News and Events
Highlights:
- Congressman David Price Discusses the Presidential Selection Process: www.meredith.edu/enews/announcement_details
- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi Addresses Meredith Audience: www.meredith.edu/enews/announcement_details
- Nobel Peace Prize Winner Speaks at Meredith: www.meredith.edu/mcnews/shirin-ebadi-speaks.htm
- Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin Visits Meredith: www.meredith.edu/mcnews/doris-kearns-goodwin-speaks.htm
- Meredith Magazine, Fall 2005: featuring "Arabic, International Studies at Meredith Lead to New Career Paths"
- Read About Some Recent Graduates Caitlin Spicola, Julia Leggett and Jessica Coates
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History & Politics Club Take Historic Trolley, Encounter Historic Figures
Four members of the History & Politics Club and Dr. McElreath recently took the Historic Raleigh Trolley tour, focusing on the Capital City's history and culture. They also toured the Mordecai House, the oldest home in the City today. While on their tour, they ran into History Depatment Chair Michael Novak, moonlighting with his banjo for a special event at at the Mordecai estate. (Right image above: Brittany Forlidas, Ellen Carter, Jacqueline Daloisio, Brittany Morgan.) In October, the H & P Club is planning a trip to New Bern to see the Tryon Palace and the birthplace of Pepsi! For information, contact Katie Nagel or Dr. McElreath (mcelreat@meredith.edu).
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Meredith MUN Team Wins Award at Model Arab League Conference
Once again led by President Emily King and advised by Dr. Martinson, the Meredith MUN team participated in an intercollegiate simulation of international affairs. For the first time, however, this was at an additional Spring conference, the Model Arab League, held at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC. Meredith's team performed exceptionally at the event, with Emily King garnering a Chair's Commendation for her efforts on the Joint Defense Council. Basking in the afterglow of a job well-done are (L-R) Jee-In Hur, Emily King, Tiffany Durand, Laura Hart, Lindsey Cooke and Danielle Beck (not pictured: Amanda Chartier.) Mumtaz ladies!
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History Honor Society Honors New Inductees
Phi Alpha Theta, the national honor society in history, was pleased to initiate new members on March 20. Pictured left to right are President Jenna Burnham; new initiates Patricia Chartier, Stephanie McRae and Angie Rush; Vice President Afnan Boutrid. Congratulations to them all from the Department of History and Political Science!
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Meredith Students and Faculty Rescue Historic North Carolina Site
Meredith Students, Faculty and Alums all pitched-in to help rescue/recover the remains of the Historic Latta House of Raleigh. The Latta House, the last remaining building of Latta University, sadly burned down last year. Mordecei Historic Park Asst. Site Manager (and Meredith Alum) Erin Callis asked Dr. Fountain and his Public History majors to help out with the salvaging of historic materials from the rubble. Terri Jones, Stephanie McRae, Michelle Palmore, Phylicia Quay and Dr. Fountain answered the call by spending a cold day sorting and moving bricks and other materials from the remains. Seen above are Terri Jones (in black) and Dr. Fountain (in red) moving their mountains.
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Model United Nations Delegation Marches on Atlanta!
Led by President Emily King (right) and advised by Dr. Jeff Martinson, the largest Meredith M.U.N. delegation yet set out to Atlanta to represent both Italy and Iraq at the Southern Regional Model United Nations Conference. They held their own admirably among delegations from 65 other colleges and universities. Decorum, Delegates!
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Phi Alpha Theta Inducts New Members
The History Department was pleased to induct (l-r) Jenna Burnham, Michelle Palmore, Sarah Harmon and Afnan Boutrid into Phi Alpha Theta, the national honor society in History. Congratulations!
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Meredith Students Attend Leadership Conference in D.C.
Senior Tiffany Medford (second from right) led a group of Meredith students to a weekend leadersip conference in Washington, D.C. Organized by the Public Leadership Education Network, the sessions introduced students to careers in public advocacy, law, and a variety of other areas. The first of many such trips, we hope!
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Faculty: 19 -- Student-Athletes: 2!!!
Many watched -- some with skepticism -- as Dr. Fountain zeroed in on the opening delivery from the student-athlete kickball team. They should have been looking up . . .
because that's where he sent it. The first of many in what turned out to be a rout!
Better luck next year, kids!
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Strange Phenomenon in Iceland
Local Icelandic bloggers reported that an odd stranger had established an unusual rapport with the geothermal forces. Recent posts indicate that he and a colleague will bring a group of Meredith students back to study there in summer, 2008.
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Meredith Students Achieve Top Honors
Meredith students celebrated their graduations recently, and not just in Raleigh! In the uppermost picture stands a beaming Stephanie Byrd with "some of [her] faves" Drs. Novak, Martinson and Frazier. No less enthusiastic is the smiling woman the the next picture, Sarah Margaret Tullos ('05), freshly vested with her Master's degree in Near Eastern Studies from the Kevorkian Center of NYU. Three cheers to this season's Meredith grads whether near or far!
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Reading Day Celebration Lauds Graduates, Honored Faculty
Topping off the fun-filled event, Phi Sigma Alpha member Nicole McGuiness (not pictured) inducted new members (left to right) Whitney Sorrell, Ashley Vaughan and Ella Frazier. Congrats to these new members of Phi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society!!
Rosie and the Riveters? No, but part of the Reading Day Celebration dedicated to honoring one of our longest-serving faculty members. Longtime friends and colleagues from across the Meredith campus assembled to celebrate Dr. Rosalie Gates’ recent transition to Emeritus status. Above, she’s embraced by several of them, (left to right) Novak, Vitarbo, Frazier, Fountain, McElreath, Martinson, Rogers and Page.) Congrats Rosalie, and we’ll be seeing you!!
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Students Meet Pulitizer Prize-Winning Author
On March 27th, historian Gordon S. Wood spoke to audience at Belk Dining Hall about his new book, Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different. The event was sponsored by the John Locke Foundation and attended by several History and Political Science luminaries. Standing behind the seated Dr. Wood below are some of them:(from left to right) Dr. Fountain, Megan Anderson, Whitney Perry, Stephanie McRae and Monique Powell.
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History Honors Awarded
Congratulations to the most recent group of Phi Alpha Theta inductees!! Phi Alpha Theta is a national honor society of students of History, whose members have maintained high GPAs in both their general and History-specific coursework. Pictured below with their certificates and honor cords are: Leigh Ann Alford, Genevieve Boisvert, Stephanie Byrd, Tara Mitchell, Whitney Perry and Monique Powell. Great work ladies!!
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Dr. Happer Discovers Life in Office Rain Barrel
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Lands the Great Beast
Those readers who follow this page will remember that Dr. Happer has been taking about 15 gallons of water through the roof of her Joyner office every time it rains. She returned from some weeks away over the break to discover that there was life in her barrel! "I don't know what it is," she said, "but if it's big enough to catch it's big enough to eat and I'm going to get it before it gets me." The pictures below display her valiant efforts.
After finding that the Beast liked Velveeta Cheese, Dr. Happer broke several fishing poles and lines trying to catch it. Finally, donning special protective glasses, she rigged a trapper's noose line from her ethernet cable and hauled it out. Specialists from the Biology Department are now trying to determine its species and why it emits nuclear radiation. Stay tuned!
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Senior Honors Presentations and Shindig
Honors students Leslie Harris and Tara Mitchell presented their Senior Thesis findings to a full house of majors, faculty, friends and a variety of people who showed up for the free food. Tara Mitchell (top left) discussed the impact of economic change on women's roles in the colonial North and South to a rapt audience. Leslie Harris (bottom right) discussed the Palestinian organization Hamas with supporters in the peanut gallery. All photos courtesy of Dr. Frank Rogers, Surveillance.
And, as predicted, Novak won the Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle rematch despite much advance abuse.
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The New Joyner Hall
17 Gallons in Dr. Happer's rain gauge!
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Model United Nations delegates shine at Southern Regional Model U.N. Conference in Atlanta.
Congratulations to this year's MUN delegation, who very successfully represented The Netherlands in the company of about 800 student delegates from forty colleges and universities. With eight first time delegates and only five experienced members, this year's groups proved themselves remarkably effective from the dais and in caucus, where they wrote, sponsored and or signed resolutions in every venue. Pictured below are, left to right, Hamida Saleh, Jackie Neustel, Danielle Beck, Angie Burns, Ha Tran, Emily King, Leslie Harris, Eryn Ritter, Chauffer Michael Novak, Courtney Crute, September Pinckney, Jessica Coates, Advisor Dr. Jeff Martinson, and Penetta Craig.
Below. Left to Right:
Danielle and Courtney drive a hard bargain in caucus; Jessica and Ha draft a working paper.
Meanwhile, Penetta and Leslie ponder their next speech from the Dais.
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| Senior Thesis Research Leads to Venezuela | |
| by Melyssa Allen | |
For many students, digging a little deeper into their senior research project might mean getting a few more books from the library. For Meredith senior Jessica Coates, doing more research meant traveling to Venezuela. Coates spent three weeks in Venezuela with Global Exchange (www.globalexchange.org), on what the human rights organization calls a Reality Tour. This summer program in Venezuela is the basis of Coates’ senior thesis on aspects of that country’s political system. “Being there for three weeks was like a semester’s worth of learning,” said Coates, who participated in a language school to improve her Spanish, and visited Caracas and Mérida. Coates said her interest in Venezuela politics began in the spring of 2005, when she took Latin American History, taught by Débora Maldonado-DeOlivera, and Liberation Theology, taught by Margarita Suarez. The two courses were Core 200 linkages in Meredith’s General Education program. Prior to these classes, Coates was unfamiliar with Latin American history. The Latin American History and Liberation Theology classes “changed my life…it opened my eyes to our neighbors to the south in a big way,” Coates said. |
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Venezuela, the world’s fifth leading producer of oil, was of particular interest to the political science major because of the way the country uses its oil profits to fund social programs, such as free health care, education and employment training initiatives. While there, she toured employment training sites, as well as a textile cooperative and a trout farm, which was Coates’ favorite. “They are very proud of their success [at the trout farm],” Coates said. “Their plans include gaining organic certification, building a hotel for eco-tourism and teaching organic farming classes.” For her senior thesis, Coates is exploring community action in Venezuela. During her trip, she was able to attend a community council meeting. The one she attended was a mobile community meeting with the mayor of Mérida. “I really saw how the community action works…the councils are the biggest symbols of the power that the people [in Venezuela] have,” Coates said. “They are designed so that everybody gets to be heard. Coates has spent two semesters working on her project. She has found her real-life experience this summer important as she completes her project this semester. “I went there with a blank slate…I feel like I left with more questions than answers, but I got what I wanted, which was a human connection to my topic,” she said. “From this experience, I gained perspective…now when I write about Venezuela, I’m writing about friends.”
After graduating in December 2006, Coates plans to return to Venezuela before exploring graduate school options.
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Phi Alpha Theta, the National Honor Society for History, welcomed (left to right) Tara Newton, Charlotte Roberts and Jenny Braswell into membership at an induction ceremony on October 19, 2007. Congratulations!!!
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Dr. Michael McElreath recently took his North Carolina History class on a field trip to Historic Stagville. This large site north of Durham features numerous historically significant structures, including the late 18th-century Bennehan House, four two-story, four-room slave houses, a pre-Revolutionary War yeoman farmer's house, and a massive timber framed barn, as well as a modern visitor center and the Bennehan Family cemetery. Pictured below are the group at the site and also learning about slave life from a site interpreter.
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Team Meredith at World Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Championships
While on the Honors Fall Excursion to Asheville, NC., Honors Scholar and Teaching Fellow Leslie Harris led Drs. Novak and Fountain to enter the 26th Annual World Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Championships at the Southern Highlands Craft Center. The team practiced hard for hours to master this new and subtle skill, then joined contestants from as far away as Tennessee in fierce competition. Dr. Fountain sustained a career ending injury to his index finger, but not before winning a Moon Pie for his efforts. Dr. Novak made the final round, but crashed to fifth place and his own Moon Pie. Leslie Harris went on to finish second in THE WORLD, receiving as her prize a gold plated Whimmy Diddle. Congratulations to all!
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New Full-time Faculty
Please join the Department in welcoming new faculty members Jeffrey Martinson (left) and Michael McElreath (right). Dr. Martinson, who holds his degree from The Ohio State University, will specialize in international relations. Dr. McElreath, whose degree is from The University of Pennsylvania, will specialize in modern U.S. history and teacher licensure.
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Spring 2006
Farewell, for now, to dear old Joyner.
Drs. Novak and Fountain say a happy goodbye to Joyner Hall for the summer, as they prepare to set up temporary office space on First String.
But why leave? Take a closer look at the ribbon below.
Oops!!!
But we return to new paint, new carpet, new climate control, offices on the second floor and air that is made safer by special ultraviolet lights in the HVAC system. Now that IS something to smile about.
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Model UN Delegation Hits the Big Apple
Congratulations to this year's Model United Nations delegation, who received an invitation to the national Model U.N. conference in New York, where they joined over 200 delegations from around the world in a week of exhausting but exhilarating hard nosed diplomacy. Pictured here as they prepare to depart Raleigh via Amtrak on April 10 are (front row, left to right,) Jackie Neustel, Courtney Crute, Jessica Coates, and (back row, left to right,) Mackenzie Carter, Kelly Johnson, Emily Collins, Meredith Taylor, Erica Oakley, Rose Wilson, Leslie Harris, Tara Mitchell and Angenette Burns. Hiding somewhere is their fearless advisor, Dr. Gregory Vitarbo.
