April 1, 2019 at 8:30 pm

13th Annual Undergraduate History Conference, April 15-16

The Ohio University History Department invited the Ohio University and broader Athens community to the 13th Annual Undergraduate History Conference on Monday and Tuesday, April 15-16, 2019.

The conference opens on Monday, April 15, at 5 p.m. with a keynote lecture in Bentley Hall 215. Assistant Professor Victoria Lee will give a lecture on “The Birth of Oxygen (or, the Death of Dephlogisticated Air).”

Three panels of student presentations are scheduled for Tuesday, April 16, from 9 a.m. to 2:50 p.m., in Baker Center 231. The conference will conclude with a 3 p.m. awards ceremony, announcing this year’s inductees into the Phi Alpha Theta honor society as well as the 2019 winners of the Randolph Stone Historical Writing Contest and a variety of departmental scholarships and fellowships.

The History Department invites all members of the university community to come learn with them and support students in this initial foray into the historian’s profession.

Conference Program

Monday, April 15

5 p.m. (Bentley Hall 215)

Keynote Address: Lee on “The Birth of Oxygen (or, the Death of Dephlogisticated Air).”

Tuesday, April 16

9:00 – 10:20 a.m.: Panel 1
Narratives of Community and the Other, from Ancient to Modern Empires
Chair: Dr. Jaclyn Maxwell

Sydney Roberts Kempton, “Mythos in Ancient Egypt”
Austen Ferrier, “Roman and Punic Relations: An Examination of the Emerging Roman National Identity”
Marija Wilson, “Beyond the Field of Blackbirds: The Evolution of the Kosovo Myth, 1389-1826”
Kyle Driscoll, “The Birthright of Imperium: British Justifications of Roman and British Imperialism in the Early 20th Century”

10:30 – 11:50 a.m.: Panel 2
Social and Political Reform in Britain and the United States
Chair: Dr. Kevin Mattson

Bryan Allwine, “The Evolution of U.S. Army Special Forces”
Andrew Bovenzi, “William F. Buckley Jr. on Vietnam and Civilian Casualties”
Samantha Lamka, “Struggling to Understand Manson: An Analysis of Primary Sources”
Clayton Mercer, “The Effects of Nationalism on American Comic Books during World War II”

1:30 – 2:50 p.m.: Panel 3
The Changing Faces of Modern America
Chair: Dr. Brian Schoen

Reggie Musnuff, “Thomas Norton: Parliament Man or Puritan?”
Jessica Murnahan, “The Enduring and Elusive Electoral College: The Perfect Failure of American Democracy”
Miranda Christy, “Insanity in the Athens Asylum in the Age of American Asylum Reform”
Emma Heaton, “The Transformation of Care and Treatment

3 – 5:00 p.m.: Prizes, Awards, and Honors Announcements