All posts by Nicole Hudgins

LEHS Alums Return to UB to Share Career Advice and Words of Wisdom

The second annual “Knowledge at Work: A Conversation with LEHS Alumni” event took place last night with students, faculty, and alumni sheltered from the rain in the Bogomolny Room. Seven History, Jurisprudence, and Legal Studies graduates fielded student questions about how they parleyed their degrees into interesting careers. Whereas Stanley Brown (M.A. ’00) used his LEST degree to enter higher education administration, Godswill Agbagwa (M.A. ’12) used his to establish an NGO to cultivate leadership skills in Nigeria. History graduate Natasha Jones (B.A. ’11) uses her research skills to make the archives at Johns Hopkins University more accessible; while Zippy Larson (B.A. ’82) has been conducting historical tours in Baltimore for many years. This array of LEHS alumni definitely showed that the division’s programs prepare students for a wide variety of fulfilling careers.

Professor Jeffrey Sawyer opening the event last night

European History Students Visit the Peabody Library

On Tuesday, September 23, Dr. Hudgins’ HIST 313 students walked to the Peabody Library in Mt. Vernon Square to see original editions of the books they’ve been talking about in class. “Europe 1815-1914” has been reading Heroes of Invention by Christine MacLeod, wherein the author discusses how the great inventors of the Industrial Revolution were celebrated by authors like Samuel Smiles and Bennett Woodcroft. Students got to handle original souvenirs from the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851, and leaf through Victorian editions of the biographies of James Watt and others. This was the first time this semester that the class got to touch original artifacts. They are learning that, most of the time, the primary sources that they handle are either transcriptions, translations, or pixelated images on a computer screen. The class thanks Mr. Paul Espinosa at the Peabody Library for his time and expertise!

A “fisheye” photograph of the library by Jeff Lee.

HIST 295 Students Do Family History at the Enoch Pratt Library

In “The Historian’s Toolkit,” one of the core classes for history majors, students assemble portfolios about someone in their own family tree. Using primary (or exhibit) sources they place their family member in historical context. Since this original research often involves local history, the class visited the Maryland Department of the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Central Branch on October 9. There they explored the City Directories, the library’s historical maps, Criss+Cross Directories, the collection of Maryland books in the stacks, and most importantly, the vertical files, where freshman Tyler Starkweather examined some 1980s news clippings about UB’s new president. Student Audrey Hayes, a photojournalist for the US Army Reserves, took these photos of the visit.

The Enoch Pratt Library is about a 20 minute walk from UB’s campus. On this beautiful October day, we strolled past the Belvedere Hotel, the Hotel Brexton, the Washington Monument, the Maryland Historical Society, the Walters Art Gallery and the Basilica. After our tour, some students stopped for coffee while others caught the free circulator back to UB, knowing that this would not be their last visit to this valuable resource so close to our campus.

A History student looks at a 1980s newspaper article entitled, “Schmoke Endorsed by Labor Unit,” written during President Schmoke’s political career in Baltimore.

An Expert Contrasts the Movie “300” to Herodotus

On Thursday, Sept. 11, local classicist William Scott Proffitt visited UB to introduce the 2007 action movie 300 to students and faculty in the Bogomolny Room. Proffitt made the screening special by discussing the original sources for our knowledge of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae. He compared and contrasted the historical and archeological sources to the different scenes in the movie. Then, the audience enjoyed a free screening of the film with fresh-popped popcorn, courtesy of the UB Students Events Board.

Jacques-Louis David’s painting of King Leonidas hangs in the Louvre, Paris (click to enlarge).

Dr. Hudgins’ New Book

Photography, World War I, and Gender History combine in Dr. Hudgins’ new book, out this month as an open access pdf here: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/5016.

The book, entitled, Hold Still, Madame: Wartime Gender and the Photography of Women in France during the Great War, uses army photographs, magazine illustrations, and postcards to discuss how women in France were represented during the First World War. The volume is fully illustrated and free to all.

Next up for Dr. Hudgins will be a new book proposal on the broader topic of early photography and gender.

Here a commercial photographer captured women and children on the steps of a workshop for unemployed women during World War I. The image (1917) would be made available for use by the press. BNF/Gallica.

Dr. Francesca Gamber Wins UB’s Fund for Excellence Grant

History adjunct faculty member Francesca Gamber just received news that her grant proposal to create a 2-year survey of African-American history courses in the Division of Legal, Ethical and Historical Studies has received funding for $10,000. Gamber, who has taught African-American women’s history several times in the division, will begin this new cycle of courses in the fall of 2015. The first two courses will present a general survey of African-American history, and the courses in the following academic year (2016-2017) will offer more culturally-oriented, upper-level courses. All four of Dr. Gamber’s courses will be taught in the online format, in order to give UB students maximum flexibility. But at the same time, she is planning several “real-world” opportunities for students, and hopes to collaborate with other history faculty in the division. Dr. Hudgins, who assisted with the grant proposal, wishes to thank Dean Bryan and the Fund for Excellence Committee for making this exciting opportunity possible!

Interested in online history courses? No need to wait for 2015. Dr. Gamber is also teaching history online this fall for UB. Look for her name in the course schedule for Fall 2014.

Francesca Gamber also coordinates internships for students in the Baltimore City Public School system. She may be reached at fgamber@ubalt.edu

History Alum Receives Scholarships for Graduate School

June 26, 2014UncategorizedalumniNicole Hudgins

History Major Tony J. Johnson (YGCAS 2013) has received Maryland Senatorial and Delegate scholarships to pursue his graduate studies in Public Administration. Tony will start graduate school right here at UB in the fall, across the street in the College of Public Affairs.

Information for how to apply for a Senatorial or Delegate Scholarship is available online here. Good luck with your studies, Tony!

History Alumna Profiled in the Baltimore Social Innovation Journal

Ms. Natasha Jones (UB class of 2011) gave a shout out to the UB History program in a recent magazine feature about her work in public history. Jones, a digitization specialist for the Johns Hopkins University’s Sheridan Libraries, hopes to create an online database of information about Baltimore’s public art treasures. Ultimately, she hopes that locals and visitors alike will be able to use their smartphones to enjoy public-art walking tours, discovering the history behind the murals, statues, monuments, and contemporary installation along the way. We’re always happy to hear from our history alumni, so let us know what you’ve been up to by emailing the program director, Nicole Hudgins, at nhudgins@ubalt.edu.

Why is there a statue of Martin Luther at Lake Montebello?

Dr. Hudgins’ Summer Session Students Discuss Modern Art at the BMA

June 19, 2014UncategorizedeventsNicole Hudgins

Students in Professor Hudgins’ IDIS 301 World Cultures course headed to the Baltimore Museum of Art on Wednesday to enjoy a docent-led tour of the famous Cone Collection of Modern European art. We discussed the aesthetic and historical connections between Cézanne, Matisse, Monet, and other French artists of the late 19th and early 20th century. The BMA displays pictures by all of those artists, along with Picasso, Gauguin, Degas, and more. The tour is part of Professor Hudgins’ course on France this summer, which focuses on history, art, literature, and food.

Baltimore_Museum_of_Art_entrance — The BMA is open Wed.-Sun. and is free to enter.

Dr. Thomas Carney Returns from his Research Trip to England

Professor Carney’s research on Irish immigration to Ohio led him to the archives in Birmingham, England, where many Irish migrants journeyed in the nineteenth century. Dr. Carney has determined that some U.S.-bound immigrants stopped in England for work before continuing across the Atlantic. He looked at all sorts of letters, ledgers, and census documents while in England in May. The good news is that he finished the research he needed to do there for his next book. The bad news is that he broke his ankle while away! History students can send their greetings while he recovers to tcarney@ubalt.edu.

Below is a Belle Epoque advertisement for Cadbury chocolate — established and made in Birmingham. Click to enlarge.

Through the Wire

UB History Program News