Graduate Students

In their own words

Angie Gumm

While working as the editor at a small weekly newspaper in Haysville, KS, I went back to Wichita State University to get my Master's in history, primarily to qualify for student health insurance. I ended up enjoying the work of school much more than most of the work of being editor. After an especially fun seminar in which I wrote a paper on the differences between Indian and European farming methods and ideologies in the late 1700s-early 1800s, I decided to apply to Iowa State to continue studying agricultural history. My thesis was on the history of the resource recovery of trash in the United States. I've traveled a lot and lived in quite a few places, doing different kinds of work (my favorite job was being an American Fellowship Ambassador at Walt Disney World for a year). I am surprised, but happily so, to find myself here studying for a PhD! I am not sure what I'll study yet but am excited to become more familiar with the fields of agricultural and rural history and find a worthwhile topic within those subjects.

 

Adam Ebert

During my undergraduate years, I consciously avoided academic subjects that reflected my personal background. My study of European history and biology were intended as an intellectual escape from my upbringing as a commercial beekeeper raised in rural Iowa. I wanted to know more about the world. In my last semester studying for the MA at ISU, however, I developed a fascination with rural culture and the array of sources on nineteenth-century beekeeping. Rumors of beekeepers' journals, manuals, and diaries had floated toward me for a couple of years, and I finally investigated them further in a fit of frustration when a different project ran up against a wall. And so the beekeeping dissertation was born. In particular, I focus on the cultural dynamics that played into reformers' rationale for imposing innovation while cottagers alternatively aided or impeded those impositions for reasons of their own. While these themes are widely relevant to nineteenth-century beekeeping and scientific agriculture, I center on the English case for the sake of sharper analysis.

Now in my final year of coursework, I look forward to completing field exams in the spring and advancing to a couple of years immersed in doctoral research and writing. In the meanwhile, I continue as a teaching assistant for various courses and happily supply the department with honey from the fields of Iowa.

Kristy Medanic

Education:
Iowa State University

Ph.D. Candidate- Agricultural History and Rural Studies Program (2006-Present)

Master of Arts- History (2006)
Thesis: "Patriotic Homemaking: World War II and the Homemaker's Half-Hour"

Bachelor of Arts- Political Science and Secondary Education (2003)

Research Interests:

• Religion and Politics in Antebellum America
• Preservation of Rural Culture via Clubs and Organizations
• Voting Behavior and Patterns in the United States
• Media and Rural Life

Teaching Experience:

• Teaching Assistant, History 351 "U.S. Society and Culture in the 1800s" (Fall 2005)
• Teaching Assistant, History 352 "U.S. Society and Culture in the 1900s" (Spring 2006)
• Teaching Assistant, History 201 "Survey of Western Civilization I" (Fall 2006)

Research Experience:

• Student Archivist, University Archives and Special Collections,
• Parks Library, Iowa State University (Summer 2005- Present)
• Research Assistant, Dr. Dorothy Schwieder, (Summer 2006- Present)

Recent Conference Participation and Panels:

• Organization of American Historians, Midwest Regional Conference, Lincoln, NE (July 2006)
  Paper: "Helping the Women at Home: Wartime Concessions on the Homefront"
  Panel: "The Government in Your Home: Extension Programs for Farm Families"
  
• Agricultural History Society, National Conference, Boston, Massachusetts (June 2006)

Honors and Awards:

• Phi Alpha Theta, Travel Grant (Summer 2006)
• Professional Affiliations and Activities:
• Organization of American Historians
• Agricultural History Society
• Phi Alpha Theta, Kappa Iota Chapter (2005- Present) Vice-President (2006-2007)
• 2 entries for the Iowa Biographical Dictionary Project (forthcoming in December.)

 

Kevin Howe

Kevin Howe lives in Johnston, IA with my wife and two daughters. He received his undergraduate degree from Grand View College in 1983 and his Juris Doctor with honors, from Drake Law School in 1986. During his legal career, he has served as an Administrative Law Judge for the Iowa Department of Commerce, Insurance
Division; partner at the Nyemaster law firm in Des Moines, specializing in administrative and corporate law; and legal counsel for the Principal Financial Group. He is currently with the Des Moines law firm of Brown Winick in their government relations practice group.

His parents grew up in rural Warren County. As a child, he spent most weekends on the farms of his grandparents, aunts and uncles. It was there that Kevin first gained an appreciation of and fascination with the unique qualities and challenges of small-town Iowa farm life. He hopes to combine this experience with his professional experience to explore issues of law, politics and agriculture.
 

Robert Welch

Education:

• Iowa State University, PhD Student, Agricultural History and Rural Studies Expected Graduation date May, 2010
• Iowa State University, Master of Arts, History May, 2006
• University of Northern Iowa, B.A., History, 2003

Current Research Interests

• Nineteenth Century American History
• American Agricultural History, Pre-Twentieth Century
• American Civil War Era

Teaching Experience at Iowa State University

• Teaching Assistant, History 221 (Survey of United States History I), 2004
• Teaching Assistant, History 202 (Introduction to Western Civilization II), 2005
• Teaching Assistant, History 221 (Survey of United States History I), 2005
• Teaching Assistant, History 222 (Survey of United States History II), 2006
• Researcher, Center for Agricultural History. Summer, 2006
• Student Employee, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library,
  Summer, 2006
• Teaching Assistant, History 221 (Survey of United States History I), 2006

Professional Activities

• History Department Representative, Graduate and Professional Student Senate, Iowa State University, 2005-2006
• President, Kappa Iota Chapter, Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, Iowa State University, 2006-2007

Publications and Conference Presentations

• Presentation, "'I Am Just A Farmer Here, Standing for My Rights': The Cedar County Cow War of 1931", Agricultural History Society Annual Conference, June, 2006
• Various Articles Published through Center for Agricultural History website, August, 2006.

Professional Memberships

• Agricultural History Society
• Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, Kappa Iota Chapter, Iowa State University

Awards

• 2005 Iowa State University Department of History Matterson Award Internships
• Living History Farms Historical Interpreter Intern, 2005

I am interested in American history leading to the Civil War, with emphasis on agriculture and rural life. What influenced the daily lives of rural Americans? What did they eat, how did they dress, what impacted them on a daily basis? There is more to a person than what appears on the census rolls. How much did new technology impact the average farmer? Is there an "average" farmer? Why did they enlist in the Civil War? Did ethnicity and nativity have an impact on their agriculture and their call to service in times of war? Can I add any more questions here?

When I returned to college, after taking a few years off, I came back as an education major. My wife and I went to check out some books to read for fun before the semester started, and I got the reports of the Iowa State Agricultural Society for 1862 and 1864. As we were sitting at home on a Saturday night, my wife took one look at me and what I was reading and asked why I wasn't a history major. I went in the next Monday and changed my major, it's been down hill ever since.

Oh yeah, I'm supposed to mention that I have a beautiful, loving, caring, intelligent wife, Bridget, who has helped every step of the way. I am also kept by two cats, who think my research time is a great time to jump on my books and sleep.
 
Rick Woten

Education

• Doctoral student, Rural and Agricultural History (Iowa State University, May 2005-Present)
• M.A., History (Iowa State University, May 2005)
  Thesis: "Navigating the era of internal improvements: The Des Moines River Improvement Lands Grant"
• B.S., Double Major: Urban and Community Forestry, History (Iowa State University, 2003)

Teaching Experience

• Teaching Assistant History 201 (Survery of Western Civilization I), Fall 2006
• Teaching Assistant, History 222 (Survey U.S. History II), Spring 2005, Spring 2006
• Teaching Assistant, History 221 (Survey U.S. History I), Fall 2005
• Teaching Assistant, Classical Studies (Athens, The Ancient City), Spring 2004

Research Experience

• Research Assistant, History, Dr. Sara M. Gregg, Summer 2005
  Assisting in GIS research for "Mapping Conservation Policy Outcomes: Adding a New Dimension to Historical Research."
• Research Assistant, Department of History, Dr. Pamela Riney-Kehrberg Summer 2006
  Project Manager/Creator of an "On-Line Primer in Rural and Agricultural History" posted on the Iowa State University Center for Agricultural History and Rural Studies web site.
• Research Assistant, Classical Studies, Dr. Margaret Mook, January 2004- December 2005
  Assisted in preservation of image collection from research conducted on the island of Crete.

Selected Presentations and Publications

• "Improving the River and the State: The Legacy of the Des Moines River Lands Grant" at the Midwest Popular Culture Association Conference, St. Louis, MO October 14-16, 2005.
• "The Promise of a Great Water Thoroughfare for the Transportation of Midwestern Produce: The Des Moines River Lands Grant and Improvement Project" at the Agricultural History Society Conference, Boston, Mass. June 14-17, 2006.
• Multiple entries for the Iowa Biographical Dictionary (forthcoming).
• "Navigating and Constructing Improvement in a Settler Society: The Des Moines River Improvement Project" - (article under review).

Selected Honors

• Center for Agricultural History and Rural Studies. Online Agricultural History Primer: Webmaster/Creator 2006-2007.
• Phi Alpha Theta, Kappa Iota. Webmaster 2006-2007.
• Phi Alpha Theta, Kappa Iota. Secretary 2005-2006.The Chancellor's List (An Award for Graduate Students) 2004-2005.
• Nominated by History faculty member to represent Iowa State University for Distinguished Master's Thesis Award presented by the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools.

Research Interests

• Nineteenth century United States
• Agriculture and Environmental History
• Land Law and Policy

Professional Affiliations

• Agricultural History Society
• American Historical Association
• American Society for Environmental History / Forest History Society
• American Society for Legal Historians
• Organization of American Historians
• Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, Kappa Iota Iowa State University Chapter