Alana Siock and James McKane Present at Wyoming Valley Undergraduate History Conference

Allie Siock and James McKane, recently attended the Wyoming Valley Undergraduate History Conference at Wilkes University. The paper they presented was titled “The Jesuit Takeover of the University of Scranton.” Allie and James worked on this paper in the fall, in History 190, Dr. Levy’s Digital History class.

Allie and James were very grateful for this experience. They noted: “This was our first involvement at the college level presenting anything of this magnitude. The feedback we received from professors, historians, and fellow students was truly overwhelmingly positive. The Wyoming Valley Undergraduate History Conference was unforgettable for us and is just the start of a long road of presentations we both hold in store”.

Kudos to Allie and James for a job well done!

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American Historical Association Panel Discussion

Kudos to University of Scranton History faculty and alumni that just participated in a panel discussion at the recent American Historical Association Annual Conference which took place January 4-7th in Washington, DC.

Sex, Marriage, and Family in Catholic Europe

Chair:    Robert Shaffern, University of Scranton

Papers:  I Fall to Pieces: Leprosy, Marriage, and Rights in Medieval Cannon Law

                Brandon Parlopiano, Loyola University Maryland 

                Indulgences and the World’s Oldest Profession

                Robert Shaffern , University of Scranton

                Italian Catholics Confront Divorce, 1954-74

                Roy Domenico, Society for Italian Historical Studies

                Anatomy, Anima, and Imago Dei in Early Modern Discussions of Adam and Eve

                Tricia Ross, Duke University

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Dr. Shuhua Fan Appointed to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs

Congratulations to Dr. Shuhua Fan who was sworn in as a member of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs this past Monday.

The Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, which was created by Executive Order and consists of volunteer members, is responsible for advising the governor on policies, procedures, legislation, and regulations that affect the AAPI communities; develop, review and recommend to the governor policies in the area of health and human services, housing, education, employment, business formation and other relevant areas; provide appropriate assistance and advice to state agencies, including the Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Authority, and work with the Bureau of Workforce Planning, Development, and Equal Employment Opportunity within the Office of Human Resources and Management in the Governor’s Office of Administration to strengthen the enforcement of the commonwealth’s anti-discriminatory hiring, retention and promotion policies; serves as a liaison to federal, state, and local agencies to ensure that programs affecting AAPIs are effectively utilized and promoted; serve as a resource for community groups and provide forums for developing strategies and programs that will expand and enhance the civic, social, educational, cultural, and economic status of AAPI communities; identify programs, scholarships, mentoring programs, sources of funding or other resources for the benefit and advancement of AAPIs; and promote the cultural arts of the AAPI communities throughout the commonwealth.

 

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Dr. Adam Pratt on Andrew Jackson in the Age of Donald Trump

  • Since January 2017 when President Donald J. Trump placed a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office, his supporters lavished praise on our seventh president while Trump detractors defamed him. How accurate are either of these portrayals? Dr. Adam Pratt addressed how Jackson approached the presidency and the Constitution and offered a consideration of what it means for a 21st century president to appropriate his legacy at the Schemel Forum’s University for a Day this past September.
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Dr. Lawrence Kennedy publishes new work on “Bricklayer Bill”

Along with his son Patrick, Dr. Lawrence Kennedy has recently finished work on his most recent book, Bricklayer Bill: The Untold Story of the Workingman’s Boston Marathon. The book traces the experience of Irish American “Bricklayer Bill” Kennedy won the Boston Marathon wearing his stars-and-stripes bandana, just weeks after the United States entered World War I, rallying the crowd of patriotic spectators. Kennedy became an American hero and, with outrageous stories of his riding the rails and sleeping on pool tables, a racing legend whose name has since appeared in almost every book written on the Boston Marathon.

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Dr. Susan Poulson on Going Co-Ed

Dr. Susan Poulson was recently featured in an article in The Atlantic about “What Girl Scouts Can Learn from Women’s Colleges.”  Dr. Poulson co-editor of Going Coed: Women’s Experiences in Formerly Men’s Colleges and Universities, 1950-2000, offered her perspective on what the recent move by the Boy Scout to admit girls might mean for the future of the Girl Scouts.

 

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Dr. Robert Shaffern helps to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation

On Tuesday, 26 September, University of Scranton professor of medieval history, Robert Shaffern Ph.D., delivered a lecture titled “Johan Tetzel and the Protestant Reformation.” The talk was organized by Phil Yevics and the Scranton-based ecumenical group, Christian Communities Gathering, as part of a series of lectures at the local Catholic universities commemorating the 500th anniversary of the genesis of the Protestant Reformation. The talk was co-sponsored by the Department of Theology/Religious Studies and the Catholic Studies program at the University of Scranton. Shaffern shared his research on the indulgence controversies of the Middle Ages and the role of the Dominican Preacher Johan Tetzel in provoking Martin Luther to go public with his protests against the practices of the Papacy.

 

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Senior History Major Maura Burns Wins Research Awards at Pennsylvania Historical Association Annual Conference

 

Congratulations to Senior History Major Maura Burns for earning 2nd place in the poster competition at the Pennsylvania Historical Association Annual Conference which was held October 12-14 at the Radisson Lackawanna Station in Scranton. Maura’s poster was the result of research completed during her Craft of the Historian course, under the direction of Dr. Aiala Levy, this past year. Burns’ poster drew on primary research at a variety of locations including the Lackawanna Historical Society, McDade Park Anthracite Museum, and the Lackawanna County Library System.  Her projects offered insight into the labor conditions faced by Scranton’s anthracite coal miners in the 19th and 20th centuries. Maura will also be donating her poster to the Lackawanna Historical Society, and is grateful to the society for their research assistance.  So noted that “they helped me tremendously when it came to finding primary sources”.  Maura’s poster will also appear in an upcoming issue of the Pennsylvania Historical Association magazine.  In addition to her History Major, Maura is minoring in Biology and plans to enroll in dental school in the fall.

 

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Department Picnic

At the start of senior week the History faculty and graduating seniors gathered at Dr. Dzurec’s house to celebrate the History and IS major’s accomplishments over the past four years.  Congratulations to the class of 2017!


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New Joint 3-3 Program with Villanova Law

A new affiliation between The University of Scranton and Villanova University School of Law will provide automatic admission and scholarship support to the law school for Scranton students who meet program requirements.

The agreement, which will take effect beginning with the 2017-18 academic year, allows Scranton students to earn a bachelor’s and juris doctor (JD) degree in six, rather than seven years, and provides a minimum scholarship of $25,000 per year while at Villanova, as long as the student remains in good standing.

To be eligible for guaranteed admission through this program, students must have completed 90 credits, 63 of which must be completed at Scranton, and have a grade-point-average (GPA) of 3.6 or higher and a LSAT score of 158 or higher, in addition to meeting other requirements. The agreement then allows for a maximum of 30 credits from the first year of law school to also count toward the final 30 credits of a bachelor’s degree at Scranton. The program is not compatible with all undergraduate majors at Scranton.

The agreement also allows for automatic admission to Villanova University School of Law for students who graduate from Scranton after four years as well, provided the student has at least a GPA of 3.6 and an LSAT score of 154, in addition to meeting other requirements. The agreement provides students with a minimum scholarship of $5,000 per year while attending law school, provided the student remains in good standing.

In the past four years, more than 150 Scranton graduates have received acceptance into more than 50 law schools throughout the United States, including to some of the country’s most prestigious law schools. Scranton has a Pre-Law Advisory Program, which helps students navigate the law school application process throughout their undergraduate years. The program also offers assistance to Scranton alumni who wish to apply to law school.

http://www.scranton.edu/news/royalnews/releases/2017/05/17/villanova-pre-law.shtml

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