UC History Blog

Welcome Back Dr. McGee!

By: Alberto Jones

Professor Holly McGee recently returned from seven months in South Africa where she led the History Department’s first study abroad trip to the continent and then stayed on to conduct research on her current book, a study of Black women's activism in South Africa during the Apartheid era.

The History Blog had the opportunity last week to sit down with Professor McGee and learn a little bit more about her experience:

History Blog: Where did you go in South Africa with your class? Did you do your research in the same places?

Dr. Holly McGee: During our study abroad course, we spent a month traveling all over South Africa, with stops in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, and Pietermaritzburg. In July when I switched to working full-time on my manuscript project, I relocated to Lesotho for an additional 5 ½ months where I lived in a small town named Roma.

HB: Why South Africa? And what was it that drew you to take students there?

HM: One of my areas of research is South African history, and I’m really excited to be able to open up international work and travel as a viable study option for UC students, and History majors, too, of course!

HB: What did you and the students do during your month together in South Africa?

HM: The study abroad course was an intensive historical, cultural, and linguistic immersion program. Students were able to learn Zulu, live with local families, and get a real—rather than tourist-like—taste of South Africa.

HB: That sounds amazing. What are some of your most memorable moments?

HM: I convinced a number of friends and family members to make a small financial donation, and prior to leaving Lesotho was able to purchase 43 pairs of shoes and 20 outfits for children on their first day of school. It felt great making the drop-off at the local orphanage!

HB: What was one of your most memorable moments with your students?

HM: One of my favorite moments from the trip were those when I realized students had really embraced a sense of international independence. There were numerous occasions where students had the opportunity to get out and really experience South Africa without my direct supervision, and to know that they felt comfortable, safe, and secure enough to do so was really gratifying. This particular image is of a day that two students—Shameka Neely and Cierra Carter—decided to take an independent, half-day trip to Soweto. The ladies had a wonderful time visiting the city with a former resident, and even had an opportunity to visit Nelson Mandela’s home!

HB: What is something new that you learned about South African culture?

HM: Having spent years travelling back and forth to South Africa, I’m always amazed at the diversity of the country – there are so many peoples speaking very different languages there living so close together. It's the kind of thing that never fails to affect me. That and fashion. One man’s blanket is another man’s Sunday’s best...

HB: Lastly, what would you say to students thinking about a trip or a study abroad opportunity in Africa. We usually hear about study tours in Europe, sometimes Asia or Central and South America, but Africa less so. What’s your view?

HM: I would absolutely encourage everyone to travel to the continent of Africa. After all, it's the cradle of civilization.

To learn more about Professor Holly McGee or the History Department, visit our webpage :http://www.artsci.uc.edu/departments/history/byDeptMembers.html?eid=mcgeehy&thecomp=uceprof

Wrote by UC History Department

Dr. Zalar Lead 18 Students to Paris, London, and Normandy

By: Alberto Jones

In December students from UC stood on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, where 71 years ago the D-Day invasion occurred.
The honors history course “A Global History of World War II” gave them this opportunity.
The course taught students about the war with emphases on its comprehensive impact not only on the battlefield but also on the intellectual, cultural, and political life of belligerent states. Among the most important of these states were Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan and the United States.
To engage students the seminar included text-based discussions, theater and play acting, debates, art analysis, and other active learning exercises.
The course culminated with a study tour of London, Paris, and Normandy. Here students enjoyed a more personal encounter with locations and artifacts to grasp a better understanding of them.

Dr. Jeff Zalar, assistant professor of Modern German History, taught the course.
According to Zalar, the seminar is important to teach, because The Second World War endures in the minds of contemporaries today.
“The war is alive. Its impact is everywhere, including in popular entertainment. Understanding our world requires a serious academic introduction to the war and its consequences.”

Mikala Stokes, a second-year History major, participated in the course.
“I have always been interested in WWII. Both of my grandfathers served,” said Stokes.
Stokes initially found the seminar to be challenging, but later realized that the knowledge she attained would have an impact.
“From this course, I gained some awareness of mankind’s capacity for both stunning valor and abysmal destruction,” said Stokes.
The study tour was the first time Stokes travelled out of the country. It was significant to her to walk on Omaha Beach.
“This was an awesome and emotional experience, because I got to retrace some of the steps that my grandfather took over 70 years ago. He was part of the Normandy Invasion at the end of WWII,” said Stokes.

Natalie Pfister, whose son Trenton also participated in the seminar, commended Dr. Zalar and the course in a letter to the Director of the University Honors Program.
“Dr. Zalar and this course is a shining example of honors education; a course which leaves a student with deep understanding of a subject,” said Pfister.
Based on her son’s experience, Pfister highly recommends the course.
“The combination of intellectual understanding, along with the experience of visiting the major sites gave our son insight and perspective that comes from high-caliber honors experiences,” said Pfister.
Debbie Brawn, Director of the University Honors Program, also commended Dr. Zalar on his teaching.
The vision of the University Honors Program is that students become global citizen-scholars who lead innovative efforts toward solving the world’s complex problems, according to Brawn.
“The transformational approach that Dr. Zalar takes to teaching brings this vision to life, offering a life-changing learning experience that challenges students to think about themselves as leaders in a global context,” said Brawn.

These praises led to a commendation from University President Santa J. Ono, too.

Wrote by UC History Department

This year’s Von Rosenstiel Lecture will be delivered by Professor Mark Mazower, currently Ira

D. Wallach Professor of History, Department Chair, and Director of the Heyman Center for the

Humanities at Columbia University.

Professor Mazower is one of the most accomplished historians working in the academy today.

The author of numerous prize-winning books and a frequent commentator on the historical

context shaping contemporary affairs, Professor Mazower’s work has long been focused on

some of the defining issues of modern times: the making of empires and nations, the causes of

war and peace, and the grand as well as anonymous work of governments and individuals to

define and expand their rights as citizens and participants in an increasingly global society. For

more on Professor Mazower’s many books and accomplishments, see his faculty web page at

Columbia: http://history.columbia.edu/faculty/Mazower.html

Dr. Mark Mazower

Trained as a historian of modern Greece and the Balkans, Professor Mazower’s interests

are far-reaching, and his current work places him very much at the forefront of trends in

international history, including his latest book, Governing the World: The History of An Idea

(Penguin, 2012), which offers a provocative interpretation of the ways in which individuals and

nations have helped shape the dream and reality of global governance from the 19th

the present.

During his visit to UC, Professor Mazower will deliver the Von Rosenstiel Lecture and host a

special session devoted to discussing Governing the World. Both events are free and open to

the public.

Thursday, February 27th

The Annual Von Rosenstiel Lecture

The Greek War for Independence in Global Perspective

Reception to follow

Friday, February 28th, 9:30-11:30 AM in 417 TUC

Book Seminar

Governing the World: The History of an Idea

4 PM at the Taft Research Center, Ground Floor, Edwards One

It is an honor for UC to host Professor Mazower for this visit. We are grateful to the Von

Rosenstiel family and to the memory of Mr. Werner E. Von Rosenstiel for their generosity in

creating the endowment that allows us to invite such eminent scholars to campus. The History

Department also expresses thanks to the UC Classics, Political Science, and Judaic Studies

Departments, the UC European Studies Program, the Morgan Center for Human Rights at the

College of Law, UC Amnesty International, the UC History Club, the Human Rights Taft Research

Group, and the Global Studies Taft Research Group for the funding and assistance.

for more information concerning the Annual Von Rosenstiel Lecture and related events, please

contact the Professor Ethan Katz of the UC History Department at ethan.katz@uc.edu\

2013-2014 Von Rosenstiel Lecture

Wrote by UC History Department

Mark Mazower, of Columbia University, will be at UC on Thursday and Friday, February 27-28. He will give a public lecture at 4 on Thursday entitled "The Greek War for Independence in Global Perspective" and this will take place in the Taft Research Center at One Edwards. There will also be a book seminar on his latest book Governing the World: The History of an Idea from 9:30-11:30 (after meeting with students at 9) on Friday. The book seminar will be in the VR room. There will be copies of the book available soon for the book seminar; all three graduate lit seminars are reading the book this semester and will be participating in the seminar, which should make for a lively gathering. Ethan Katz and Steve Porter have arranged this visit.

Deborah Cohen, of Northwestern University, Sunday and Monday, March 2-3. Professor Maura O'Conner will have a reception at her home for Deborah on Sunday at 4 and she will participate in Professor Kwan and Professor O'Connor's combined seminar on Monday March 3 at 3:30 in 475 Langsam with History 3000 students who are reading her latest book Family Secrets: Shame and Privacy in Modern Britain. Earlier in the day, Jason Krupar, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Professor O'Connor will organize a pizza lunch for undergrad majors and minors, grad students and faculty.

Kate Brown, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will deliver a lecture on her new book Plutopia, on Tuesday March 4 from 2-3:15, room to be announced. Department Head Willard Sunderland has helped to arrange for this visit.

Vanessa Schwartz, of the University of Southern California, will deliver the plenary lecture at this year's annual QCC held in the Taft Research Center on Friday, 11 April. The lecture takes place at 12:30 and Schwartz's paper is entitled "Obsolescence, Technology and The Aesthetic of Expendability at the Dawn of the Jet Age." The graduate students, especially Vanessa de los Reyes and the QCC committee, have arranged for this visit.

Wrote by UC History Department

HIST 1099 001: Pregnancy, Birth, and Health: Sociological and Historical Perspectives on Reproduction

T 2:00-4:40 PM

This UC Forward Freshman Seminar will integrate historical and sociological readings on women's health with community action through service learning. Consistent with the aims of Medical Humanities, students will study the historical, social, and political issues surrounding reproductive issues - namely, childbirth, pregnancy, midwifery, prematurity, pregnancy loss and infant mortality, adoption, abortion, infertility, and birth control. We will pay special attention to differences of gender, race, and class. Students will be invited to reflect on course material through in-class exercises and assignments that develop writing skills and critical thinking. In addition, in order to fulfill the service-learning component, students will work in groups to build strategies and provide evidence-based resources for local Cincinnati advocacy organizations.

HIST 1099 002: Cold War and Atomic Tourism

MWF 1:25-2:20 PM

This seminar course will consider the establishment of the American Cold War nuclear weapons complex, the cultural, economic, environmental, and political ramifications of building this arsenal, and the recent efforts to memorialize and preserve the history of the complex. The class will specifically consider the nuclear weapons sites in the Ohio River Valley and the wide array of efforts to either save historical sites or to erase them from public memory.

HIST 1099 003: Gender and Politics in the “New” South Africa

TR 11:00 AM-12:20 PM

This course will review the place of women in the social, cultural, and political development of South Africa during the twentieth century. In addition to learning the major events in South African history and why they continue to be important in the lives of South African women today, we will consider aspects of the post-1994 society that should cause us to question the extent of “change” in the nation following Apartheid. This course is predominantly concerned with whether or not women have unique social and political needs in the “new” South Africa, and how/if those needs are being met in contemporary society.

Wrote by UC History Department

Dr. Zalar Lead 18 Students to Paris, London, and Normandy

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