Welcome Back!

Jeanne Petit

7 years ago

By Jeanne Petit

Welcome back to a new semester! We are getting the history department blog going again, and we look forward to sharing stories of our students, faculty, and alumni over the course of the academic year. In the meantime, I want to fill you in on how we faculty in the history department spend our summer.

You could find Hope history faculty all of the world this summer. In May, Dr. Janes and students explored art and history on the Paris May Term,

Lauren Janes with Prof. Heidi Kraus and their students in front of the Chateau de Versailles after a full-day bike tour.

and Dr. Johnson taught the history of the Vietnam War as part of the new Hope College Vietnam May Term.

Fred Johnson teaching students in Vietnam-War era bunker.

In June, Dr. Gibbs spent her 19th summer teaching students at the Vienna Summer School, Hope College Vienna Summer School, while Dr. Tseng attended conferences on missionary history in Liverpool, England, and New Haven, Connecticut.

Gloria Tseng a Yale Divinity School for the Yale-Edinburgh Group Meeting on History of Missionary Movement and World Christianity.

Back in Holland, Dr. Hagood led the Faith and Scholarship series while taking the reins as the new Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning. Dr. Albert Bell saw the publication of Fortune’s Fool, the sixth book in his Pliny the Younger mystery novel series.

Dr. Wayne Tan received a book contract from University of Michigan Press for his manuscript titled “Blindness in Japan: The Remarkable Histories of a Disability.” We can’t wait for the book to come out!

I had the privilege to work with a team of Hope history majors examining the history of World War I in Holland Michigan. Three students–Natalie Fulk, Avery Lowe, and Aine O’Connor–spent eight weeks digging into local archives and reading old newspapers, and put together a web exhibit that explores how this major global event transformed this small community on the shores of Lake Michigan. You can see it here: https://sites.google.com/hope.edu/holland-wwi/

There will be many great activities and speakers this year, so check out our colloquium website for upcoming events. Be sure to attend our first colloquium on Tuesday, September 5 in Room 100A in the Bultman Student Center (i.e. the Programming Area). Dr. Johnson and I will team up with colleagues in Art History and Sociology to participate in the Vox Populi panel: “The Confederacy in 2017: The Flag, the Memorials, the Controversy.”

Feel free to contact me if you would like to write a blog post for us!