Working Historians

Bob Irvine teaches history in the Master of Arts program at Southern New Hampshire and is a consultant for Parc Resources in Eastern Oregon. In this episode we discuss what Bob has been up to since his last interview in 2017, including new projects in collaboration with Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.

Christopher Kline, an instructor and Learning Community Facilitator for Southern New Hampshire University, discusses his research and teaching interests, why the Whiskey Rebellion broke out in post-Revolutionary Pennsylvania, the evolution of his career, and advice for students looking to break into careers in history. Professor Kline has worked as a history tutor, a member of a museum board, and an adjunct instructor at community colleges and universities.

Chris Kline is the Senior Manager for General Education at Western Governors University. In this episode, Rob, Jimmy, and Chris discuss Chris’s decision to start a doctoral program, the online student experience, the real estate market, the changing work habits that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, the January 6 Insurrection, the need for better education in source analysis and critical thinking, and the lessons we learned about the American government after the 2020 election and the insurrection

Kate Schaefer teaches history at Southern New Hampshire University. In this episode, Kate discusses her research into female spies during the Irish Rebellion of 1916 and World War II. And then there is some chatter about the Sisters of Mercy and the CIA’s suggestions for disrupting Zoom meetings, kinda.   This episode’s recommendations: Sarah Rose, D-Day Girls: The Spies who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped win World War II (Penguin Random House, 2020): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/538637/d-day-girls-by-sarah-rose/  Trevor Ristow, Waiting for Another War: A History of the Sisters of Mercy, Volume I: 1980-1985 (GWK, 2019): https://www.gkwfilmworks.com/sisters  Simple Sabotage Field Manual (Office of Strategic Services, 1944), available at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26184/page-images/26184-images.pdf 

Season 1 lasted for four years, and then Rob put the podcast on hiatus because, I dunno, pandemic? Exhaustion? While searching for the meaning of life, he found his old chum Jimmy Fennessy on a remote mountaintop and the two decided to get the band back together and work on Season 2 of Working Historians, which will be bigger and better than ever before! There’s even a website now. In this episode you get a brief teaser of what you can expect from Season 2, however long that one may last.

The Working Historians podcast is switching its hosting site from Soundcloud to Podbean, so Soundcloud subscribers should consider re-subscribing through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or any of the other dozens of podcast apps out there. In this episode, Rob provides a teaser for upcoming changes to the podcast (including a new website).

Dr. Peter Milich is a historian who specializes in Russian, Soviet, and Eastern European history. As a witness to the collapse of modern nations like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, Rob and Pete discuss the state of modern international affairs. This episode’s recommendations: Alfred McCoy, “The Rise and Decline of US Global Power” (October 25, 2017), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GygmGSwvcI Dominic Lieven, “The Tsar Liberates Europe? Russia against Napoleon, 1807-1914” (October 8, 2009), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzElqomAATI Daniel Junge and Steven Leckart, dirs., “Challenger: The Final Flight” (2020), https://www.netflix.com/title/81012137

Dr. Paul McKenzie-Jones teaches history, focusing on political activism among Native Americans and other indigenous peoples around the world. This episode’s recommendations: Nick Estes, Our History is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Resistance of Indigenous Resistance (Verso, 2019), https://soundcloud.com/user-399142700/cassandra-clark-public-historian-state-of-utah-and-adjunct-instructor Susan Sleeper-Smith, Juliana Barr, Jean M. O’Brien, Nancy Shoemaker, and Scott Manning Stevens, eds., Why you Can’t Teach United States History without American Indians (University of North Carolina Press, 2015), https://uncpress.org/book/9781469621203/why-you-cant-teach-united-states-history-without-american-indians/ Patricia Nelson Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West (W.W. Norton, 1987), https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393304978

Dr. Cassandra Clark teaches history at Southern New Hampshire University and Salt Lake Community College and is a public historian with the State of Utah’s Department of Heritage and Arts. In this episode, we will discuss Dr. Clark’s academic and professional background, her work with the State of Utah, and her research on the history of insanity and the environment in the American West, with discussions of eugenics, phrenology, and the changing scientific understanding of how the human brain works. Recommendations Utah Department of Heritage & Arts, Salt Lake West Side Stories: https://newnationproject.utah.gov/salt-lake-west-side-stories/ Denver Public Library, “When the KKK Ruled Colorado: Not So Long Ago,” https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/when-kkk-ruled-colorado-not-so-long-ago Janet Miron, Prisons, Asylums, and the Public: Institutional Visiting in the Nineteenth Century (University of Toronto Press, 2011), https://utorontopress.com/us/prisons-asylums-and-the-public-4 Carla Yanni, The Archit

Dr. Guy Ruoff teaches history at Southern New Hampshire University and is Town Supervisor for Scott, New York. In this episode, Guy talks to Rob about his academic and professional background, his present and future political career, and the importance of historical knowledge in the political sphere. This episode’s recommendations: The Memory Palace podcast: https://www.prx.org/memory-palace/?gclid=CjwKCAiA7939BRBMEiwA-hX5J-QrMyhtslsmIXC6xsvyk-9w1DAfKaYkcdra6-w-7losaludcCtFDBoC-e8QAvD_BwE

Deirdre Lannon teaches history at Texas State University. In this episode, Deirdre discusses her academic and professional background (including her time fronting a rockabilly band!) and her dissertation research topic, Ruth Reynolds and her role in the fight for Puerto Rican independence.

Scott Black teaches history at numerous colleges and universities, including Southern New Hampshire University. In this episode, Scott talks about his academic and professional background, his career teaching history, and the challenges and rewards of writing historical fiction. This episode’s recommendations: Sabaton: https://www.sabaton.net/ Various Authors, The American Yawp: https://www.americanyawp.com/

Karen Sieber is a Humanities Specialist for the Clement and Laura McGillicuddy Humanities Center at the University of Maine. In this episode we discuss her academic and professional background, the major public history research projects with which she has been affiliated, her work at the Humanities Center, and our history-related recommendations Recommendations: Visualizing the Red Summer http://visualizingtheredsummer.com/ Goin’ North: https://goinnorth.org/ Chicago Defender:https://www.chicagodefenderarchives.org/ African-American Civil War Soldiers Project: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/usct/african-american-civil-war-soldiers Monroe Work Today: https://plaintalkhistory.com/monroeandflorencework/ Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: https://snccdigital.org/ Charleston Syllabus: https://www.aaihs.org/resources/charlestonsyllabus/ Christopher Tomlins, In the Matter of Nat Turner: A Speculative History (Princeton University Press, 2020), https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691

Adam Lehman is Assistant Professor of History at Guilford Technical Community College. In this episode we discuss his academic and professional background and his research into the missed privateering opportunities of the War of 1812. This episode’s recommendations: Jeff Kinard, “Lectures in History: Civil War Weaponry,” C-Span, https://www.c-span.org/video/?465611-1/civil-war-weaponry Footnoting History Teaching Guide: https://www.footnotinghistory.com/teach.html

It’s Constitution Day! This presentation will include a roundtable discussion of the origins of the Constitution, some of its provisions, and its influence on modern life in the United States by a panel of historians and political scientists, including Michael Gattis, Harley Hall, Robbin Mellen, Jeremy Pedigo, and Brigitte Powell. Associate Dean Robert Denning hosts the presentation. Listeners can access the podcast on the Working Historians Soundcloud page, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and any other podcast app. Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is an American federal observance recognizing the adoption of the U.S. Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens by birth of naturalization. It is normally observed Sept. 17, the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787 in Philadelphia.

Shenetha Solomon is a historical consultant, a doctoral student, and an instructor at Southern New Hampshire University. In this episode we discuss her academic and professional background, and we focus on her research into the history of the town of Taft, Oklahoma, and her family’s connections to the town. This episode’s recommendations: Daina Ramey Berry, The Price for their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, From Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation (Penguin Random House, 2017): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/538529/the-price-for-their-pound-of-flesh-by-daina-ramey-berry/ Jamie Goodall, Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay: From the Colonial Era to the Oyster Wars (History Press, 2020): https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467141161 Rob’s New Books Network interview with Jamie Goodall about Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay: https://newbooksnetwork.com/jamie-l-h-goodall-pirates-of-the-chesapeake-bay-from-the-colonial-era-to-the-oyster-wars-the-history-press-2020/

Alyce Sadongei presents “Connectedness and Relationship: Foundations of Indigenous Ethics within the Tribal Museum Context” and Marion Bertin presents “Challenging Museums and Collections: Toward an Indigenous Ethics in the Pacific Islands. Michele Rivet moderates.

Susie Chung provides opening remarks, Vedet Coleman-Robinson presents “The Importance of Museums in Community Through a Virtual Lens,” and Patricia A. Banks presents “Cultural Philanthropy and Diversity in the 21st Century.”

Victoria Miller presents “From Nails to Rails: A Museological Case Study of the Steelworkers Center of the West” and Claudia Ankrah presents “Visibilization in Public History Institutions: The Socio-Political Role of Museums.” Supreo Chanda moderates.

Robert Denning provides opening remarks, Bruno Brulon Soares presents “Theoretical Museology and Community Practice: A Post-Colonial Approach,” and Jessie Ryker-Crawford presents “Re-Adjusting Museum Theoretics (and Hence, Practice,) to Include Indigenous Community Needs and Values.”