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History Graduate Students' Association
GOALS
The goals and purposes of the organization are to assist in the professional development of graduate students enrolled in the history department of Wayne State University; build a more cohesive, friendly and social sense of community; and to discuss and address issues, concerns, and opportunities. The organization will carry out these goals by organizing, arranging and/or sponsoring colloquia, workshops, brown bag lectures, conferences, dissertation/theses writing groups, tours of area cultural institutions, social events, and other related programs for its members. The organization will also facilitate firmer ties between current students and alumni of the history program.
Outside of the regularly-scheduled monthly meetings, the HGSA hosts a variety of events, including historically-based movies, workshops, and dissertation writing groups. The purpose of these events is to share insights about the history program, instill a sense of trust between students experiencing similar challenges and, quite simply, have a good time.
ADVICE
These goals and objectives cover a wide and diverse range of activities. As a result, we encourage the organization's officers and other active members to refrain from taking on more organizational work than they can handle. Wayne State University, after all, is a commuter university whose students often hold down full-time jobs, families and are often unable to be as involved in student organizations as those in more traditional colleges.
Before the fall 2008 semester began, the officers had a conference call and instead of meeting at a predetermined place, we scheduled this meeting by using the services of freeconferencecall.com, which is a simple, easy-to-use service. With schedules and the price of gas being the way they are these days, a conference call was a good way to meet without expending more time and resources than we could afford.
We also advise that students see their work within the organization as something that will actually help them get through the program and pave the way to employment as opposed to taking away from time they need to spend elsewhere. The dissertation writing groups are examples of an effort that can actually help doctoral students complete their program. The proposed conference, likewise, can simultaneously provide students with an opportunity to present their research while imparting to those same students insights about planning for a career in the field.
HGSA Officers
- Joelle Del Rose, President
- Edmund LaClair, Co-Vice President of Education
- Maria Spencer Wendeln, Co-Vice President of Education
- Beth Fowler, Vice President for Social Affairs
- Amy Holtman French, Vice President of Administration
- Jaclyn Kinney, Recording Secretary
- Elizabeth Ryan, Treasurer
MENTORING
The HGSA sponsors a peer mentoring program to unite students who have similar fields of study. Mentors share their experiences and facilitate program success. If you would like to find a mentor in your field, or would like to mentor one of your peers-contact Amy Holtman French, au1251@wayne.edu or Maria Wendeln, an1204@wayne.edu.
UPCOMING EVENTS
- September 22, 2009: First meeting of HGSA Breakfast Club, 8:30 AM at Campus Grill on Cass Avenue.
- October 1, 2009: Brown Bag Colloquium, Amy Holtman French and Louis Jones presenting, Noon - 12:50 PM, Bonner Room.
PAST EVENTS
During the 2008-2009 academic year the HGSA also organized a number of educational and social events, including a half-day Professional Development Workshop, several brown bag paper colloquia, monthly meet and greets at Circa 1890's Saloon, lectures and tours at the Freer House, library systems presentations, and a midtown historical walking tour. In addition the HGSA began publication of its monthly newsletter, Common Sense, providing a forum for History graduate student news.
- Winter 2009 Brown Bag Colloquium
- 3 March 2009
- Kim Dyer, "Gender and Its Relationship to Power in Merovingian Hagiography"
- Natalie Kohout, " Leprosy and Christianity - From Late Antiquity Through the Early medieval Period"
- 16 April 2009
- Joelle Del Rose, "Primers for Prurience: The Sexual Knowledge Library of the Victorian Middle Class Women"
- Beth Fowler, "Fade to Black: Black Rock and Roll Artists and Segregated Audiences in the American South"
- Caitlyn Perry, "One of the Guise: The Female Sailor and Laboring at Sea, 1700-1820"
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