Faculty
Dr. Dan Fountain
Dan Fountain is a native of Jacksonville, Florida, home of the NFL Jaguars and terminus of the mighty St. Johns River. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from Stetson University of Deland, Florida, a master's degree in American/Public history from UNC-Greensboro, and a doctorate degree in early American history from the University of Mississippi. Dr. Fountain's research interests focus on the nineteenth century US and the US South with a specific interest in the history of slavery and race. He has published several articles on the history of slavery and is pursuing publication of his dissertation which examines the conversion of African-American slaves to Christianity during the 19th century. Dr. Fountain and his lovely wife Michele are the proud parents of Tait, an active little boy with an equally active imagination. Dr. Fountain is an avid sports fan with unshakeable allegiances to the Stetson Hatters, Ole Miss Rebels, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Chicago Cubs.
Courses taught: U.S. to 1876; U.S. since 1876; Colonial America; Civil War and Reconstruction; History of the South; Methods of Historical Research; Public History; Global Slavery (CORE 400)
email: fountain@meredith.edu
phone: (919) 760-2825
office: Joyner 226
Dr. Rosalie Gates teaches in the Department of History and Politics and is also Director of Cooperating Raleigh Colleges (CRC) at Meredith. Her academic credentials include the B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Duke University. She has studied at Delhi University and the University of Mysore in India, the University of London, the American University of Cairo, and Harvard University. Her courses specialize in Asia, notably India, China, and Japan. Languages include Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit and Arabic as well as Spanish and German. professor Gates has traveled extensively in Asia and the Middle East under the auspices of the Fulbright Program. In India she was presented to Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, visited hospitals of Mother Theresa in Calcutta, and lectured in Nepal. Her research relates to the Sino-Indian Border Dispute and Higher Education in India. At the invitation of the Minister of Education, Government of India, Dr. Gates served as Member, UNESCO Study Group on Cultural Relations for the Future.
As Director of Cooperating Raleigh Colleges, Dr. gates combines administrative responsibilities with teaching and research. The CRC Director administers the CRC Education Channel, a cable channel with courses to more than 75,000 viewers. Her research on CRC cross-registration is available through the CRC office.
Dr. Gates contributes to the larger community. By appointment of the Governor she has served as Head, United Nations Observance for the State of North Carolina, and Chair, Public Librarian Certification Commission, State of North Carolina. professor Gates has a deep interest in internationalizing the curriculum of both private and public education. She is deeply interested in equal rights for women and the leadership of women.
Courses: Emergence of Western Civilization; Modern Western Civilization; Introduction to Asian Civilization; Asian Civilizations (collaborative w other faculty); Modern India, China, Japan
e-mail: gatesr@meredith.edu
phone: (919) 760-8386
office: Joyner 222
Carolyn Happer. Dr. Happer is someone who is increasingly rare in the Triangle--a native! Born in Winston-Salem, raised in Durham, and a resident of Raleigh since 1964, she is truly a Tar Heel born and bred--except that she went to Duke! Her field for the Ph.D. was Southern history with a focus on North Carolina; her field for the Master's degree was French history. These dual interests have made it possible for Dr. Happer to teach both American and European history; she is also responsible for teaching Social Studies methods and for preparing our teacher certification students. Recently she has developed an interest in China, an interest that resulted from her participation in Meredith's exchange program with Dongbei University in Dalian. In the past decade, she has spent three summers teaching in China; on the last two trips, she has taken Meredith students with her as part of the Study Abroad program. In addition to teaching, Dr. Happer is an avid tennis player and the mother of Bo Dupp, an aspiring professional wrestler.
Courses: Emergence of Western Civilization; Modern Western Civilization; Methods of Teaching Social Studies; Women in the West and the World (CORE 200); Holocaust Experiences; U.S. to 1876; U.S. since 1876;
e-mail: happerc@meredith.edu
phone: (919) 760-2287
office: Joyner 212
Here's the link to Dr. Happer's wonderful web site on No Ordinary Time:
Michael McElreath is a native South Carolinian who imbibed his love of history in the Lowcountry of Charleston and its environs. After studying Russian history at Tulane and working for several years in secondary schools in Louisiana, Rhode Island, Raleigh, and New Jersey, he earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. There he focused on American intellectual history and the history of the South, writing a dissertation on how school desegregation in the Triangle affected students, teachers, and their communities. For the last few years, McElreath has taught at East Chapel Hill High School and Governor's School East on Meredith's campus in the summer. At Meredith he will be teaching American history and helping prepare secondary social studies teachers for the classroom. McElreath is married to Rebecca Stern and they have a son, Caleb, who is simply adorable.
Courses: U.S. to 1876; U.S. since 1876; North Carolina History; U.S. since 1945; U.S. and the World in the 20th Century; History of Civil Rights Movement; Methods of Teaching Social Studies; probables: U.S. intellectual history and others to be developed.
email: mcelreat@meredith.edu
phone: (919) 760-8825
office: Joyner 218
Michael Novak, Department Head, was conceived in the afterglow of the Indians' last World Series Championship and born among the Czechs, Slovenians and Hungarians of east Cleveland. The third child of second generation immigrants, he was the last member of his family to learn accordion and the first to complete high school. Transcripts indicate that he attended Denison University from 1968-1972, receiving an A.B. in History. He then spent seven years studying and teaching at Harvard University, finally exiting in 1979 with a PhD in European Intellectual History and an abiding attachment to Boston sports teams.. He then joined his wife Martha Gagliano in North Carolina, and taught for seven years at NCSU while she completed her medical training in Pediatrics at Duke University. In 1986 he had the good fortune to begin teaching at Meredith College, from which institution he expects to be carried out feet first. His special teaching interests are Medieval, Renaissance and Reformation Europe, Western Civilization, Eastern Europe and the 20th Century World. For recreation he attempts tennis and squash, plays Irish string band music and exchanges practical jokes with his son, Matthew born in 1993.
Courses: Emergence of Western Civilization; Modern Western Civilization; Europe in the Middle Ages; Europe in Renaissance and Reformation; Senior Seminar.
e-mail: novakm@meredith.edu
phone: (919) 760-8398
office: Joyner 228
Dr. Gregory Vitarbo
A native of the New York City area, Dr. Vitarbo attended Drew University in Madison, N.J., where he majored in history and received his B.A. in 1990. He did his graduate work at the University of Michigan and received his Ph.D. in Russian/Soviet history in 1999. After one-year teaching positions at Franklin & Marshall College and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Dr. Vitarbo joined the Meredith faculty in the fall semester 2001. At Meredith he teaches in the fields of Russian/Soviet history, Western Civilization, and Modern European history. He has developed new and revised courses in the history of Modern Russia, Modern Britain, Twentieth Century Europe, and the World in the Twentieth Century, and also hopes to create new courses in the fields of Modern German history and the historical relationship of gender, culture, and warfare. Dr. Vitarbo is currently working on a manuscript that examines the military, social, and cultural impact of the new technology of the airplane on the Russian Imperial army in the decade before the first world war. He has contributed an essay to recently published volume on the Russian army and society, and will soon submit for publication other articles concerning issues of aviation, nationality policy, and modernization within the Russian Imperial officer corps. He also serves as the academic adviser to the Meredith History & Politics Club. Dr. Vitarbo's beloved dog, Riley the pug, is also said to be delighted to have joined the Department.
Courses: Modern Western Civilization; World in the 20th Century (CORE 200); Modern Britain; Russia in 20th Century; 20th Century Europe; War and Culture in the West (summer school); Technology and Social Change (CORE 400)
email: vitarbog@meredith.edu
phone: (919) 760-8089
office: Joyner 214
Clyde Frazier was born in Concord, NC and grew up in New Orleans, LA. He did his undergraduate work at Rice University in Houston, TX and received his Ph.D. from UNC-Chapel-Hill. Clyde taught at Elon College, NCSU and UNC-CH before coming to Meredith in 1982. When he came to Meredith he was the only faculty member in Politics. For the past couple of years, Clyde has been writing book reviews and op-ed pieces on gender issues for the News and Observer and other newspapers in North and South Carolina. He is currently writing a book with the tentative title, "Is Masculinity Obsolete?" In addition to his teaching and writing, Clyde has built a house, served on the planning board in Chatham County and been active in local politics. Clyde has two children, a daughter who is attending UNC-CH and a son in high school.
Courses: American Political System; Political Ideas Seminar; Law and Society; Constitution and Rights; Gender Issues in Law and Policy; Public Leadership Practicum (Meredith Votes);
e-mail: frazierc@meredith.edu
phone: (919) 760-8540
office: Joyner 224
Dr. Jeffrey Martinson was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. After a sojourn to Pitzer College for undergraduate work in sunny Southern California (where he majored in Political Studies and German Studies) he returned to his gray hometown to work for Enron and then the World Trade Center Portland. In 1999 he began graduate studies at Ohio State, leading to a Ph.D. in political science in 2005. His research foci are international relations, foreign policy analysis, political psychology, international organization and Mideast politics, and he combined them all into his dissertation on German Post-Cold War Foreign Military Intervention Decision Making. Jeff has taught in these areas at Ohio State, University of Cincinnati and with his dissertation advisor Don Sylvan on "Political Psychology and Intelligence Work" at the National Air and Space Intelligence Command at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Outside of work he and his wife Alice, enjoy hiking, sailing, and generally discovering North Carolina.
Courses: American Political System; World in the 20th century; International Politics; Modern Political Systems; International Political Economy; Model United Nations; Method of Research in Political Science; Modern Middle East
email: martinso@meredith.edu
phone: (919) 760-2349
office: Joyner 220
Barbara True-Weber received her Bachelor in Science of Education from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia, Kansas. She taught high school social science in St. Louis, Missouri for four years. During that time she received a Masters of Political Science from the University of Missouri - St. Louis. She moved to North Carolina with her husband and two daughters in 1980 to work on a Ph.D. at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. She taught political science for one year at UNC-Greensboro before coming to Meredith College in 1988. She received her Ph.D. degree in 1990. Her academic interest are elections and policy, particularly at the state and local levels.
Courses: American Political System; Contemporary Politics and Policy; Public Administration; Politics of the Vietnam War; Environmental Policy; State and Local Government; NC Politics Colloquium; Congress and the Presidency; Global Issues: Homelessness (CORE 400)
email: trueweberb@meredith.edu
(919) 760-8312
office: Joyner 216
Mrs. Diana Davis
Mrs. Diana Davis is Departmental Assistant to the Departments of History, Political Science and English. After many years in the public schools as an English teacher, an Assistant Principal and a Librarian, she chose to come work with helpless adults instead of helpless children. Without her expertise and good will, all of our academic programs would collapse into chaos and pandemonium. Her deeper attachments are to her daughter Jessica, now a Meredith Senior, to her husband, and to a strange family collection of cats.
email: davisdia@meredith.edu
office: Joyner 120
