Dear Alumni, Students, Colleagues, and Friends,
I hope all of you are enjoying a wonderful start to the summer. Over the past academic year of 2023-2024, our department has seen great accomplishments and successes. From our critically acclaimed research to an acknowledgement from the university of our department’s student community, we all have much to be proud of.
This year, our department is celebrating a special anniversary. Twenty-five years ago, Tom and Judy Ward followed their love of history and decided to create the Ward Family Prize for Public History. The award is an endowed prize, so the fund is self-sustaining, guaranteeing that generations of CU Denver students will be able to ask important questions about how communities collectively commemorate the past. In creating the prize, Tom and Judy have laid the foundation for great careers in Public History. Indeed, most awardees have gone on to make great contributions to Public History. Last year, for example, the prize went to Robin Sherman, who has been Curator for the Historic Lucknow Mansion at Castle in the Clouds in Vermont since 2018. For all their support, our department warmly thanks Tom and Judy Ward for their generosity, which has changed our students’ lives.
We also celebrate our the great achievements of our faculty. Our department extends its warmest congratulations to Professor Dale Stahl, who was conferred tenure with promotion. This is the culmination of years of preparation and hard work. Additionally, Professor Rachel Gross has published not one but two books: Shopping All the Way to the Woods, published by Yale University Press and glowingly reviewed, and her co-edited volume Big Box USA. It has been a banner year indeed in the History Department. For more information of faculty publications and research, see the note in this newsletter. Many congratulations to both Rachel and Dale!
This has also been a great year for our department’s student community. The National History Honors Society, Phi Alpha Theta, has seen record enrollment and it is easy to see why. Under the society’s dynamic student leadership, and with the support of faculty advisor Dr. Kariann Yokota, Phi Alpha Theta has held a series of community events, movie nights, and writing workshops. This has brought tremendous life to our hallways, and it sends the most important message of all: life as a student should not be a solitary endeavor, and so much more can be learned in community with others. In particular, the great community-building efforts of this year’s President of Phi Alpha Theta, Bri Matson, were recognized by the University when she won a student service award this past Spring. Congratulations, Bri!
We extend our warm congratulations to all of our graduating MA and BA students. We have all enjoyed working with you. Know that we are here to support you as you move forward!
All best wishes,
Ryan Crewe
Associate Professor and Chair