Graduate Students

Ryan T. Austin

raustin@iastate.edu
Ph.D. Candidate, HOTS Program

Education:
B.S. History (Iowa State University) 1999
M.A. Organizational Management (Concordia University-St. Paul, MN) 2002.
Areas of interest:
US Economic History, 20th Century America
Research interests:
Research interests include economic policy, economic theory, labor, money, and markets. Specific eras of interest include the Hoover and Reagan Administrations.
Advisor: Dr. Hamilton Cravens
Publications:
"The development of American business and economics: industrial capitalism, big business, and society." (344 pages, Masters Thesis Concordia University, 2001)
Other information:
2001-2003 Adjunct Professor of Management (Concordia University)
2002-2005 Economics Instructor (Roseville Area High School, MN)
2000-2002 G.A. and Assistant Track Coach (Concordia University)
2003 Voluntary Assistant Football Coach (Concordia University) NSIC Conference Champions
2004 Assistant Special Teams Coordinator and Scout Teams Coordinator Augsburg College (Minneapolis, MN)

 

Cynthia D. Bennet

cdbennet@iastate.edu
Ph.D. student, HOTS program

Education:
M.A.(2001) Iowa State University, History
B.S. (1998) History major, with honors/English minor
Areas of interest:
19th and 20th century American technology; history of women and work, 19th century agricultural history, and rescue technology
Research interests:
I have recently completed papers on ventilation reform as part of the public health movement in New York City during the 19th century, also a paper on virginity as a cultural ideal and how that ideal creates a market for sexual reconstructive surgeries that replicate the virgin state
Dissertation title:
"The History of Rescue Technology in America" (working title)
Dissertation summary:
The specific area/s of rescue technology to be developed in the dissertation have not yet been determined
Advisor: Dr. Amy Bix
Conference papers:
"Photo Finish: Death and Photography in the Nineteenth Century" Mid-Atlantic Popular/ American Culture Association Conference, Baltimore, October 2006
Grants and awards:
Best Graduate Paper, Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference, 2001 for "Photo Finish: The Memorialization of Death Through Photography in Nineteenth-Century America"
Other information:
I taught survey courses in American History at DMACC for three years, have done legal history research for a private history company, and am on the board of the Ames Historical Society where my special area of activity is an oral history project on the Ames homefront during WWII.

Gary Cameron

gcameron@iastate.edu
Ph.D. Student, HOTS program
Education:
BS (1986) History, Iowa State University
MA (1999) History, Iowa State University
Areas of Interest:
History of astronomy, astrophysics, and the physical sciences (19th & 20th century)
History of scientific instruments (particularly telescopes & optics)
History of science education
Military history
Research Interests:
My research focuses in particular on amateur astronomy and science popularization in the late 19th and early 20th century. This period also saw an increase in volume and diversity in terms of popular media (magazines and books for the lay-person) and popular education in astronomy (public observatories and planetariums). In addition, I am interested in the changes in technology of instruments during this period: not only was there a shift among professional astronomers from refracting (lens) telescopes to much larger reflecting (mirror) telescopes, there was also a shift among amateur astronomers from expensive factory-made telescopes to home-built telescopes.
Advisor: Dr. James Andrews
Dissertation Title: "Open to the Public: Astronomy Popularization, 1890 – 1940" (provisional title)
Conference Papers:
"The Maksutov Club: The Amateur in Science" -- 1998 Annual Meeting of the Antique Telescope Society (Harvard University)
"A New Way of Looking: the Amateur Telescope Making Movement in 1920's America" -- 2006 Junto for the History of Science (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
Publications:
"Charles Augustus Norton", "Alvan Clark & Sons", "George Willis Ritchey", and "James Gilbert Baker" articles for the Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomy (due to be published by Springer sometime in 2006 at last report)
Interests:
I am originally from Des Moines, Iowa where I became interested in both astronomy and history by frequent visits to the DrakeMunicipal Observatory. After getting my MA, I became administrator for the Marshall County Historical Museum (1999 – 2005). I also have been an adjunct instructor for Iowa State University and Buena Vista University in both astronomy and history. Personal interests include: astronomy, historical reenacting (I do American War of 1812 and have gotten pretty good at tailoring my own uniforms), and collecting and restoring antique telescopes. Memberships include: Phi Alpha Theta, History of Science Society, Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society, the Antique Telescope Society, & the Iowa Museum Association.

Lynda Pinney Domino

ldomino@iastate.edu
HOTS Ph.D. candidate
Education:
B.S. History with Secondary Ed. certification Iowa State University (1998)
M.A. History Iowa State University (2003)
Master's Thesis: He Kept Her the Space of a Year: Celtic secular marriage in late medieval Scotland.
Major Professor: Kenneth G. Madison
Areas of interest:
19th c. American history/American technology; 19th c. military technology and military medicine; American military history
Research interests:
Civil War military history - specifically, weapons technology and tactics - and Civil War medicine, including the courts-martial of Civil War surgeons. Other areas of research include cavalry and equine technology. I like to keep a finger in other areas of military history, as well. Most recently, I researched the weapons technology and tactics of the Battle of Flodden Field (1513) between England and Scotland.
Dissertation title:
Weapons, Wounds, and Warfare: 1861-1865 [working title]
Dissertation summary:
I am researching the ways in which Civil War soldiers were wounded by following specific regiments and companies into battle, studying the weapons and tactical movements used by those units during the battle, and then going with the wounded men into the field hospitals to see what kinds of wounds they
received and why. How did advances in weapons technology affect the type and character of the wounds that Civil War soldiers received? What role did tactics play? In particular, what were the differences between pre-1864 tactics and post-1864 tactics and how did these differences affect the wounding of soldiers? Finally, how did the change in the type and character of wounds affect the way that surgeons were treating them? Civil War medicine is a comparatively young field of study in American Civil War history and, as such, there has been relatively little work done on the role of changing tactics and advances in weaponry with respect to wounds and their treatment. To clearly understand the roles played by weapons technology and tactics in the Civil War, we must complete the picture by following the soldier not just onto the battlefield, but also into the field hospitals and beyond.
Advisor: Dr. Amy Bix
Conference papers:
"Warfare in Sixteenth-century Scotland." Paper presented at the Sixteenth-century Society Conference in Toronto, Canada. (November 2004)
"Celtic Secular Marriage in Late Medieval Scotland." Paper presented at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI. (May 2002). "Marriage Practices in Medieval Scotland." Paper presented at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI. (May 2001).
Commentator on the session "Public Controversy, Historical Debates and Historical Inquiry," at the regional meeting of the Organization for American Historians. (August 2000).
Grants and awards:
Spring 2004 Matterson Award for Best Graduate Student Paper, Iowa State University Department of History.
2004-05 Research Assistantship, Science Education inter-disciplinary project; Supervising professor: David Wilson.
Other information:
Lecturer/Adjunct Instructor, History of Western Civilization survey, Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa (May 2004-current).

Wade Franck

gwfranck@iastate.edu
Ph.D. candidate

Education:
MA, History of Technology and Science, August 2003-December 2005, Iowa State University, Ames
BA, Majors in History and Political Science, August 1993-May 1997, University of Iowa, Iowa City
Areas of interest:
I am mainly interested in the changes taking place in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries; specifically, technological changes in the American military, the mechanization of agricultural and their impact on the role of that the United States plays in the world. I also have a keen interest in communication, transportation, engineering, and entertainment of those time periods.
Research interests:
My research has mainly been in the area of the mechanization of American agriculture starting in the 1830s. Specifically, I have chosen to focus on the mechanization of grain production. My research has included studying the development of the grain reaper and then its improvement into the twine binder before the combine superseded it. In doing so, I have also become interested in the company histories of the McCormick Mowing and Reaping Company and the International Harvester Company. My Master's thesis was on the reaper centennial that International Harvester celebrated in 1931.
Advisor: Dr. Amy Bix
Publications:
"Leadville," in Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West, edited by Gordon Morris Bakken, 2006
Conference papers:
Invited to give a paper entitled, "'To do Honor to Grandfather,' The Myth Building and Centennial Celebration of Cyrus McCormick and the Grain Reaper," Annual Meeting of the Society of the History of Technology, Las Vegas, October 12-16, 2006
"Marketing Agricultural Machinery Across the Atlantic: International Harvester in Europe, 1902-1939," First Annual Meeting of the Agricultural History Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 15-17, 2006
"'Bringing in the Sheaves': The Invention of the Twine Binder Attachment," Midwest Junto for the History of Science, 49th Annual Meeting, University of Wisconsin-Madison, April 28 -30, 2006
"What really sunk the Maine? The Spanish-American War and Naval Technology," Guest Lunch-time Lecturer, Technology and Policy Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 2005
"Father of the Reaper: The Myth Building of Cyrus McCormick," Midwest Junto for the History of Science, 48th Annual Meeting, Truman State University, April 1-3, 2005
Grants and awards:
Awarded a SHOT Travel Grant from the Society of the History of Technology to attend their Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, October 12-16, 2006.
Other information:
In whatever free time I may have, I enjoy going to film festivals, listening to music, collecting and using technology from the 19th and early 20th centuries and working on, fixing up and riding bicycles of all sorts.

Cai Guise-Richardson

caiguise@iastate.edu
Ph.D. student
Education:
M.S. (1999) Iowa State University, Textiles and Clothing
B.I.S. (1994) University of Waterloo
B.A. (1993) University of Toronto, History and Politics
Areas of interest:
19th and 20th century of mental science and psychopharmacology, Gilded age science, history of sex/gender/reproduction, 19th century technology, U.S. and the Middle East
Research interests: I have recently completed papers on naturalists' explanations of separate spheres in the Gilded Age, and another discussing how vulcanization was reconceptualized by Charles Goodyear and his compatriots in order to maintain control over a nascent industry. In the 2006-2007 term I plan to write papers discussing core theories underlying psychiatry and psychology between 1920 and 1940, different theories between 1940 and 1960, as well as how animal models of mental illness helped shape concepts of normal and abnormal behavior in humans.
Dissertation title: Mother's Little Helper; or, The Tax Deductible Martini: Gender, Dependence, and Independence in the History of Valium.
Dissertation summary: My dissertation focuses on the anti-anxiety drug diazepam (Valium) and how the history of its development, use, and regulation reflects changing concepts of what it meant to be an individual in the mid and late-20th century. I hope to investigate the relationship between dependence and independence, how it changes, and how it is related to the status of women.
Advisors: Dr. Amy Bix and Dr. Alan Marcus
Conference papers:
Patent Lawsuits and Technological Innovation: Early Machine-Made Lace. Midwest Junto for the History of Science (Ames, IA, April, 1997).
Patterns of Patterns: A Symmetry Analysis of 19th and 20th Century Machine-Made Lace Designs. Ars Textrina (Stillwater, OK, June, 1997).
Chrome Tanning: Invention, Re-invention, and Adoption. Midwest Junto for the History of Science (Minneapolis, MN, April 1998).
Chrome Tanning: Its Introduction and Effects on the Evolution of Footwear. Costume Society of America, National Meeting (Pasadena, CA, May 1998).
Early Twist-Net Lace: Relating Method of Production to Final Product. Ars Textrina (Madison, WI, June 1998).
Shaping History: Two Faces of Charles Goodyear. OAH, Midwest Regional Conference (Ames, IA, August 2000)
Developing the Myth of Charles Goodyear: Patent Law and the Independent Inventor. Society for the History of Technology (Munich, Germany, August 2000)
Grants and awards:
Costume History for Youth
Cai Guise-Richardson & Dr. Janis Stone (Project Funds Allocation, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Extension Service, Iowa State University, Fall 1996)
Resulting publication (A Look in the Attic Closet, 4-H Video and Workbook, 2001)
Juried poster presentation (International Textile and Apparel Association, Extension Pre-Conference, Knoxville, TN, Nov. 1997)
Video presentation (Costume Society of America, National Meeting, Pasadena, CA, May 1998)
Video available through Iowa Extension offices or Iowa 4-H
Iowa Museums Outreach Survey
Cai Guise-Richardson & Dr. Janis Stone (Helen LeBaron Hilton Fund, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Iowa State University, Fall 1998)
Charles Goodyear: A Reassessment
Cai Guise-Richardson & Dr. Alan Marcus (Science, Technology, and Society Grant, Iowa State University, Spring 1999
Garst Fellow- 2001-2002
Thesis titles:
(graduate) American Tanning 1850 -1920: The Rise of Chrome Tanning and It's Effect On Footwear (Unpublished thesis, Iowa State University, 1999)
(undergraduate) The Evolution of Patterning Mechanisms in Lace Machines to 1865 and its Viability for the Study of Lace Artifacts (Unpublished thesis, University of Waterloo, 1994)

 

Gabriel Henderson

Mrbla@iastate.edu
Ph.D. candidate, History of Technology and Science
Education:
B.A. Ohio Wesleyan University
Major: Philosophy & Economics
Minor: Sociology
Areas of interest:
19th and 20th Century History of Astronomy
Institutional History of Science
Early 20th Century German/American History
Research interests:
Broadly, my research focuses on the dynamic relationship between society and science. Specifically, I am interested in understanding the underlying assumptions that scientists make within the context of broader social and cultural beliefs, decisions, and events. The "Internationalism" of science, as explicitly established in the early 20th century during and after WWI, may be seen as a contextual capstone to the evolving and shifting belief structures of "scientists" themselves since the Scientific Revolution. It is my hope to create a historical contextual foundation or model to understand the hostilities that emerged during WWI, which in many ways hindered accepted scientific practices. This approach may yield important insight into the structure of scientific exchange, the relationship between the state and institutions of science, the autonomy of scientists themselves within that state, along with a significant understanding of the assumptions of scientists which invariably lead to the ways in which nations evolve over time.
Conference papers:
"Transition from Hostility to Admittance: Walter Baade as a Representative to International Astronomy," 2006 Junto Conference, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Robert Hinrichs

Rdh@iastate.edu
M.A. Student
Education:
Iowa State University (2005) B.A. History
Areas of interest:
History of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
Research interests:
Research has at this point been concentrated in advancements in military technology in the German speaking states of Europe.
Publications: "333: Maxim and his Machine Gun." Currently in revision for publication

Matthew Kennedy

mkennedy@iastate.edu
M.A. Student
Areas of interest:
History of military technology

Paul Nienkamp

nienkamp@iastate.edu
Ph.D. Candidate, 2006/2007 Garst Dissertation Fellow
Education:
M.A. (2004) Iowa State University, History
M.S. (1999) Creighton University, Physics
B.S. (1997) Doane College, Physics/Math
Areas of interest:
History of Engineering Education and American Higher Education, 20th Century American Science and Technology Policy, 19th Century American Political History, 19th and 20th Century Intellectual and Cultural History.
Research interests:
I am currently researching the early formation of engineering education at America's land-grant schools between 1862 and 1900, specifically in the upper Midwest regions. I am most interested in the intellectual and cultural formation of how students obtained specialized knowledge in science and engineering, how mechanic arts changed into engineering fields, and how professional organizations elevated the status of engineers in the larger society. I am also interested in how technology and technical knowledge related to formalized education in the last half of the nineteenth-century.
Dissertation title:
A Culture of Technical Knowledge: Professionalizing Science and Engineering Education in Late-Nineteenth Century America.
Dissertation summary:
The 1862 Morrill Act redefined American higher education. Within decades, mechanics at land-grant institutions became professional engineers. College educators recognized the need to integrate knowledge with practical skills in the classrooms, shops, and laboratories, while also providing cutting edge tools, knowledge, and expertise. To the farmers and mechanics of the so called "industrial classes", they billed this "new education" as more efficient and productive, particularly in the rapidly developing Middle West and Plains states. Their efforts resulted in the conversion of the mechanic arts into engineering fields and demonstrated the importance of modern technology to the practice of science in the late-nineteenth century.
Advisor: Dr. Amy Bix
Publications:
Review of A History of Science and Technology for the 21st Century. Longman Publishers: New York (forthcoming summer 2007).
"Seaman Knapp," "Adonijah Welch," and "Mary Welch." Iowa
Biographical Dictionary, Edited by Marvin Bergman, Loren Horton, and David Hudson. University of Iowa Press: Iowa City (forthcoming summer 2007).
"Omaha, Nebraska." Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration
in the American West, Edited by Gordon M. Bakken and Alexandra Kindell. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., (2006).
Conference papers:
Oct 2006 The Society for the History of Technology Annual Conference
2006, Las Vegas, NV. "The Practice of Science: Tools, Techniques, and Training at America's Land-Grant Colleges in the Late-Nineteenth Century."
Sept 2006 International Network for Engineering Studies Workshop (INES), The NSF and Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. "Science with Practice: The "New" Education of Engineers at Land-Grant Colleges."
Sept 2005 Rocky Mountain Interdisciplinary History Conference, Boulder, CO. "Educating a Profession: Technical Knowledge, Land-Grant Colleges, and SPEE in the Late-Nineteenth Century."
Sept 2004 Rocky Mountain Interdisciplinary History Conference, Boulder, CO. "‘Science with Practice': Land-Grant Colleges, Presidential Influences, and Scientific Education, 1868-1890."
Apr 2004 Midwest Junto for the History of Technology and Science, Kansas City, MO. "Foundations of Coeducation: Science and Women at Iowa Agricultural College, 1878-1890."
Sept 2003 Rocky Mountain Interdisciplinary History Conference, Boulder, CO. "The Interaction Between Celestial and Terrestrial Realms within the Aristotelian World View."
Apr 2002 Midwest Junto for the History of Technology and Science, Ames, IA. "Lorentz's Contributions to the Theory of Relativity."
Grants and awards:
2006-2007 Garst Dissertation Fellowship, Iowa State University
Spring 2006 Teaching Excellence Award, Iowa State University
2001-2006 History Teaching Assistantship, Iowa State University
2001-2006 Phi Alpha Theta (International Honor Society in History)
2000-2006 Kappa Delta Pi (International Honor Society in Education)
1998-2006 Sigma Pi Sigma (National Physics Honor Society)

David Seim

dseim@iastate.edu
Education:
M.A. (1996) Economics, Colorado State University
History of economics; Development/International economics
A.M. (1992) Social Sciences, University of Chicago
B.S. (1988) Business Administration, Indiana University– Bloomington
Management & Organizations; Psychology; Overseas study in international economics, Tilburg University, Netherlands
Ph.D. fields: Social Sciences and Public Policy; 20th-Century U.S. History; Soviet Cold War Technology and Science
Research interests: I am interested in social science and public policy in the United States during the early to middle twentieth century. I study movements to promote ostensibly objective research methods in different social sciences.
Teaching: I have served as primary instructor for five history courses. At Iowa State, I have taught History of Science to 1700, History of Science since 1700, and History of Technology since 1700. At nearby Simpson College, I have taught U.S. History to 1877 and U.S. History since 1877. I look forward to teaching other courses in the history of social science, behavioral science, and public policy.
Dissertation title: "Rockefeller Philanthropy, Economic Research, and the Structuring of Social Science, 1911-1944" (Projected completion in Fall 2006)
Advisor: Hamilton Cravens
Conference papers:
"The ‘Ames School' of Economics, 1930-1950: A Group Approach to Innovating New Scientific Methods" Social Science History Association. Portland, OR. Nov. 3-6, 2005.
"The ‘Ames School' of Economics and the ‘Oleomargarine Controversy'" History of Economics Society. University of Puget Sound. June 24-27, 2005.
Session organizer: "Decisive Military Technologies, from Sermon Rhetoric to Field Practice." Paper: "From Jest War to Just War: Military Illustrations in Sixteenth-Century English Sermons" Sixteenth Century Studies Conference. Toronto. Oct. 28-31, 2004.
"‘The causes of plagues are playes': Behavior Modification in Images of Natural Philosophy and Natural History in the Elizabethan Sermon." Sixteenth Century Studies Conference. Pittsburgh, PA. Oct. 30-Nov 2, 2003.
"Making Physical Anthropology a Science, 1920-1950: The Role of Mildred Trotter." Forty-fifth annual Midwest Junto for the History of Science. Iowa State University. April 5-7, 2002.
"Measuring Stars: John Herschel, Norman Pogson, and a History of Stellar Magnitude Scales." Fifth biennial History of Astronomy Workshop. University of Notre Dame. July 5-8, 2001.
"John Herschel and the Problem of the Eclipse of His Reputation." Forty-third annual Midwest Junto for the History of Science. Linda Hall Library, KC. April 14-16, 2000.
"How Many Structures Do Scientific Papers Have? Clarifying a Debate through Economic Science." Mephistos Graduate Student Conference. University of Oklahoma. Feb. 4-5, 2000.
Recent awards:
State Historical Society of Iowa Research Grant (2005-6)
Rockefeller Foundation Archives Grant (2005-6)
History of Economics Society Young Scholar Award (2005)
Iowa State University, Professional Advancement Grant (2004)
Iowa State University, History Department, Garst Dissertation Fellowship (2003-4)

Kaya Tolon

ktolon@iastate.edu
Ph.D. candidate

Education:
M.S. (2005) Iowa State University, Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies (Industrial Technology, Electrical Engineering, Statistics and Philosophy)
B.S. (2001) Iowa State University, (Industrial Engineering)
Areas of interest:
History of 20th century technology
History of forecasting technologies
History of alternative energy technologies
Research interests:
I am interested in the pros and cons of different forecasting techniques and their utilization over time, and how they serve as both a social process and a societal force.
Advisor: Dr. Amy Bix
Publications:
Thesis (2005). Investigating expert bias toward statistical group feedback in the Delphi Technique. Iowa State University
Tolon, K. (2004). Forecasting Wind Power Growth in Iowa (2004-2025). Energy Matters Summer 2004 Vol. 13.2. p 6
Conference papers:
Tolon, M., Demirel N., Gürler S., & Tolon K. (2005). An analysis of seasonality and possible effects of fasting on traffic accidents in Turkey between 1984-2004. Paper presented at the World Congress for Social Sciences & Health. August 21, 2005. Yeditepe University Istanbul-Turkey
Other information:
Studying philosophical, historical, and statistical aspects of forecasting technologies during my masters program has been my main motivation for pursuing the HOTS program at Iowa State.

Blair Williams

willib1@iastate.edu
2nd year M.A. student in the HOTS program.

Education:
B.S., (2004); Minnesota State University, Mankato, History
Areas of interest:
History of Modern Physics, Science and Religion, Popular Science, Philosophy of Science, Science and Literature
Research interests:
My thesis will address the Anthropic Principle, a modern synthesis of scientific methodology, philosophical pistemology, and the formation of popular literatures. Furthermore, I wish to continue my examination of religion in Georges LeMaitre's universe and possibly expand into searching popular science.
Advisor: Dr. Matthew Stanley
Conference papers:
"Religion in Georges LeMaitre's Cosmogony," presented at the 2006 Midwest Junto in Madison, WI.
Other information:
When I'm not hiding in the third floor of the library or sucking coffee down at Stomping Grounds, I try to remain as active as possible by biking or running. I'm an avid musi fan and wish I could make a living by playing my guitar or drums. My desk is the one covered in tea containers.