands of us today.

The Department of History’s annual McNutt Lecture honors Paul V. McNutt, who was dean of the IU School of Law from 1925 to 1933, then became Indiana's governor and later served as U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippines, director of the Federal Security Agency, and chairman of the War Manpower Commission during World War II.

Click here to view the lecture on YouTube

Special Events Archive

Congratulations to our 2021 Graduates!

33rd Annual Paul V. McNutt Lecture

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The College of Arts & Sciences