Chair's Note
This fall quarter has been flying by! The History Department is in the midst of Program Review, which happens approximately every 8-10 years. Our external reviewers, Professors Jay Aronson (Carnegie Mellon University) and Stacy Farenholdt (UC Davis), have reviewed our lengthy self-study document and visited our campus, meeting with the Dean’s Office and History faculty and students. We value these outside perspectives on our history program and the position of History at SCU as a whole, and we are waiting to receive written feedback from the external reviewers, some of which we hope will support our arguments about the need for more History faculty, departmental space, and student resources. This fall we also hosted a History “Dia de los Muertos” Ofrenda, pictured below, which Professors Mateo Carrillo and Sonia Gomez organized. This ofrenda (altar) honors loved ones who have passed as part of the Dias de Los Muertos holiday (November 1-2). The History Department’s ofrenda, one of ten organized at SCU and the only one hosted by a department (go history!), contributed to a larger community celebration, “El Camino de los Muertos,” hosted by Santa Clara University, Bay Area’s Univision, and the Mexican Consulate of San Jose.
Amy E. Randall, Professor and Department Chair, History Department, and Associate Director, Center for the Arts and Humanities
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Naomi Andrews
Naomi Andrews was recognized by the SCU College of Arts and Sciences for excellence in the classroom with the 2023 Dr. David E. Logothettis Teaching Award.
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Meg Eppel Gudgeirsson
C-SPAN aired a class recording of Meg's course on California history. Meg also presented at the American Historical Pacific Coast Branch on the interracial school in the nineteenth century.
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Amy Randall
SCU’s College of Arts and Sciences honored the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Council by conferring it the Dean’s Service Award in recognition of its exemplary service in support of the CAS. Amy Randall was recognized as a member of this advisory council.
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Nancy Unger
Nancy served as a panelist on the Council on Foreign Relations virtual roundtable series "Threats to Democracy," She also spoke to a sold-out crowd at The Breakers (the Vanderbilt mansion in Newport, Rhode Island) and at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Read more »
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More Faculty Updates
Read the latest updates from Michael Brillman, Mateo Carrillo, Sonia Gomez, Mathew Newsom Kerr, Matthew Specter, and Gregory Wigmore.
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| The History Club has new leadership this year. Payton Stewart will be serving as president, Samuel Cao as vice president, and Dylan Ryu as the treasurer. Fall activities included a screening of the 1996 film, Ridicule, on September 29., and the annual Pizza with the Profs on October 4. |
| In June, the History Department celebrated its graduating seniors. |
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Library Undergraduate Research Award
Aashna Nilawar '23 was this year’s recipient of the Library Undergraduate Research Award, a university-wide prize, for her senior thesis “The Myth of Meritocracy: The Indian Caste System's Effect on Indian Immigration and Naturalization in 20th Century United States.”
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Hoefer Prize
The University recognized Rob Wohl’s essay, “Masking Evil: St. Domingan Émigrés in the Philadelphian Press, 1789-1793,” with the Hoefer Prize for Excellence, which is funded by the Hoefer Family Foundation to recognize outstanding undergraduate writing.
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Fulbright Award
Ariana Tabrizi '23 received a Fulbright to teach English in Southern Italy. She is also pursuing a side project that focuses on immigrant Italian communities and their experiences by conducting and filming interviews and day-to-day events which will culminate in a documentary.
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| In addition to recognizing these student achievements, the History Department conferred its annual awards. |
 Julia Kovatch was awarded with the McPhee Prize, which was established in 2007 from the generosity of Lulu and John McPhee. The award recognizes a History Major or Minor whose sustained achievement in history includes the writing of the best seminar paper. Julia was recognized for her paper, “'Go Outside and Play!': Backyard Playgrounds in New York City During the Progressive Era.” Nancy Unger, who taught the seminar, described her essay as exhibiting the same qualities as all of her written work: it features an original thesis built on critical examination of carefully selected secondary and primary research and is beautifully written. |
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 The History Department’s Redwood Prize was established in 1908 for a student who writes the best essay on a historical subject. The 2023 recipient was Stephanie Anna Nicolae for her paper entitled “The Open Secret: Male Prostitution, Homosexuality, and Pederasty in French Indochina.” In this paper, Nicolae explores linkages between homosexual promiscuity, the fragility of white masculinity, and the instability of colonial authority in fin-de-siecle Indochina.
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 Hannah Hagen’s paper, “Tradition Shattered: How Women’s Recreation at SCU Aided the Acceptance and Assimilation of the Santa Clara Woman” earned the Giacomini Prize, awarded to a History Major or Minor for the best-researched paper based on primary sources. Hannah’s essay provides an original contribution to the fields of women’s and gender studies and social history. Utilizing an extensive range of local and national archival material, Hagen illuminates the emancipatory role played by the Women’s Recreational Association (WRA) at SCU.
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 Finally, the Mehl Prize, established in 1933 in memory of friend and benefactor Frederick J. Mehl, is given to the best senior thesis. The 2023 recipients were Sean Chamberlain and Bianca Romero.
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We also celebrated our students who graduated with Honors, having received a grade point average of 3.5 or higher in their history classes and completed a senior thesis project: Sean Chamberlain, Hannah Hagen, Aashna Nilawar, Bianca Romero, Nico Sanchez, Ariana Tabrizi, Antonio Vargas, and Rob Wohl.
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Julia Kovatch '23
Julia has been named a Cleveland Foundation Public Service Fellow. The fellowship includes 12-month, full-time employment, professional development opportunities, individualized coaching, and immersion in Cleveland civic life.
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Ralph Spaulding '67
Ralph credits History professors like Tim O'Keefe and George Giacomini for his forty-two-year career as a History Professor at Mt. San Antonio College in Southern California.
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