From the Executive Director

Abstract

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR by Louis Ferkger lhe HistoricalSociety ispleasedto announce the appointment ofa newfull-time Assistant Director, Joseph Lucas. He is replacing Kirse May, who worked at THSfrom 1999-2001. Kirse is temporarily leaving the history rat race to takefull-time care ofher son Ethan, and will have herfirst bookpublished by the University ofNorth Carolina Press in the spring of2002. Joe received his PhD in history in 1999 from Penn State University. He grew up in Chicago but has also lived in Boston. His dissertation, "Conquering the Passions: Indians, Europeans and the Idea ofCultural Changein Early American Social Thought, 1580-1830," argues that encounters with North American Indians transformed the ways in which educated Americans and British understood the civilizing process, or what we might call social and economic development. He is revising this project for possible publication as a book-length monograph . One chapter, "The Course of Empire and the Long Road to Civilization: North American Indians and Scottish Enlightenment Historians ," has already appeared in Explorations in Early American Culture 4 (2000). Joe just completed a two-year stint as visiting assistant professor of history at Wesleyan University. He hopes that his job at The Historical Society will give him the chance to spend some time at two of his favorite places—Fenway Park and the Coolidge Corner farmers market. THS is also pleased to announce the Many thanks to thefollowing foundations that havegiven THSfinancialsupport: The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation The Tom Watson Brown Foundation The Earhart Foundation The John M. Olin Foundation appointment of Donald Yerxa as a parttime Assistant Director. Don did his graduate work in naval history at the University of Maine and in 1977 he joined the history faculty at his undergraduate alma mater, Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts. He is the author of two books on AngloAmerican naval history: 77;? Burning ofFalmouth, October 18, 1775, and Admirals and Empire: The U.S. Navy andthe Caribbean, 1898-1945, along with dozens ofarticles and essays. Since the mid-1990s, Don's interests and publications have shifted toward historiography and the philosophy of history . He is currently completing a historical analysis ofthe origins debate for Rowman & Littlefield's American Intellectual Culture Series. This latter project has been facilitated by a threeyear Templeton Foundation grant to participate in the Oxford University Seminars on Science and Christianity. Don's work with the Templeton Oxford Seminars has led to another three-year collaborative project: "Science and Human Values: Religious Beliefs and the Interpretation of'Nature,'" funded by the European Science Foundation. He is eager to join us. In his words: "It is incredibly exciting to be part ofa group that is dedicated to revitalizing historical scholarship and teaching. It makes the Green Line [oldest and most crowded subway route in Boston] commute worthwhile." Louis Ferleger is executive director of THS andprofessor ofhistory at Boston University. Contents Regional Contact Information Recent Publications Registration Form Awards and Achievements Announcements Membership Form The Profession: "Organizing the Academic Underclass: The Experience at Indiana State University in National Perspective" The President's Corner From the Executive Director Help Fund Our Named Prizes Prize Announcement The Profession: "Archives: A Second Look at History Careers" THS Prize Recipient Announcement Student Affairs: "The Academic Job Search: Another Path" Preliminary 2002 Conference Program X 2 - ><¦j- — ? Book Exhibit Information Regional Reports ? ...