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Classroom Environment
Students and faculty working together analyzing historical documents from the Progressive Era to create posters promoting awareness of issues of the time. (left, below, left)
Using simulation, students demonstrate their understanding of American reform movements by presenting representative reform campaigns. (below, right) |
Student Work
Because career preparation is important to every student, history faculty at Avila aim to provide pre-professional experience before the student leaves the classroom. Assignments in Avila history classes balance the traditional assignments like book reviews and term papers that build communication and information processing skills with projects that mirror the workplace. Students may also use their historical knowledge to create a brochure, design an exhibit, or produce a video. Faculty also assist students who plan a career in teaching by helping them to prepare teaching units while still in the classroom and by providing feedback and assistance during their student teaching experience. In their senior capstone course, history majors not only exercise their mastery of the field by producing and presenting a work of original scholarship but practice writing resumes and interviewing for jobs as well. No matter the student's career destination, the history program works to provide practical applications of coursework that prepare the student for today's workplace. |
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Senior Thesis
German Expressionism-Brave New Art for a Brave New World. By History student Liesl Montgomery.
Spawned by a German youth culture with revolutionary ideas and new ideals, this vibrant, emotive, controversial new art and its creators entered the political arena of post-World War I Germany. As the artists accepted the responsibilities they earned as political entities, so too did they have to accept the consequences. One such consequence was persecution by the Nazi totalitarian regime. Despite the attempted annihilation, German Expressionism remained then (and now) proof of the then newfound power of art to affect society. This paper explores the lives and art of German Expressionists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Wassily Kandinsky, and Oskar Kokoschka from the rise of Expressionism in Germany in the early part of the twentieth century to its ultimate persecution in the Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibit of 1937. |
Internships
Whether the student plans on a career in public history, needs some hands-on exploration of career options, or just wants some pre-professional experience on the resume, Avila's internship program in history is a useful choice. Student interns receive three hours of credit for working in local historical archives, museums, or sites performing a variety of functions. Some of the projects student interns have done include: digging out historical information for a museum exhibit about dairy farming, designing and assembling a traveling trunk to teach about Civil War medicine, cataloging photos and personal records about life in the suburbs, and photographing historic buildings.
Among the local historical institutions that provide internships are: Johnson County Historical Museum; John Wornall House Museum; Jackson County Historical Society; and National Archives and Records Center |
Sr. Martha Smith Award for History
Named for Sr. Martha Smith, Professor Emerita of History at Avila University , the Sr. Martha Smith Award for History is bestowed annually upon the history major who best exemplifies the characteristics of an Avila University history major--dedication to the discipline and profession of history, superior communication skills, and excellent research abilities. Here are the recipients of this award:
2001: Brandon Ransom
2000: Iestyn Penrose |
History Club
Avila's History Club provides an opportunity for socializing among students who share an interest in history. Most club activities are road trips, or excursions to visit sites of historical interest in the Kansas City area. Career Roundtable is another regular club event. The roundtable introduces students to a range of career opportunities in history that they may never have known existed and informs them about how to prepare for these so-called public history careers. Roundtable panels have included a designer of interactive museum exhibits, an archivist who scours the region to find undiscovered documents to be preserved, and a free-lance history sleuth who helps small museums discover the value of their own collections. |
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