The Department of Historical Studies at SIUE offers a vibrant curriculum in both undergraduate and graduate studies. Our undergraduate majors can earn a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in history, certification to teach the Social Sciences at the secondary level, and certification in Museum Studies. All majors complete a senior capstone research thesis under the guidance of our faculty in a seminar setting with other majors. Students with degrees earned in history go on to teach at the secondary level, or pursue advanced training in history, law, or other fields. Students leave our program with a firm education in the liberal arts and have excellent communication and critical thinking skills.
Our Master's students complete a year-long curriculum in historiographical method and theory. SIUE also offers a PhD program in conjunction with its sister university in Carbondale. Our graduates take their solid foundation in history to acclaimed programs throughout the country.
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This month the Dept. of Historical Studies puts the spotlight on Prof. Rowena McClinton, a scholar-teacher of the first order. In 1999 Dr. McClinton founded our teacher training program. After a rigorous training in the Social Sciences, our majors earn certification to teach social science courses, including History, in the public school system. Several hundred of our graduates have passed through this program and the large majority currently teach in the Metro East region as well as in school districts throughout the state and nation. Dr. McClinton has also shepherded the program through two intense and successful National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) certification processes.
Associate Professor McClinton's endeavors are not, however, limited to training the next generation of teachers. She recently translated, edited, annotated, and wrote the introduction to a two-volume set The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees, vol. 1: 1805-1813 and vol. 2: 1814-1821 (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press (2007). The original text was written by a female missionary, Anna Rosina Gambold. Gambold describes the interactions between three cultures, Moravian (German-American), Cherokee, and African (the Cherokee owned slaves). Located in the heart of what was then the Cherokee Nation, the site of the mission is in present-day northwest Georgia. Springplace Mission and its Moravian missionaries hosted numerous persons along the Federal Road connecting Augusta with Nashville.
In addition to her scholarship, Prof. McClinton also teaches courses in Social Science Pedagogy, Historical Research, and Native American and US History. In collaboration with Music Prof. Prince Wells, she co-teaches an Interdisciplinary Studies course titled African American Music and the Struggle for Freedom and Research.