Alumni Returns in Triumph!

Joe Kent, who graduated with a BA in History last year, stopped by Hill Building Friday to talk about applications for graduate school. Joe has been working in his hometown in Pennsylvania for the past year and now is getting ready to move on to the next stage in his educational career.

We wish Joe the best of luck and are prepared to do whatever we can to help him reach his goal!

Phi Beta Delta Talk: Professor Crawford on Teaching Abroad in China

Dr. Crawford told attendees of the experiences that he and his wife Sophie enjoyed while he was teaching a course for the United Studies Abroad Consortium in Chengdu China last summer.

Crawford told students and faculty about the geography, climate, and the people of Chengdu. He also addressed the penetration of Western, particularly American, culture in China. Along with his remarks, he also showed students photos that he and Sophie took while there. They both viewed the trip as a chance of a lifetime to live in China for five weeks. While there, they enjoyed the very spicy food from Sichuan Province, and saw the sights in Chengdu, as well as taking trips into the countryside and to the first imperial capital of Xian, where they were fortunate to see the famed terracotta warriors.

Crawford also urged both faculty and students to take advantage of opportunities to teach or study abroad. These sort of opportunities provide experiences that will often be life-changing. The opportunity to live in another culture expands one's mental horizons, and incidentally looks good on a student's resume.

Professor Wilson Tells Marketing Students about GIS

Dr. Jimmy Wilson addressed a large audience of Marketing and Geography students in the Dicke Forum Wednesday night. He told them of the ways that Geographic Information Systems can be used to make their marketing efforts more effective. He also discussed his recent efforts to aid the Admissions Department in recruiting efforts and also about research that he and students have accomplished in the past few years.

Wilson kept the audience involved in his presentation by asking for volunteers to help demonstrate the use of his GIS software. He had volunteers demonstrate how GIS software could help analyze data to give users as narrow a focus on states, counties, communities, and neighborhoods to track demographic and purchasing patterns, among others.

These tools can make marketing, whether of a new soft drink, or a university more efficient. The crowd had several questions for Wilson, and in general were open to the information that they were being exposed to. To see Dr. Wilson's talk, click here.

Professor Jimmy Wilson Presents Joint Student-Faculty Research

At the East Lakes Division of the Association of American Geographers Annual Meetings, Dr. Wilson presented two papers that he worked on with HPJ students Kevin Cieplowski, BA 2009 and Samantha Licata, BA 2010.

Wilson presented a paper that he worked on with Cieplowski, titled "Spatial Analysis of Sexual Offenders Charged with Gross Sexual Imposition in Cuyahoga County, Ohio." The abstract of their research states:

Police departments in the suburbs of many metropolitan areas have witnessed increases in property crimes since the recent global economic downturn began a few years ago. Residential foreclosures have also increased dramatically during recent years, especially in certain large cities in the United States, such as Cleveland, Ohio. These phenomena have helped stimulate discussion regarding the relationship between property crime, residential foreclosures and other socio-economic variables. The current research focuses on spatial analysis of these variables in Garfield Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, 2004-2009. Our findings lead us to conclude that any correlation that currently exists between property crime and foreclosure is coincidental in nature. While certain criminal activity is localized in specific areas within Garfield Heights, foreclosures continue to be a problem throughout this community.

He presented a paper that he worked on with Licata, titled "Spatial Analysis of Sexual Offenders Charged with Gross Imposition in Cuyahoga County, OH." The abstract for this paper reads:

Spatial research pertaining to sexual offenders has increased in recent years, thanks in large part to local and state legislation requiring offenders to report their locations, and also to state agencies that disseminate their information to the public. However not much emphasis has been given to examining the neighborhood environments of those charged with particular sexual offenses. This research examines social and economic variables associated with the environment of individuals charged with Tier 3 gross sexual imposition as of April, 2008 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Among other findings, we illuminate a geographic trend associated with these locations and general quality of life.

Cieplowski remains at ONU, working for the Saudi Prison Management Program, and Licata is pursuing her Masters Degree in Psychology at Spalding University.

Working with students on research projects such as these has been an emphasis of the department, and gives us a chance to publicize the good work that our students are doing.

Military and Society Class Visit Air Force Museum

On October 12, Dr. John Lomax and Professor Ray Schuck took the students in “Military and Society” on a field trip to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton. The museum holds the country’s largest collection of military aircraft and other artifacts of war in the air. The students saw aircraft from every era in the history of military aviation, including a B-17, the “Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby,” from the Second World War. An AC-130A transport plane, the workhorse of the American military from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. A Juncker Ju52, a transport plane that carried paratroops and cargo for the Germans during the Second World War. Hitler also used a Ju52 as his personal aircraft in the 1930’s, most notably in the opening scenes of Leni Riefenstahl’s infamous propaganda film, “Triumph of the Will.” Professor Schuck, the department’s museum specialist used the museum’s collection to discuss the decisions that curators make when they select artifacts and decide how to display them for the public.

“Military and Society” is the gateway to a wide range of courses that the department offers on war, the military, and the relationship between warfare and the political, social, cultural, and economic life of peoples and their governments. These include courses on the Crusades, the Wars of Religion, the revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the American Civil War, the First World War, the Second World War, the Cold War, espionage during the Cold War, the Vietnam War, wars in Africa, contemporary asymmetrical warfare, and terrorism.

In front of the B-17 (Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby) are:

Standing: Joe Fisher, Jerry Nelson, Stephen Borden, Cat Apicella, Brad Nungester, Mike Dunson, Lauren Colby, Brendan Kinder, Patrick Blasius, and John Curiel.

Kneeling: Dr. John Lomax.

In front of the AC-130A are: Lauren Colby, Brendan Kinder, Cat Apicella, Patrick Blasius, Jerry Nelson, Brad Nungester, Stephen Borden, Joe Fisher, and Mike Dunson.

In front of the Juncker Ju52 are: Stephen Borden and Joe Fisher.

Department Celebrates Professor Geistman's Birthday

The department gathered to celebrate Dr. Geistman's birthday on Friday October 15th. The Saudi Prison Management Program supplied pizza and soft drinks.

Happy Birthday Dr. Geistman!

Fleming Named Ohio Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week

Ryan Fleming, a senior Social Studies major, was named OAC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Baldwin Wallace. Ryan had 4 catches for a career high 201 yards and scored 2 touchdowns, one of 54 yards and the other that went for 49 yards.

Ryan will be doing his student teaching next quarter and will be back on campus for spring quarter to run sprints for the track team.

Well done Ryan!

Professor Alexander and Students Attend Washington Center Event

Dr. Alexander, along with ONU students currently interning in Washington, D.C., and several ONU graduates of the program, took part in the recent Washington Center gala, held Oct. 4 in Washington, D.C.

The “Gala 2010: Transforming Potential into Achievement” event celebrated the impact The Washington Center’s programs have on more than 40,000 alumni and the influence they have on their communities. It also celebrated the individuals and organizations that partner with the center to develop students’ talents and turn their ambition to a greater purpose.

The gala was held in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Bob Schieffer, anchor of CBS’ “Face the Nation” served as master of ceremonies. Proceeds from event provide program scholarships to make the center’s program accessible to students regardless of their backgrounds.

The Washington Center is the largest internship organization in Washington, D.C., and has provided internship opportunities to many ONU students as well as university students from across the nation and the world. The organization’s president is an ONU graduate, Michael Smith, BA ’68, Hon. ’10.

Several of our students in recent years have also used their experiences at the Washington Center as a springboard for acquiring a position in government. Liz Drummond, Mark Schloemer, and Miranda Wade are among a few who have gotten their starts in politics by reaching out to the contacts they made at the Center. This a great opportunity for ONU students and one that they should take advantage of, if at all possible.

Pictured at the Washington Center gala are, from left, David Lewis, a senior in physical education from Gainesville, Md., Dr. Robert Alexander, BA ’94, associate professor of political science, Jaime (Uppenkamp) Wright, BA ’04, Ashleigh Kaleugher, a senior in criminal justice from Aliquippa, Pa., Alexandra Habbouche, a senior in political science from Oregon, Ohio, Michael Smith, D.P.S., BA ’68, Hon. ’10, Richelle McMannis, senior in criminal justice from Thornville, Ohio, Matthew Wiseman, senior in history from Findlay, Ohio, Stephanie Spirer, BA ’03, and Johni Amos, BA ’03.

Professor Alexander Named to Pi Sigma Alpha National Committee

Dr. Robert Alexander, associate professor of political science, has have been appointed to the National Executive Committee of Pi Sigma Alpha, the collegiate honor society for political science.

The committee is the governing body of Pi Sigma Alpha, which has over 600 chapters across the world. He will serve on the Executive Council of Pi Sigma Alpha, which has authority over the affairs of the society between committee meetings.

Well done Dr. Alexander!

Professor Geistman Presents Paper at Midwestern Criminal Justice Association Annual Meeting

Dr. Geistman presented his paper, titled “Attitudes of Criminal Justice and Other Majors Toward the Crime of Stalking” to the Midwestern Criminal Justice Association Annual Meeting. His paper discussed differing perspectives on the crime of stalking, Below is the abstract of his paper.

Stalking is a gendered crime that has plagued females throughout history. Since the passage of the first stalking law in the U.S., stalking victims have regularly suffered from the poor protection and support offered them by police departments. One suggestion as to why is that the majority of stalking victims is female while the majority of police are male. Is police neglect a result of their socialization on the job, or because of prior socialization in a patriarchal society? If it is prior socialization, it is likely that the next “crop” of law enforcement officers will continue to neglect stalking victims. Using radical feminism, especially its focus on patriarchy, as a guide, criminal justice and non-criminal justice majors were compared in order to determine what effect acceptance of interpersonal violence, endorsement of sex role stereotypes and adversarial sexual beliefs, as well as various demographic factors, had on endorsement of patriarchy, knowledge of stalking, and attitudes toward stalking. Data was collected from November 2008 through January 2009 at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.

Results indicate that while both groups of majors revealed an endorsement of patriarchy, the model for criminal justice majors included more factors and indicated that male conservatives who endorsed sex role stereotypes and held adversarial sexual beliefs were more likely to support patriarchy. Regarding knowledge of stalking, criminal justice majors who accepted interpersonal violence and endorsed patriarchy were more likely to report knowledge of stalking, while those who were white and intended to be police officers were less likely to. Regarding attitudes toward stalking, criminal justice majors who endorsed patriarchy and were white were less likely to blame the victim while those who had been in the military were more likely to do so.

Essentially, criminal justice majors tend to be more patriarchal than non-majors, report a better knowledge of stalking (with the exception of those who are white and intend to become police officers), and, with the exception of respondents with military backgrounds, tend to be supportive of stalking victims. Research and policy implications of these findings are then discussed.

ONU Held High School Model United Nations Simulation

The Department of History, Politics and Justice organized the Ohio Northern University High school Model United Nations simulation on Saturday October 2. A record number of 141 delegates from 11 high schools in Ohio representing 47 states participated in the simulation. The Model UN simulation provides students with an exciting way to learn about how international actors use the United Nations forum to address global problems. It offers an educational experience outside the classroom while it familiarizes students with international affairs. Participants develop and exercise a wide range of important skills, especially public speaking and research. It provides students with an understanding of the role of the United Nations in world politics. This UN simulation is designed to reinforce the basic principles of the United Nations, such as maintaining international peace and security, developing better relations among nations based on respect, equal rights and self determination of peoples. It provides delegates practical skills such as parliamentary procedure, writing resolutions, public speaking, and negotiating and coalition formation. It entails role playing, some caucusing and lobbying skills and the ability to formulate policy positions. The delegates representing preselected member countries, and in three committees, deliberated and passed resolutions on current three key global problems in the UN General Assembly. The first Committee deliberated and passed resolutions to eliminate the global menaces of terrorism and piracy. The second issue also garnered much work and interest, as the second committee addressed the problem of human rights violations against women and children during civil wars such as the Darfur case. Delegates deliberated and passed resolutions to protect them. The third committee addressed the problem of nuclear proliferation and global security, especially the threat posed by North Korea and Iran. Delegates passed resolutions for effective monitoring, implementation of the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and disarmament. The committees were chaired by ONU students: Kelly Morman , Brandon Bryant, and Zachary Esterline and judged and evaluated by faculty members of the Department of History, Political Science and Criminal Justice and Department of Modern languages. Delegates were initially welcomed by the Dean Arts and Sciences and also toured ONU campus.

William Henry Harrison High School, representing Morocco won the outstanding recognition award. Bowling Green High School representing Sudan and Romania won the second and third positions respectively. Maumee Valley Country Day School representing Italy won the fourth position while Clay High School representing Germany won the fifth position.

Professor Smith Speaks About Water and Conflict for Phi Beta Delta

On Thursday, October 7 in the Dicke Forum from 7:00-8:15 p.m., the Phi Beta Delta International Forum will sponsor a presentation by Dr. David R. Smith titled "Water War in Central Asia? Implications for Regional and US Foreign Policy"

Nature does not respect national borders; yet human beings seem incapable of managing their affairs without them. Nature has also not endowed every place on earth or every nation with the same type and amount of resources. Herein lie the roots of interstate conflict and cooperation over essential and scarce natural resources, such as freshwater. This talk focuses on Central Asia where both possibilities will continue to exist for a long time as these countries struggle with creating their own identities in the post-Soviet era.

Dr. David R. Smith is an Associate Professor of History at Ohio Northern University and has degrees from Kent State and the University of Chicago. His research focuses on water, conflict over water, and regional social development issues. He has traveled many times to Russia, Central Asia, Iran & North Korea. He is a Board Member of an NGO IRFD with special consultative status with the United Nations, and has received travel and research grants from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Fulbright program, IREX, and other programs.

ONU Students Speak With Russian Counterparts from the University of Perm

On Wednesday October 13, a group of ONU students from Dr. Crawford's Western Civilization class, and Dr. Smith's World Regional Geography class talked with students from Perm University in Russia. The Russian students came primarily from the Linguistics and Mathematics departments at Perm.

Both groups shared PowerPoint presentations and videos about their universities and towns. They discussed what requirements were for graduation, what classes were like, and what they each did for fun. The Russian classroom was full, and while the ONU contingent was small, they were talkative. The groups used Skype to talk back and forth, and were able to communicate easily.

Opportunities such as this offer students the chance to broaden their horizons and find out what experiences their peers have in other countries. It also demonstrates, in a practical way, the centrality of technology within Western Civilization. This sort of experience was impossible until the creation of the internet and conferencing systems such as Skype.

Mike Hamper Presents Paper on Lobbying

Last weekend, Mike Hamper attended the 70^th Annual Meeting of the Ohio Association of Economists and Political Scientists to present his paper “Everyone’s got a mortgage to pay”: Lobbying in American Pop Culture. Hamper wrote the paper for Dr. Alexander’s Parties and Interest Groups class last year. At the conference, Hamper presented with two other students, one from Northern Kentucky University and the other from Baldwin-Wallace College.

Hamper commented “The presentation went well, and I received good constructive criticism about how to improve my paper. The judges on the panel really enjoyed my presentation. Because I did my paper on the movie “Thank You for Smoking”, which also has a book, everyone at my presentation readily understood my examples and thesis very well. My thesis for the paper is that American pop culture portrays lobbying as overwhelmingly negative without showing any benefits. My paper asserts that lobbying has a very real benefit to Americans and is a form of direct democracy where an extremely small minority take on the responsibility of representing many people’s views.”

This is the sort of activity that we like to see our students undertaking. Moving outside of the comfort zone of campus and classroom gives students nice real-world experience that will help them as they move to the next step in their lives, whether that include graduate school, or the start of a career.

Well done Mike!

What They Did Last Summer

HPJ students spent the summer learning new skills, experiencing different cultures, and exploring future careers. Among the places HPJ students went and the things they did there were:

Carol Wilson was selected for a Gilder Lehrman Fellowship and had a great experience there. She produced a short documentary that can be found at

http://gilderlehrman.org/education/hs_student_research.php

Carol was in a rarefied environment – students from Barnard, Berkeley, Columbia, etc. and she held her own or better.

Caitlin Kegley worked at The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.

Jennifer Sherman did an internship with the Washington Center and worked for The National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, an advocacy group that helps special needs children.

Ashley Kaleugher won the Miss U.S. Beauty national pageant.

Adam Schwiebert worked as an intern for the Heritage Foundation.

Kelly Morman studied abroad in Spain.

Miranda Wade Works as Deputy Campaign Manager for State Auditor Candidate

Miranda Wade, a senior majoring in Political Science, has taken the Fall Quarter off to work as Deputy Campaign Manager for Dave Yost, who is running for the office of State Auditor. Wade mentioned that she made the initial contact with the Yost campaign grew out of her attendance at the Republican National Convention in 2008. She caught the political bug and began volunteering for the Ohio Republican Party, where she met Matthew Borges, who later became Yost's campaign manager, and then asked Miranda to join the campaign as his deputy.

Time and time again on this blog, we have heard from alumni who translated an internship at the Washington Center into positions in politics on the state and national level. If you are interested in a career in politics, the Washington Center offers the opportunity to gain practical experience and to make the personal connections that are so important in that field.

Dr. Crawford Presents at Cold War Cultures Conference

Dr. Crawford, pictured here with a cannon on the grounds of the Texas state capitol in Austin, presented his paper on the television program I Spy (1965-1968) and its role in imagining the Cold War (1946-1991). Crawford enjoyed the many excellent panels that were put on at the conference, and with his wife Sophie, had a great time exploring Austin.

Crawford's session on imagining race during the Cold War, was well attended despite taking place in the middle of the Texas-Oklahoma game. Originally scheduled for four presenters, Crawford was the only one who managed to be present. His talk "I Spy: Sport, Race, and the Cold War," was well received and the audience joined in with questions and discussion, so it was a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Annual Spaghetti Dinner Held at Dr. Wilson's House

Once again, freshman students were invited to dinner at Dr. Ellen Wilson's house where they could enjoy good food and talk to departmental faculty. Dr. Wilson provided the delicious spaghetti, and the other faculty members brought hors d'oeuvres and desserts.

The party began a little balkanized, with course aids in one room, new students in another, and faculty in a third. The ice soon broke, however, and students, faculty, and guests began to interact. Also attending were Dean of Arts and Sciences Catherine Albrecht, and faculty spouses.

A good time was had by all, and the final students were able to make off with enough good food to hold them over for the rest of the week.

Social Studies Students Meet for Pizza

Social Studies students gathered at Dr. Crawford's house for pizza and enlightenment during the third week of classes. The pizza was supplied by Crawford, while the enlightenment was provided by Jennifer Bazell and Katherine Gualtiere, who are doing their student teaching this quarter. Jennifer, who is at Kenton HS, and Katherine, who is at Riverdale HS, told the students of their adventures so far as student teachers. The experienced students also shared tips with the new students on how to effectively make their way through the program at ONU. Fortunately, the deck, that Dr. Crawford built with the help of friends and family, was able to stand up under the stress.

The social studies candidates will meet at least once per quarter, to build esprit des corps, and to hear the tales of those who have experienced the next step in the process toward becoming a teacher.

Sport and Society Class Visits Wilson Football Factory

Students from the HIST 390 - Sport and Society class visited the Wilson Football Factory to see how all of the National Football League's footballs are made. In addition to making all NFL balls, the factory also supplies a vast majority of the footballs for all divisions of college football.

The students toured the facility watching workers cut the leather, tie the four panels together, insert the bladder, and finally sew up the finished football. Accompanying the class was Dr. Crawford and his niece Manon Mercadier, who is visiting from France. The class clearly saw the amount of work that goes into making a football, and were asked to consider the disparity between the wages made by the people who make the football and those who use them.

Museum Studies/Public History Students to Transform the Second Floor of Hill Building

Several students who are minoring in Museum Studies/Public History gathered the first Monday night of the Fall Quarter to discuss plans to redecorate the common area of Hill Memorial's second floor. The plan is to replace the historical documents that have adorned the walls for years with display cases that will highlight the accomplishments of HPJ students and faculty, as well as chronicling the history of Hill Memorial. The documents will be moved to the area where the soft drink and snack machine once stood.

Pictured are Professor Schuck (far left), Jennifer Trawinski, Autumn Kalikin, Katie Cretin, Caitlin Kegley, and Carol Wilson.

Keep watch on this blog to see how the changes go.

Alumni Triumphal Return

Ben Wollett, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 2009, recently stopped by the department to share some of his adventures in graduate school. Ben is pursuing his Master of Arts degree in History at Ohio University.

As with all new graduate students, Ben mentioned the heavy workload of grad school, but also mentioned to Dr. Alexander that he was surprised at the level of competition, if not hostility that exists between political scientists and historians in larger schools. The close relationship that faculty from different disciplines maintain here did not prepare him for the walls of separation that he found at the next level.

Despite, or maybe because of, the heavy workload, Ben reported that he was enjoying graduate school. He plans to focus the research for his Masters Thesis on issues surrounding railroads in Ohio.

Best of luck Ben!