The History Graduate Student Association (HGSA) sponsored a Roots of Contemporary Issues (RCI) conference.  Students with top research projects in History 105/305 from Fall semester were invited to present their research to current students and community members (including, naturally, moms and families). Prizes were awarded for the best papers, supported by the George & Bernadine Converse Historical Endowment. Presentations were well attended and inspired spirited discussion.  Members of our faculty volunteered their time to moderate and judge the panel discussions. The organization and mentoring for this event was led by HGSA, including Brian Stack, Jason Hogstad, Calen Rau, Karl Krotke-Crandal and Renee Torres.  Following is a summary of the event:

Best Overall Presentation

• Adam Whittier (Digital Technology and Culture, Tri-Cities), “A Vehicle for Change,” which discussed the automobile’s impact on twentieth-century American social structure.

“Best of Panel” winners

• Antony J. Randolph (Food Science and Human Nutrition), “The Impact of Oil on Azerbaijan during the Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century.”
• Adarrah Opachan (Business Administration), “The Systematic Oppression of the Modern Woman,” which focused on late nineteenth-century France.
• Precelia Derricks (Neuroscience, Psychology, and History triple major), “Israelis v. Palestinians: The Holocaust, Religion, and the Western World.”

Congratulations to the undergraduate students, as well as the graduate students who successfully organized this event. Finally, a warm thanks to all the faculty who volunteered:  Ken Faunce, Karen Phoenix, Charles Weller, Raymond Sun, and Lawrence Hatter.

The Department of History at Idaho State University (Pocatello) and the Chi Rho chapter of Phi Alpha Theta are pleased to announce the Second Annual Intermountain West History Conference, to be held at Idaho State University on September 30-October 1, 2016.  All students, undergraduate or graduate, are encouraged to submit abstracts by April 22, 2016 at http://intermountainwesthistory2016.blogspot.com/ 

North Idaho College is invitint students to the first annual Northwest Undergraduate Conference in the Humanities at North Idaho College in  Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on Saturday, November 5, 2016. The goal is to bring together junior scholars from all over the region to present their work in any area of the humanities.  See the Northwest Undergraduate Conference in the Humanities flier: https://www.nic.edu/uploads/Northwest%20Humanities%20Conference%20Flier.pdf.  An email list can be subscribed to for updates on this conference at http://nic.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0f5700bf69a921742b7839ac1&id=e16d72e98a.

Jason Hogstad was awarded the 2016 College of Arts and Sciences Master’s Student Achievement Award in the Humanities. Jason is an MA student who has finalized his thesis entitled “Splitting Hares: Eastern Oregon Pest Control and the Urban/Rural Divide, 1900-1925.”  He has also worked as a history educator at the High Desert Museum and with the WSU Athletics Department as a tutor.

Sikang Song was awarded the 2016 College of Arts and Sciences Doctorate Student Achievement Award in the Humanities.  He is an all-but-degree PhD Candidate working with former Asia Program Director, Dr. David Pietz. His research fields are Modern China, World History, and Global Environmental History.  His research focuses on the ecological, social, and cultural constructions of tobacco growing and tobacco industry in North China during the early twentieth century.