The history department has had an exciting and productive year. The academic year began in August of 2024 with the appointment of a new professor and chair, Brian Craig Miller, and a new assistant professor, Jessica Robkin. The department also welcomed a new history instructor, Ashley Moreshead.
Throughout the year, the department hosted several events, including the annual Jerrel H. Shofner Lecture, presented by Andrew Frank of Florida State University, a series of events surrounding Veterans Day, the John T. Washington lecture presented by UCF College of Arts and Humanities Executive Associate Dean Lyman Brodie and the Pauley lecture delivered by Serhii Plokhii who serves as professor and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. The department hosted History Harvests in DeBary and Apopka and a Veterans Story Day with local VFW Post #5405. At UCF Celebrates the Arts in April, faculty in the department hosted two events including an exploration of entrepreneurship in Parramore and the experiences of Jews in Europe, which coincided with Theatre UCF’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. We also hosted CIA Chief Historian David Robarge and walking tours of campus, Jonestown and Greenwood Cemetery.
The department continues to remain active with campus and community engagement through multiple public history initiatives. The department continues to support the UCF Community Veterans History Project and the Florida France Solider Stories Project. Several events tied to both initiations, including story days, the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony, a veterans voices panel and the annual salute on Memory Mall prior to Veteran’s Day. RICHES continues its work in exploring the hidden history of Florida through digital history and PRINT (People, Religion, Information Networks and Travel) expanded its collection of primary sources through the second year of a three-year grant. The department continues to support explorations of Eatonville and supporting various podcasts on the history of Florida.
Our faculty has had an extremely productive year. We have published 4 books, 23 articles, presented at over 45 international, national and state history conferences and delivered dozens of public lectures in and around Florida and at other universities across the country. Our faculty have also been heavily involved in designing public history exhibits, including one showcased during UCF Celebrates the Arts. Of note, Tadashi Ishikawa published his first book from Cambridge University Press entitled Geographies of Gender: Family and Law in Imperial Japan and Colonial Taiwan.
John Sacher, who delivered a public lecture on Constitution Day about the history of the electoral college, also authored a corresponding article that received widespread reading beyond the UCF campus. Additionally, Luis Martinez-Fernandez published a significant exploration of Pablo Casalas with the Kennedy Center Pablo Casals and the Hymn to the United Nations. Several of our faculty, including James Clark, Amy Foster, Duncan Hardy and David Head, have been quoted in local, national and international news stories seeking historical context for the latest events taking place around the globe, from the history of popes to changes at NASA. John Sacher and James Clark routinely appeared on Fox 35 Orlando and CBS 9 in Orlando to discuss the presidential election of 2024. Hakan Ozoglu served as a keynote speaker for the Middle East Insights Platform that was part of the Israel-Palestine lecture series.
Other noteworthy accomplishments include Luis Martinez-Fernandez being named a finalist for an International Latino Book Award. Within the American Society of Overseas Research, Jessica Robkin was named to the Cultural Heritage Committee and Tiffany Earley-Spadoni received a Membership Service Award. Professor Earley-Spadoni also had her research explored in a UCF today article that looked at the National Science Foundation research done in Iraq that explores the hidden history of Mesopotamia and was invited to serve on a Digital History Working Group with the American Historical Association. Amanda Snyder received a special commendation for her work in expanding undergraduate research opportunities in the College of Arts and Humanities at UCF. Patricia Farless received a UCF Fellowship for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Open Pedagogy Faculty Fellowship. Congratulations to Ken Hanson, whose educational game, The Siege of Jerusalem: Another Story, was a finalist for the 2024 Serious Games Showcase and Challenge.
At the Spring Florida Historical Society Annual Public Forum, Connie Lester received the Marinus Latour Presidential Citation for recognizing service promoting or expanding knowledge of Florida History. Andrew Kishui, a recent MA graduate, received the Governor LeRoy Collins Award for outstanding graduate thesis. Speaking of our students, the UCF History Online BA program continues its top ranking in the country by University HQ. Graduate student Sebastian Garcia was inducted into the Order of Pegasus at UCF, marking the highest honor given to a student. Our graduate students continue to remain a productive group, as they took part in 13 different conference presentations, including the Florida Historical Society annual conference, the American Historical Association meeting in New York City, and the National Council on Public History in Montreal, Canada. For our undergraduate students, we awarded several departmental scholarships, and our student interns presented their project findings at the annual internship showcase that is hosted online at the end of the semester.
