Image: The History Department is happy to welcome our new faculty this semester! Professor Elizabeth Tandy Shermer is coming to us from a previous appointment at Loyola University at Chicago to fill her role as the first director of the new interdisciplinary Applied History Certificate Program. Dr. Shermer she received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is an accomplished historian with two well-reviewed books Sunbelt Capitalism: Phoenix and the Transformation of American Politics and Indentured Student: How Government-Guaranteed Loans Left Generations Drowning in College Debt which showcased to students during History’s Lunchtime Time Machine event. A historian of 20th and 21st century U.S. political economy and policy studies, Shermer believes deeply in the importance of the relationship of the past and the present, the cornerstone of the Applied History Program, a collaboration between the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of History and the School of Public & International Affairs which trains students to harness historical knowledge and thinking to shape politics and public policy by the “thinking in time”. The program is focused on teaching students the skills to use historical knowledge in contemporary policy-making, including work in governments, administrations, unions, or universities. Shermer hopes students learn to “really pull in the ideas from social cultural history to help us build the bridge between policy and social movements or understand their work experiences through what they’re learning in the class.” The first of its kind in the nation, the Applied History Program emphasizes historical methods and critical approaches to international and policy studies. The Stanton Foundation has generously supplied the funding for this program, which includes internships and course development and revision of an interdisciplinary curriculum involving faculty from History, International Affairs, and Political Science. In the first semester of the program this fall, students have already shown appreciation for the new opportunity, adding the certificate path to their program of study. Courses include HIST 3224 NAFTA to El Chapo: Mexico and the U.S., HIST 3015 Humanitarianism and Human Rights in U.S. History, INTL 4860 Historical Analogies and Foreign Policy Decision Making, POLS 4800 Constitutional Law: Institutional Power in Historical Perspective, and another two rounds of course development to best serve the needs of students. Recently developed courses include: HIST4722/6722 The People Behind Public Policy, and HIST 3016 Wealth, Poverty, and U.S. Policy. The History Department is thrilled to be undertaking this partnership with SPIA and welcoming Dr. Shermer as program director. With more than twenty students already enrolled in the program we know that Dr. Shermer’s commitment to active scholarship, applied history within her own research, and dynamism in the classroom will help the program continue to grow and flourish. Off-campus, Shermer is a serious swimmer and cyclist, and recently participated in Swim across America Shermer. She is excited to be here in Athens, and enjoyed the end of summer heat thunderstorms. Ongoing, it’s the little things that establish your homebase, and she has been taking in student and faculty recommendations for local coffee spots such as Hendersho'ts and Condor Chocolates. With an appreciation for the Classic City’s community events, art, and movie scene, she’s already attended her first Athens Wild Rumpus and also attended this year’s Historic Athens Porchfest event band event, and noted that Athens is one of those towns where people watching on gamedays is an event in itself! We’re excited to have Dr. Shermer and her aptly named feline companion Athena join our Athens community. By Erleen Ellis
