University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Five history majors will display poster presentations of their own research at UALR’s third annual Undergraduate Research Expo this coming Monday, April 21st, in Donaghey Student Center Meeting Rooms A, B, and C, from 10 am to 1 pm.

This year the Expo will feature poster presentations of sixty projects campuswide—more than ever before.

The history students presenting their work are:

• Judith Young. “Quand Madelon: Music in the City and on the Front.” (Mentor: Kristin Dutcher Mann)
• Michael Kermmoade. “Stealing the Eucharist: A Projection of Christian Doubt.” (Mentor: Laura A. Smoller)
• Samantha Staggs McKay. “Marriage Crime in 17th-Century London: Corrupt Clergy, Wiley Women and Crafty Criminals.” (Mentor: Thomas Kaiser)
• Marc Gibson. “A Conspiracy of Witches: King James and the Scottish Witch-Hunts of the 1590s.” (Mentor: Laura Smoller)
• A. Ivy Renfro. “The Changing Images of Anne Frank.” (Mentor: Thomas Kaiser)

Please come show your support for our fabulous history students!

UALR’s Iota Zeta chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honorary society, will initiate twenty-six new members at a banquet on Friday, April 11. In addition to the initiation ceremony, the evening will feature a talk by history professor C. Fred Williams on the topic, “The History Department at UALR: A Memoir.”

To be eligible for membership in Phi Alpha Theta, undergraduate students must complete at least 12 semester hours in History (4 courses) with a GPA of at least 3.1 in History, have a GPA of 3.0 or better overall.

The students being initiated into Phi Alpha Theta are

Jesse Bertram
Michael Joseph Bolzenius
Joshua Adam Bryan
Racheal L. Carter
Toni Renee Coleman
Johnna J. Davis
Nicholas DeSanctis
Sara Ann Manning Drew
David Kyle Ferguson
Grover Cleveland Garrison Jr.
Marc Gibson
Joseph G. Hennington
William Benjamin Hubbard
James Anthony Hutchison
Alexander William Kammerer
Michael Kermmoade
Mohammed H. Khaleel
Kandyce Long
James Anthony Metrailer, Jr.
A. Ivy Renfro
Michael C. Smith
Shenandoah Lei Strojek
Jesse Thill
Tammy Jane Watanabe
Kimberly L. Wessels
Jamie E. Vocque

Phi Alpha Theta has a proud history in this state. The National Honor Society in History was established on March 17, 1921, by Nels Andrew N. Cleven at the University of Arkansas. UALR’s chapter was founded in 1963 and has been in continuous operation since that time.

History majors Marc Gibson and Michael Kermmoade have been selected to compete in the AHSS Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 24, 2008. Their projects were among nine selected from nominations reviewed by the Undergraduate Research Team of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

The Symposium will be held on campus in the Donaghey Student Center’s room D from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Students, faculty, friends, and the general public are welcome to attend. Each researcher will have ten minutes to present his or her findings. Prizes will be awarded for the best projects. First prize will be $500, and additional awards will be given out.

Gibson’s project addresses political, social, and intellectual reasons behind earliest phase of witch-hunting in Scotland. Kermmoade examines the links between medieval tales of Jews desecrating the Eucharist and accusations that witches stole consecrated hosts to work evil magic.

Gibson and Kermmoade were also chosen to present their work at the Phi Alpha Theta conference at Harding University on Saturday, April 5.