Caliva Smart presents paper at Goddess at the Crossing Place

 

Over midterm break, Dr. Kathryn Caliva Smart, assistant professor of History, presented a paper at The Goddess at the Crossing Place, a conference hosted by the Department of Humanities at Marshall University. 

Caliva Smart joined a program of international scholars from across disciplines to discuss the role of goddesses in ancient and modern societies. In her paper, "Speaking as a Woman: Authority and Magic from Hecate to #WitchTok," she explored the question of how women use authoritative speech as part of magical practice, following this thread from the goddess Hecate in ancient Greek poetry to the on-screen witch Willow from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to content creators on TikTok. 

Conference/program link: https://www.marshall.edu/humanities/150th/

More details on Civil War Bus Trip

 Have you ever wanted to visit Gettysburg?

 The History Department is sponsoring a field trip to three Civil War battlefields next month: Gettysburg, Antietam, and Harpers Ferry. The trip will depart on the afternoon of Friday, April 4 and return Sunday night, April 6. The cost is only $340 + meals.

 

This bus trip is associated with History 320: The Civil War and Reconstruction, taught by Drs. Phil Payne and Chris Mackowski, but is open to all members of the SBU community.

 

On Friday, we'll leave Bonas around noonish (the bus company will let us know). We'll stop for a fast-food dinner along the way, then we'll arrive in Harrisburg, PA, to sit in on a meeting of the Harrisburg Civil War Roundtable for a talk that evening about Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs. From there, we'll head to Gettysburg to check in.

 

Saturday, we'll spend the day touring the battlefield, arguably the most famous historical landscape in America. We’ll go through the museum at the Visitor Center, and later in the evening, we’ll have special after-hours, behind-the-scenes access for a program at the Gettysburg Cyclorama, a building-sized painting that depicts part of the battle and served as the IMAX movie of its day.

 

On Sunday, we'll head down to Harpers Ferry to explore. This is where John Brown conducted a raid that become one of the key events in the lead-up to the Civil War. It was also home to the Niagara Movement, an early precursor to the Civil Rights movement. Plus, the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers is so beautiful that Thomas Jefferson said, “This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.”

 

We'll grab lunch, then head to Antietam for the afternoon where Licensed Battlefield Guide Kevin Pawlak will show us around. Antietam was the site of the single-bloodiest day in American history, with nearly 23,000 casualties. It was also the birthplace of photojournalism, where the first images were captured in the immediate wake of battle, stunning America.

 

We'll head back to campus around 5:00 p.m., which will be about a 5-hour drive, with a quick dinner on the way.

 

For more information, or for a link to sign up, email Dr. Phil Payne at ppayne@sbu.edu or Dr. Chris Mackowski at cmackows@sbu.edu. Registration deadline is Friday, March 21.

 

Special thanks to the Jandoli School of Communication and Emerging Civil War for helping make the trip possible!

 

Thinking about Black History Month

February is Black History Month, and it's a great time to think about the contributions and achievements of Black Americans. As we know, the history of our country is complicated by the legacy of slavery and racial divisions. Understanding the experiences of those who have lived and suffered through this pain, I believe, gives us a greater appreciation of how to respect others and work out the problems we've inherited.

One of our recently graduated History majors, Natalie Merrill, who is now a graduate student in Education, has written a short piece for the blog, Her Campus. It highlights some of the research she did on the troubled past and challenges of Buffalo's black community. It also reminds us that there are pressing issues to keep in mind and ways we can move forward. 

Here's the link: The City of Segregated Neighbors

Details of the Civil War Trip

 

Friday April 4

Departs from campus via a bus between noon and 1 p.m. for Harrisburg, PA. That evening you can join the Harrisburg Civil War Roundtable . Chris Mackowski will give a talk on Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs.

Saturday April 5

Tour of the Gettysburg National Military Park with the museum and  behind the scenes tour of the cyclorama depicting the battle. The American Battlefield Trust has an animated map of the battle that will help you understand the lay of the land. The battlefield and museum are both large so spending an the day is appropriate.

Sunday April 6

Sunday morning we will depart for Harpers Ferry, featuring the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park - the site of John Brown's Raid and numerous battles.

After lunch we will visit the Antietam National Battlefield. This is one of the critical battles of the war. The American Battlefield Trust has an over of the battle on YouTube. Around 5 p.m. we will depart to return to campus. 

If you are interested email Phillip Payne (ppayne@sbu.edu) or Chris Mackowski (cmackows@sbu.edu). 

Civil War Field Trip Associated with New Class

Chris Mackowski, of the Jandoli School of Communications, and Phillip Payne, professor of history, are team teaching History 320: The Civil War and Reconstruction.  This is the first time the Civil War and Reconstruction has been taught at SBU in around 20 years. We're excited to do this and experimenting with collaborative ways to teach history. 

Taking advantage of his work with the Emerging Civil War (Dr. Mackowski is the co-founder and Editor and Chief) and the American Battlefield Trust, he has arranged a series of guest speakers bringing a real depth and breadth of expertise to the class. 

Students in the class, and members of the university community, are invited to join a field trip to tour Gettysburg, Antietam and Harpers Ferry on April 4 - 7. If you are interested contact either Chris Mackowski or Phillip Payne for cost and details.

Phillip Payne chairs panel on civics education

 

Phillip Payne chaired the session “Citizens: the Past, Present, and Future of History and Civics Education. American Historical Association, New York City: January 3 – 6, 2025. The panelist represented faculty from education and history discussed the relationship between history and civics education in k-12 and higher education. 

Phillip Payne on panel examining the 2024 election

 

St. Bonaventure faculty will discuss presidential election on TV and radio this weekend

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., Oct. 30, 2024 — Buffalo Toronto Public Media will broadcast a forum that features St. Bonaventure University faculty unpacking the issues in the presidential election.

 The 90-minute program will air on WNED-TV, a PBS member television station in Buffalo, on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 5 p.m. and 88.7 FM WBFO Monday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m.

 

“This program was a tremendous collaborative effort among students, faculty, staff and alumni,” said Aaron Chimbel, dean of the Jandoli School of Communication. “I am proud of the efforts of everyone involved to produce a timely and important discussion of the issues at stake in the election, and I appreciate our local public media making this engaging broadcast available to a wider audience.”

 

The forum, “Policy Palooza at SBU: How the Presidential Election Will Affect the Lives of Today’s College Students,” was recorded on Tuesday, Oct. 22, on the St. Bonaventure campus.

Jandoli School Professor Richard Lee, a former political reporter and press secretary, and student Sydney Labayewski, an SBU-TV news anchor and reporter, moderated the session. Panelists included several St. Bonaventure faculty members, as well as SBU alumnus Bob McCarthy, ’76, a veteran political reporter and analyst.

 

Lee and Jandoli School faculty member Scott Sackett worked as partners to develop and produce the program.

 

“Our goal was to bring together journalists, policy experts, students and the university community for insightful conversations,” Lee said.

 

Panelists discussed the economy, health care, foreign policy, immigration, cybersecurity and other issues. St. Bonaventure students staffed the production.

 

“I’ve heard from many of my students that they don’t follow news or politics, and I wondered whether giving them a safe space for civil discourse might change how they feel,” Sackett said. “I was inspired by ‘Firing Line,’ ‘The McLaughlin Group’ and ‘Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals’ — the current affairs programs I enjoyed watching when I was their age.”

 

The project was funded by the Jandoli School and by a grant from the Leo E. Keenan Jr. Faculty Development Endowment at St. Bonaventure.

 

 

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).