History in the public interest from the Lepage Center at Villanova University
Why study anniversaries?
" 2018 will be a big year for historical anniversaries," writes our faculty director Paul Steege. 1918. 1938. 1968. 1988. 2008. With these anniversaries come media and public attention. But what is the value of these commemorations?

Paul Steege kicks off our coverage of the 50th anniversary of 1968 with a reflection on historical anniversaries and thoughts on what historians contribute to the public interest during these blockbuster anniversary years. Read Paul's post here >>
New bloggers
Samer Abboud
Hibba Abugideiri
The Lepage Center is delighted to introduce this semester's featured bloggers: Samer Abboud and Hibba Abugideiri.

Samer Abboud is an Associate Professor of International Studies at Arcadia University and currently a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at Villanova. He has written widely on the contemporary Arab world, and is currently co-coordinator of the Beirut Critical Security Studies Collective, a working group of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences.

Hibba Abugideiri is an Associate Professor of History at Villanova. Her research examines gender, women, and Islam, and she has published widely on an array of topics related to the Muslim world. She was most recently the director of Villanova's Center for Arab and Islamic Studies.

Samer and Hibba will author three joint posts on security in the Middle East from a historical perspective. The work builds on the scholarship being produced by the Security Studies Collective.
Podcasting 101
Podcast host Liz Covart speaks to a full room of Villanova students and faculty at the Lepage Center, January 31, 2018.
On January 31st, the Lepage Center welcomed award-winning podcast host Liz Covart to lead a workshop on how scholars can start and produce their own podcasts.

"Ben Franklin's World" was created by Liz Covart in 2014. The podcast now has more than 160,000 downloads per month and was recently awarded "Best History Podcast" by the Academy of Podcasters.

The workshop was part of the Lepage Center's commitment to preparing historians to communicate their scholarship in ways that resonate with contemporary audiences and advance the public interest.

See highlights from the event on Twitter at hashtags #LepageAtVU and #BFWorld .
History Career Day
Emily Swafford of the American Historical Association speaks to Villanova students at the Lepage Center, February 2, 2018.

Part of history in the public interest entails infusing historical thinking into all spheres of public life. This includes the history professorate, education, museums, nonprofits, consulting, finance and more.

On February 2nd, the Lepage Center joined with the Villanova Career Center and History Department to host our inaugural " History Career Day ." The four-hour event examined the various ways that history majors use their degrees and skillsets in a variety of career paths, and delineated for current history majors, minors, and grad students the numerous career possibilities that exist with a history degree.

Speakers included Emily Swafford of the American Historical Association; Jhaakira Jacobs of the VU Career Center; and three alumni of the VU history program Kristen Starnes, a teacher at Sacred Heart Academy Bryn Mawr; Sandra Krogulski, Regulatory Operations Manager at Accenture; and Theresa Altieri Taplin, Archivist & Collections Manager at ‎The Abraham Lincoln Foundation of The Union League of Philadelphia. The event was a great success, and we envision it becoming an annual Lepage Center program.
On the horizon
The Lepage Center will partner with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on an event that examines 1968 from local and global perspectives. Stay tuned to our website, social media and upcoming newsletters for speakers and RSVP information.

The Lepage Center also continues to work on a new podcast series and blog content related to the anniversary of 1968. More information to come this spring.
Noteworthy news
Historian Catherine Kerrison
Villanova historian Catherine Kerrison has a new book on the daughters of Thomas Jefferson. USA Today writes the book, "offers a fascinating glimpse of where we have been as a nation. It is a vivid reminder of both the ties that bind, and the artificial boundaries that painfully divide us." The book is titled, Jefferson's Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America and is published by Penguin Random House . Our congratulations to Dr. Kerrison!
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