History & Legal Studies Spotlight
Dr. Andrew Steck Book Donation to WSU Library
On Monday, June 14, 2021, Dr. Andrew Steck (History -- Class of 2006) donated his collection of books on Medieval History and Late Antiquity to the Winona State University Krueger Library. Dr. Steck recently completed his PhD at the University of Iowa (2019) where he has also been working as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. He not only graduated with a B.A. in History from Winona State, but also earned MA degrees from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and Villanova in Pennsylvania. He has conducted research at the American Academy and the Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies in Rome.
Dr. Steck’s donation will expand the Krueger Library’s collection of books on Medieval History and Late Antiquity.
Enslaved in Wisconsin: an Untold History
Dr. Eugene Tesdahl from University of Wisconsin-Platteville gave a talk entitled "Enslaved in Wisconsin: an Untold History" in honor of African-American History Month on Feb. 25. He shared his findings on illegal slavery in the Platteville area during the 19th century. He explained how he and his students explored the unsettling truth about African American figures Maria, Rachel, Felix, and others. His work culminated in the restoration of the graves of local slaves in a Platteville cemetery, which drew considerable media attention.
Dr. Heinrichs Presents at 54th Annual International Congress of Medieval Studies Conference
May 9-12, 2019
Dr. Erik Heinrichs from the Winona State Department of History and Legal Studies recently attended the 54th International Congress of Medieval Studies, held on May 9-12 at Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Medieval Institute, College of Arts and Sciences at Western Michigan University hosted the conference where Heinrichs served as both a panelist and discussant. He presented his paper "Plague Literature and the Catholic Reformation in Bavaria, 1521-1650" for the panel Reformation II: Cross Cultural and Cross Community Connections in the Reformation.
Dr. Bates Presents at 66th Annual Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies Conference
April 3-6, 2019
Dr. Juandrea Bates recently participated in the 66th Annual Conference of the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies, held in Santa Fe, New Mexico April 3 - April 6, 2019. At the conference, Dr. Bates presented "Bound by Blood but not by Family: Pensions, Kinship, and the Law in Nineteenth-Century Argentina." Her paper was part of the panel "The Ties that Bind and Those that Break: The Intersections of Law, Power, and State Building in Nineteenth-Century Latin America."
Dr. Matthew Lindaman Publishes Book with Syracuse Press
June 2018
Matthew Lindaman, Chair of the Department of History and Legal Studies recently published "Fit for America: Major John L. Griffith & the Quest for Athletics and Fitness" with Syracuse University Press. "Fit for America" is at once an intellectual biography of Major John L. Griffith, one of the preeminent intercollegiate athletics administrators of the twentieth century, and an in-depth look at how athletics shaped national military preparedness in a time of war and anticommunist sentiment. Lindaman traces Griffith's forty-year career, one that spanned both world wars and included his appointment as the first Big Ten commissioner from 1922 until 1945. Griffith also served as NCAA president in the 1930s and later became the secretary-treasurer during World War II. Throughout his career, he worked tirelessly to advance the role and importance of collegiate sports on a regional and national level. In an era of heightened fears of communism, Griffith saw intercollegiate athletics as a way to prepare young men to become fit, disciplined military recruits. Griffith also founded his own publication, the Athletic Journal, in 1922 in which he published opinion pieces and solicited the opinions of other leading coaches and administrators nationwide. Through these pages, Lindaman explores not only Griffith's philosophy but also the emergence of a coaching and athletic administration network. Drawing on voluminous primary source material and the many writings Griffith left behind, "Fit for America" brings long-overdue attention to a figure who was instrumental in shaping the world of American intercollegiate sports.
Kurt Kemper, Professor of History and Director of the General Beadle Honors Program at Dakota State University, writes, "Matthew Lindaman has resurrected a key figure in early American collegiate athletics. Few were as prolific or as forceful as Griffith in espousing an ideology linking athletics with the defense of the institutions of democracy and capitalism. Lindaman offers the compelling argument that Griffith served as the model by which later athletic organization leaders would be measured."
Professor Emeritus Peter Henderson Co-Authors Textbook on Latin American History for Oxford University Press
Feb. 2018
Peter V.N. Henderson, Emeritus Professor of History at Winona State University, recently published "Latin America in the Modern World," a co-authored textbook published by Oxford University Press. Henderson's co-authors included Virginia Garrard, Professor of History at the University of Texas and Director of the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, and Bryan McCann, Chair of the History Department at Georgetown University and President of BRASA, the Brazilian Studies Association. Oxford University Press describes "Latin America in the Modern World" as "the first text to situate the history of Latin America within a wider global narrative." The book is organized around five themes: state formation; the construction of national identity through popular culture and religion; economics and commodities; race, class, and gender; and the environment.
During his career at Winona State University, Professor Henderson served in many capacities, including Director of the Honors Program, Director of the Paralegal Legal Program and two non-consecutive terms at the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Previous publications include "Gabriel Garcia Moreno and Conservative State Formation in the Andes" (University of Texas Press, 2008) and "In Absence of Don Porfirio: Francisco Leon de la Barra and the Mexican Revolution" (Scholarly Resources Inc., 2000).
Dr. Heinrichs Publishes Book with Routledge Press
Nov. 2017
Dr. Erik Heinrichs from the Department of History and Legal Studies recently published "Plague, Print, and the Reformation: The German Reform of Healing, 1475-1572" (Routledge Press). The work builds upon Heinrich's previous publications and interest in medical and cultural responses to the plague in the early modern era. "Plague, Print, and the Reformation" explores the impact of Renaissance humanism, the Reformation, print, and alchemy on the prevention and cure of the plague. The book's introduction reads:
"This book surveys a neglected set of sources, German plague prints and treatises published between 1473 and 1573, in order to explore the intertwined histories of plague, print, medicine and religion during the Reformation era. It argues that a particularly German reform of healing flourished in printed texts during the Renaissance and Reformation as physicians and clerics devised innovative responses to the era's persistent epidemics. These reforms are "German" since they reflect the innovative trends that originated in or were particularly strong within German-speaking lands, including the rapid growth of vernacular print, Protestantism, and new interest in alchemy and the native plants of Northern Europe that were unknown to the ancients. Their reforms are also "German" in the sense that they unfolded mainly in vernacular print, which encouraged physicians to produce local knowledge, grounded in personal experience and local observations as much as universal theories. This book contributes to the history of medicine and science by tracing the growth of more empirical forms of medical knowledge. It also contributes to the history of the Renaissance and Reformation by uncovering the innovative contributions of various forgotten physicians. This book presents the broadest study of German plague treatises in any language.
Dr. Wang Presents at Southeast Conference Association for Asian Studies
Jan. 13-15, 2017
Dr. Iris Wang from the Winona State Department of History and Legal Studies recently attended the 56th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Conference of the Asian Studies, held January 13-15 at the University of Mississippi. At the conference, Dr. Wang presented “Water of the Empire: Irrigation, Flood Control and the Creation of Imperial Pageantry in the Qing Dynasty.” Her paper was part of the panel “Nature, Environment, and Religion in East Asia,” moderated by Dr. Annika A. Culver of Florida State University.
Winona State Faculty Present at the American Historical Association Conference
Jan. 5-8, 2017
The Winona State History and Legal Studies Department was well represented at the annual American History Association Conference held in Denver, Colorado on Jan. 5-8, 2017. Dr. Juandrea Bates presented “A Man in Life, but a Boy in This Court: Nationality, Age, and Minority in Buenos Aires Civil Courts, 1890-1920. Bates’ presentation was part the panel “Constructing Childhoods: Age, Race, and Nationality in Latin American Courts,” sponsored by the Conference on Latin American History. Dr. Bates also served as the chair of the panel “The Race of Color: African Americans’ Participation in US Empire,” sponsored by The Society of the Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.” Winona State faculty member Dr. Amanda Nagel presented “Our Oath of Allegiance Knows Neither Race, Color Nor Nation”: Race and Empire in the Philippine-American War,” as part of the panel.
History Department Hosts Veterans Day Panel on Post-Traumatic Stress
Nov. 12, 2016
In honor of Veterans Day, Winona State University’s History Department hosted the presentation, “Changing the Paradigm on Post-Traumatic Stress: From Causes to Healing and Reintegration.” The program began with the Introduction and The Baton, by WSU alumnus Joshua Ploetz, U.S. Custodian of The Baton. The Baton is a symbol of national conscience, crafted with care and respect from the handle of a stretcher. Many were carried on this particular stretcher used by a Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) in Afghanistan. The keynote address by Mary Neal Vieten, entitled “The Only Cure for an Injury to Humanity is Humanity: Successful Warfighter Reintegration,” underscored the realities of living with post-traumatic stress, the delay in healing, the devastating implications of the “mental illness” label, and an overview of what helps and what does not help in the healing process. Vieten is a USN Board Certified Clinical Psychologist and nationally-recognized authority on post-traumatic stress and war fighter reintegration.
History Faculty Member Curates "Remembering Vietnam" Exhibit
Nov. 9, 2016
The opening reception for “Remembering Vietnam” was held at the Winona County History Center on Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 4-6pm The exhibit was coordinated under the direction of Dr. Tomas Tolvaisas from the Winona State Department of History and Jennifer Weaver, assistant director at the Winona County History Center. Tolvaisas teaches an upper division course on the Vietnam War, often bringing guest speakers to share their experiences. Weaver is a graduate from Winona State history program. The goal of the exhibit is to honor the veterans and explore the sacrifices they made, while offering a lens from which to view the era from the perspective of the veterans from Winona County
Award-Winning Book Presented at Winona State
Oct. 3, 2016
Bymans Honored at Retirement Celebration
April 19, 2016
Pictured above: Dr. Greg Schmidt (former chair), Dr. Matthew Lindaman (current chair), Dr. Marianna Byman (former chair and Professor Emeritus), and Dr. Seymour Byman (Professor Emeritus).
Dr. Marianna Byman and Dr. Seymour Byman were recently honored at the Winona State Inter-Faculty Association retirement diner for their years of outstanding teaching, leadership, and service to Winona State University. In addition, in a previous ceremony, they were both awarded Professor Emeritus by Winona State University President, Dr. Scott Olson.
Dr. Marianna Byman taught at Winona State from 1987 to spring of 2016, serving the History Department as chair from 2002-2009 and previously as the Bush Grant Faculty Development Coordinator for five years. In addition to a wide range of general education courses, Dr. Byman taught “European Intellectual and Cultural History” and the popular and challenging course “Great Thinkers,” which highlighted her true passion of studying the place of Charles Darwin in the history of intellectual thought. In addition, Dr. Byman supported a sense of place as related to Winona State University as evidence by her leadership in the creation of a general education course on the history the Mississippi River.
Dr. Seymour Byman taught at Winona State from 1970 to spring of 2016. Dr. Byman has been a respected, rigorous and effective teacher. His Socratic methods in pedagogy indicate a wide range of knowledge and great depth in the study of History. His teaching has inspired and empowered numerous students to think more critically and thoughtfully as lifelong learners, scholars, and citizens. Dr. Byman was productive in scholarship, studying Christian martyrdom in Tudor England and publishing numerous scholarly articles in journals such as "Psychoanalytic Review," "The Harvard Theological Review," "The Journal of Psychohistory" and "The Journal of Legal Studies." His “Ritualistic Acts and Compulsive Behavior: The Patterns of Tudor Martyrdom” in volume 83 (1978) of the "American Historical Review"—the top scholarly journal in the discipline of history.
Dr. Hyman Presents Overview of Smithsonian Sponsored Exhibit
Jan. 22, 2016
Dr. Colette Hyman, Professor History Department, presented an information session on the exhibit Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations. Winona State is hosting the exhibit which provides a vehicle for authentic Dakota and Ojibwe stories of sovereignty, adaptability and sustainability. The exhibit is made in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Center, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.
Faculty Participate at National American History Association Conference
Jan. 7-10, 2016
Two faculty members in Winona State’s Department of History and Legal Studies travelled to Atlanta to participate in the 130th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association. Dr. Gregory Richard presented “Where History and Law Collide: Legal Studies Program Internships” as part of the panel “The Promise of History Internships.” Dr. Juandrea Bates was an invited participant in the “Workshop on Undergraduate Teaching Assignments,” where faculty gathered to explore the roles creative assignments play in courses, as well as their connection to student learning outcomes and assessments.
WSU History Classes Participate in Art Project
Dec. 2015
Students in Dr. Matthew Lungerhausen’s Western Civilization 1815 to present courses took advantage of a travelling art project during the latter weeks of the fall semester, tying exhibit and course themes together. Artist Monica Sheets curated and presented the exhibit "Das Fundburo—1000 Little Things," hosted at the Watkins Gallery on Winona State’s campus. Sheets’ exhibit presented objects, photos, texts, and audio to analyze the German Democratic Republic, the political changes of 1989-1990, and the themes of history and identity. Students in Dr. Lungerhausen’s class had the opportunity to tour the exhibit, attend a movie night associated with the project, and even produce written reflections, which in turn may become a future part of the "Das Fundburo" exhibit.
History and Law and Society Majors Present Capstone Projects
Dec. 4, 2015
At the end of the fall semester, the department of History and Legal Studies held a mini-seminar for students completing their senior capstone projects under the direction of Professor Colette Hyman. James Hust (History BA), Alex Burkhardt (History BA), and Ian Pomplin (Law and Society BS) presented their original, historical research in front of peers and faculty from the department of History and Legal Studies.
Hust made use of the sources from the Darrell Krueger Library at Winona State in crafting his paper on early modern theologian John Wyclif titled “Wyclif: Scripture? Tradition? Both?” Burkhardt and Pomplin went farther afield, taking advantage of undergraduate research stipends provided by Winona State University. Burkhardt used his grant to travel to New York City where he worked with the Robert Moses Papers at the New York Public Library, for his paper “Parting the Red Sea of Publicity: Robert Moses and the 1964 World’s Fair.” Pomplin used his travel grant to go look at the Harry S. Truman Papers at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri. His findings informed his paper “Stimson, the Far East, and the Bomb: How Past Experience Affects Future Decisions.” The department of History and Legal Studies has twenty year history of supporting student based research papers as a capstone experience and congratulate this semester’s students and their exemplary projects.
Sophomore Seminar Returns
April 15, 2015
During the spring semester, the Department of History revived on old tradition—the Sophomore Seminar. Absent for over ten years, Dr. Lindaman led ten students in a course titled “Parks, Monuments, and Public Lands.” Dr. Lindaman and the students did their best impression of the “old-school” Frederick Jackson Turner Seminars, diving into numerous primary source documents. Each student completed a twenty-page research paper, combining secondary and primary source materials. In addition, the entire class conducted research on the history of Winona’s Levee Park. On April 15, the students presented “Levee Park: Creation, Destruction, and Re-Creation for Recreation—Sustaining a City Park,” in poster format at the Ramaley Research Celebration and Creative Scholarships (CRACS).
Winona LaDuke Visits History Classes
Feb. 19, 2015
Winona LaDuke was recently in town to deliver a keynote address at the Frozen River Film Festival. Dr. Campbell’s History of the American Indian class and Dr. Lindaman’s World Environmental history class joined to hear Winona talk directly to history students about her experiences in environmental activism. According to the Frozen River Film Festival web page:
Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe) is an internationally acclaimed author, orator and activist. A graduate of Harvard and Antioch Universities with advanced degrees in rural economic development, LaDuke has devoted her life to protecting the lands and life ways of Native communities. Outspoken, engaging and unflaggingly dedicated to matters of ecological sustainability, Winona LaDuke is a powerful speaker who inspires her audiences to action and engagement.
Dr. Lungerhausen Presents at WW 1 Conference in Prague, Czech Republic
Oct. 25, 2014
The year 2014 is one of remembrance, offering an opportunity to analyze the origins and course and consequences of the First World War. On October 24, Dr. Matthew Lungerhausen of the WSU Department of History presented in Prague, Czech Republic at the conference “Climax or Beginning?: Modernity, Culture, Central Europe and the Great War.” Dr. Lungerhausen presented “The Erdekes Ujsag Battlefield Photo Album and the Practices of Hungarian Amateur Photography During World War One.” The conference was hosted by Charles University, Prague; the Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences; and Philosphy-History Faculty of Universitat Inssbruck.
Dr. Lindaman Presents at German Studies Conference
Sept. 20, 2014
Dr. Matthew Lindaman of the Department of History recently presented “The Great War and the Cultural Expression of Heimat” at the 38th Annual German Studies Conference held in Kansas City. Lindaman participated in the panel “The Great War and Cultural Memory” as part of the German Studies World War 1 Working Group.
Civil Rights Faculty-led Travel Program
June, 2014
“Tracking the Civil Rights Movement: Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, 1955-2014”
During the 2013-2014 school year, Winona State University History Professors John Campbell and Tomas Tolvaisas created, with the wonderful assistance of Joe Morse and Alex Hines, Director of the WSU Office of Inclusion and Diversity, the faculty-led travel program: "Tracking the Civil Rights Movement in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, 1955-2014."
In June of 2014, Professors Campbell and Tolvaisas and Mr. Morse, a 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer volunteer and subsequent Civil Rights activist, lead eighteen WSU students (representing a variety of majors) on a two-week, bus-mediated Civil Rights Faculty-led Travel Program journey to and through these three states.
By engaging with dozens of prominent and unsung Civil Rights Veterans and current activists/interpreters of the Movement; by visiting numerous private and public spaces made nationally-historic by the Movement's courageous and complex organizing efforts; and, by participating in various Freedom Summer Fiftieth Anniversary and Commemorative events, including those honoring the three Civil Rights Activists assassinated in Neshoba County, Mississippi, these WSU undergraduates acquired a rich and deep first-hand knowledge of the Movement, of how grass roots organizing and social change happen, and of current, if sometimes under-the-radar, civil rights issues in America, including the schoolhouse to jailhouse phenomenon, voting rights suppression, environmental racism, Black incarceration, and police harassment of Black people. Along the way, participants sang inspiring Freedom songs, ate some mighty fine soul food, and made life-long friends.
For more information about the journey to the Deep South please consult the online blog, created by Jordan Gerard, one of the student participants in the program.
Other information about the program can be found in the special booklet (PDF) which was created by the trip organizers and given to participants, supporters, mentors, and speakers associated with the program.
"All in the Family" Author Visits WSU Students
March 21, 2014
Dr. Robert O. Self, author of "All in the Family: The Realignment of American Democracy Since the 1960s," visited the WSU campus, delivering a Lyceum lecture open to the general public. Self’s talk focused on gender, sexuality and political culture in the United States from 1964-2004. Self’s focus of study centers around civic action, arguing grassroots organizing and activism are central to reshaping the political landscape in the United States. During his visit, Dr. Self visited with students from the Department of History, including history, social science/history teaching and law and society majors, who had a chance to ask him questions about his research and book.
2013 Exploratory Trip to Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi to Set Up a Civil Rights Movement History Travel-Study Program
In preparing for a travel-study course on the history of the Civil Rights Movement, Professors John Campbell and Tomas Tolvaisas took a 12 day exploratory trip to Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi in June 2013 to determine how they should structure their travel-study course in June 2014. Armed with valuable contacts from Winona's 1964 Freedom Summer Volunteer, Joe Morse and Alex Hines, Director of WSU's Office of Inclusion and Diversity and their collaborator in the 2014 course, John and Tomas logged literally 1,999 miles in a Minnesota state-subsidized Enterprise car with a GPS and cell phone borrowed from the Department's ever-resourceful office manager, Michelle Eggerichs. The two History professors visited the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee; Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, and Lowndes County, Alabama; and Meridian, Jackson, and various other towns in Mississippi and in the Delta. Professors Campbell and Tolvaisas spent considerable time at various Civil Rights Institutes and Museums in Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, Lowndes County and Jackson, as well as at various historical sites and markers in all three states. Highlights included meeting with a dozen or so veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, including Joanne Bland, Margaret Block, Gwen Patton, Hollis Watkins, Roscoe Jones and Sadie Clark Martin. Last but not least, the two professors consumed waist-expanding quantities of quality Southern food, including some of the most succulent collard greens, lima beans, barbecue and bread pudding one could ever ask for. Take that Paula Deen!
History Association/Phi Alpha Theta Banquet
April 2013
The student History Association hosted their spring banquet during the final weekend in April. Faculty and students gathered to hear about the association’s activities over the past year. Highlights included a busy and successful homecoming weekend. The club took second place honors in the float category and association president Shane Carlson was crowned homecoming king. Additional club highlights included movie nights, bake sales, professor talks, a trip to the Renaissance Fair and an excursion to the Black Hills. Congratulations to spring 2013 Phi Alpha Theta inductees Julie May (Mendota Heights, MN) and Ashley Greig (Sprit Lake, IA).
James Loewen Visits WSU History Students
Sept. 11, 2012
Dr. James Loewen, author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong," visited the WSU campus, delivering a keynote address open to the general public. During his visit, Dr. Loewen met with students from the Department of History & Legal Studies including history, social science/history teaching and law and society majors, giving them an opportunity to ask the author questions about his famous book, which has sold more than 1,250,000 copies. Dr. Loewen taught race relations for twenty years at the University of Vermont. Previously he taught at predominantly black Tougaloo College in Mississippi. He now lives in Washington D.C., continuing his research on how Americans view their past.
Dr. Lindaman Presents on Gino Severini and the Futurist Art Movement
Nov. 9, 2011
Dr. Matthew Lindaman presented “Boom, Pop, Exploding into Modernity: Gino Severini and the First Futurist Exhibition, 1912” at the WSU Athenaeum Series. The presentation reviewed not only the first Futurist Exhibition of 1912, but also the connection between the Futurist artists in connection to the anticipation and origins of World War I. The presentation was inspired not only by Dr. Lindaman’s interest in connecting art and culture to World War I, but also a recent visit to the l’Orangerie Museum in Paris and their recent exhibition “Gino Severini (1883-1966): Futurist and Neoclassicist.”
WSU Hosts Daniel Byman Lecture
Sept. 26, 2011
The Department of History & Legal Studies, along with the WSU American Democracy Project, sponsored a presentation by Dr. Daniel Byman, professor at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Dr. Byman’s lecture, “Al Qaeda after the Death of Bin Laden and the Arab Spring,” focused on the danger Al Qaeda poses to the United States and its allies. His lecture addressed the strengths and weaknesses of the group and how it has changed after the death of Bin Laden at the hands of U.S. forces. Dr. Byman covered important successes and failures the United States has had against the group since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He also discussed the impact of the “Arab Spring” on the organization, both with regards to its message and its operations. Dr. Byman, the author of multiple books and articles, is the son of Dr. Seymour Byman, WSU professor of history.
Dr. Schmidt Delivers Talk on the “Boatmen of the Mississippi River”
July 6, 2011
Dr. Gregory Schmidt from Winona State University's History Department recently gave a talk on the “Boatmen of the Early 1800's” exhibit at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona. Highlights from his presentation covered the lifestyle of the boatmen and the different vessels on which they worked and lived. Dr. Schmidt even filled the audience in on Mark Twain and how his writing was influenced by these hardened river characters, giving audience members a glimpse of who Mike Fink really was. The talk, and audience Q and A session, along with a short interview with Dr. Schmidt about his interest in history were captured by Teri Tenseth, host of "Culture Clique.”
WSU Hosts Wayne Karlin, Professor, Author and Vietnam Veteran
March 15 and 16, 2011
WSU Department of History and Paralegal, along with the WSU College of
Liberal Arts and WSU Foundation, sponsored two presentations by Dr.
Wayne Karlin, Professor of Languages and Literature at College of
Southern Maryland. Karlin served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam. He
has authored ten award-winning books of fiction and nonfiction. On
March 15, Dr. Karlin presented his latest nonfiction book, “Wandering
Souls: Journeys with the Dead and the Living in Viet Nam”— the story of
Vietnam veteran Homer Steedly Jr., who killed an enemy soldier in 1969
on a jungle path and forty years later, with Karlin, engaged in a
process of healing from war by searching for the man’s family, returning
documents he had taken from the body, and helping locate the remains.
On March 16, Professor Karlin discussed Vietnam War literature in
America and Vietnam as a form of healing and reconciliation as well as
his personal experiences as a writer and his work with Vietnamese
writers who had been on the other side.
WSU History Students Meet Dennis Banks
Jan. 2011
WSU history students had an opportunity to meet Dennis Banks as he visited Dr. John Campbell’s HIST 235: History of the American Indian, class. Banks was in Winona to speak at the Frozen River Film Festival, which previewed "A Good Day to Die: A Film about Dennis Banks and the American Indian Movement." Banks co-founded the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) in 1968, drawing attention to the struggles of urban Indians in Minneapolis, Minnesota. "A Good Day to Die," a film produced a directed by David Mueller and Lynn Salt, provides an intimate portrayal of Banks’ life, starting with early experiences in boarding schools and including his experiences in military service in Japan, the Stillwater State Prison, and the subsequent founding of A.I.M., a movement. Students in Dr. Campbell’s class recently completed reading Banks’ book "Ojibwa Warrior" and had the opportunity to ask Banks about his life experiences.
