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Wilkinson Student
Honors and Achievements
A Wilkinson education at Chapman University is more than preparation for graduation day. In our diverse programs and co-curricular opportunities, students begin living their future before they graduate. In the Wilkinson College tradition, that means students learn how to make a difference in the world around them. Through the guidance of committed faculty, students learn in classrooms and laboratories, as well as through internships and community service. Before leaving the university, they begin their lives as informed, engaged citizens. Here's a look at what our current students are accomplishing today.
2008
Religious Studies Major Awarded Undergraduate Fellowship by The Fund for Theological Education
 Rachel Bennett, a junior religious studies major and active member of Disciples on Campus, was selected as one of fifty 2008 Undergraduate Fellows by The Fund for Theological Education. This award identifies “rising juniors and seniors who demonstrate exceptional gifts for ministry: love of God and church, imagination, creativity, compassion, a capacity for critical thinking, leadership skills, personal integrity, spiritual depth, dedication to a faith tradition and a passion to understand and to serve the needs of others.” Rachel was selected from “a highly qualified pool of over 300 nominees representing 26 denominations and 96 undergraduate institutions across the United States and Canada.” She will receive a stipend of $2,000 for the academic year as well as a stipend for travel and expenses to attend the Fund for Theological Education’s “Conference on Excellence in Ministry.”
Candidates must be a junior or senior in an accredited undergraduate program at a North American college or university and be nominated by a college faculty member, administrator, campus minister or current pastor. The candidate must be considering ministry as a career and have a GPA of at least 3.0.
The Fund for Theological Education is a leading ecumenical advocate for excellence and diversity in Christian ministry and theological scholarship. The FTE supports the next generation of leaders among pastors and scholars by providing fellowships and a network of support to gifted young people from all denominations and racial/ethnic backgrounds. The aim is to encourage those with gifts for leadership to consider vocations in ministry and teaching, and to nurture them in their exploration and study.
History Department Hosts Phi Alpha Theta Conference
Chapman Students Win Top Honors
  
Chapman History seniors Sarah Kuiken and Elsa Lindstrom won first and second places in the undergraduate history paper competition at the 2008 Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Society Southern California Regional Conference, hosted by Chapman’s Alpha-Mu-Gamma chapter of Phi Alpha Theta on Saturday, April 12, 2008. This is the second straight year that Chapman history majors mentored by Professor Lee Estes have won the top awards at the history honors regional conference. Paul Traska (05) who graduated with a degree in history and minored in honors, now a graduate student at California State Polytechnic University, placed second in the graduate student paper competition.
Twenty-three Chapman history majors either presented papers or served as panel commentators, a record participation rate by Chapman University in a regional history honors conference. Phi Alpha Theta faculty advisor Carolyn Vieira-Martinez, Professor Alex Bay, Professor Brenda Farrington and the Alpha-Mu-Gamma conference committee successfully organized the largest regional conference to date, drawing 149 student presenters and commentators, and faculty advisors from twenty-one regional Phi Alpha Theta chapters to Chapman’s campus. Participating schools included California State University-Northridge, California State University-San Marcos, University of California-Riverside, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of San Diego, and the University of Southern California.
Kuiken’s paper “Breeches and the Softer Sex, Gender and Seafaring in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Britain” and Lindstrom’s paper “A Capponi Family Transaction: A Study of Lenders, Collateral and Interest in Sixteenth-Century Florence” were both written as part of their senior history theses. Lindstrom completed part of the research for her paper while studying abroad in Florence last spring.
Board of Trustee member David Henley provided financial support for the conference, along with Chancellor Daniele Struppa, Dean of Students Joe Kertes, Wilkinson College of Letters and Sciences Dean Roberta Lessor, Dr. Marilyn Harran, Stern Chair and Director, Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, and Dr. Robert Slayton, Henry Salvatori Professor of American Values and Traditions.
Dr. Don Will, Associate Dean, Wilkinson College of Letters and Sciences, and Jeanne Gunner, Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education, welcomed the delegates to Chapman University. The conference concluded with a banquet that initiated 21 new members into Phi Alpha Theta, and renowned historian Dr. Joyce Appleby, Professor Emeritus, UCLA, delivered an engaging keynote address on why disputes about history remain important in America. Dr. Graydon A. Tunstall Jr., Executive Director, Phi Alpha Theta also attended the conference, noting the phenomenal growth and performance of Chapman’s Alpha-Mu-Gamma Phi Alpha Theta chapter which was only established four years ago.
Political Science Major Receives Truman Scholarship
Katie Blaisdell, a junior in the political science major at Chapman University, has been awarded a prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship. Blaisdell, of Hilo, Hawaii, will receive a $30,000 stipend for graduate studies, as well as the many networking opportunities afforded by the scholarship.
Blaisdell is one of just 65 college juniors nationwide to be awarded a 2008 Truman Scholarship. The scholarships are administered by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation in Washington, D.C., whose mission is to find and recognize college juniors with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government, the nonprofit or advocacy sectors, education or elsewhere in public service, and to provide them with financial support for graduate study and leadership training.
"Katie is Chapman's fourth Truman Scholar since 1994, and we are extremely proud of her," said Chapman's chancellor, Daniele Struppa. "Her achievements reflect great credit upon Chapman University."
Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society 2008 Biennial Convention
History Department assistant professor Alexander Bay accompanied seven Chapman University students to the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society 2008 Biennial Convention held at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya, a high desert resort outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico from January 3-5, 2008. Over the three-day conference, the students presented concise and well delivered papers based on research projects mentored by Professors Lee Estes, Bob Slayton, and Jennifer Keene. Michelle Kanda, president of the Chapman University Alpha-Mu-Gamma chapter of Phi Alpha Theta and the recipient of the Tenaya Hills Research Award and a Chancellor's student research grant for her project, presented "A Society of Gentlemen: Enlightenment Arguments and Ulterior Motives in the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa." Other students presented on a wide variety of topics: Sarah Kuiken, "Breeches and the Softer Sex: Women at Sea in 18th and 19th century Britain," Shannon David, "Confronting the Reality of Changed Lives: Love and Loss for Women in Civil War America," Matthew Leaverton, "From Private Company to Public Corporation: The BBC and the 1926 General Strike," Phu Mai, "The Kennan Plan: The Emergency Recovery Program Revisited," Sumit Raghuvanshi, "The Christian Influences in the Abolition of Sati in Bengal 1829," and Elizabeth Mack, "Malleus Maleficarum and King Games: Influences for the Early Modern Witch-Hunts in England and Scotland." Student travel scholarships generously provided by Ludie and Board of Trustee David Henley funded the students' trip to the national history honors conference.
The History Department and the Chapman University Alpha-Mu-Gamma chapter of Phi Alpha Theta will proudly host the 2008 Phi Alpha Theta Southern California History Honors Society Regional Conference on Saturday, April 12, 2008 in Beckman Hall. The conference is open to undergraduate and graduate students, Phi Alpha Theta members and non-members. In addition to student research presentations, a faculty reception and student awards dinner and ceremony will be held. Further information is available at, http://www1.chapman.edu/PAT/Welcome.html.
Chapman history students relax after presenting research papers. Left to right, Sarah Kuiken, Michelle Kanda, Phu Mai, Matthrew Leaverton, Elizabeth Mack, and Shannon David.
2007
Student and Professor travel to Peruvian Amazon
Dr. Pilar Valenzuela and her student Kirsten Svenson, Spanish and Peace Studies major, traveled this past summer to Lima and the village of Jeberos (in the Peruvian Amazon) where they stayed for three weeks as part of an independent study course (Spanish 499, Documentation of Shiwilu). The two were carrying out linguistic fieldwork on Shiwilu, a moribund language from Peruvian Amazon.
In Jeberos they contacted local elders who still speak Shiwilu and videotaped them as they shared the Shiwilu vocabulary and stories in their Native language. Part of the material collected by Dr. Valenzuela and Svenson was transcribed using an ad hoc practical alphabet to represent the sounds of Shiwilu. They also translated the data into Spanish and English. The corpus will be on the basis for subsequent linguistic analysis. In addition, they conducted interviews to assess the vitality of the Shiwilu language and the degree to which it as been replaced by Spanish. They supported local language revitalization efforts by helping community cultural leaders develop materials to teach the Native language to children. Toward the end of their trip, they made a presentation at the headquarters of the Indigenous Amazonian Confederation (CONAP) in the city of Lima to inform them of the sociolinguistic situation and the education needs in the Shiwilu area.
A Clean Sweep by Chapman History Students at Honors Conference
Three Chapman senior history majors swept the undergraduate paper awards at the Phi Alpha Theta (history honors society) Southern California Regional Conference, held at California State University, Northridge on Saturday, May 12, 2007.
Senior Alexis Still won the prize for best undergraduate paper for "Confessions of a Nazi Spy: Warner Brothers and the Jewish Influence on Anti-Nazi Films". Honorable mentions went to senior Jennifer Weigert, who recently received the department's outstanding senior award, for her help on the effort to revive the Irish language in early 20th century and to senior Shiang-Eu Bai who wrote homosexuality in 18th century London.
History professor Lee Estes supervised the award-winning papers, all researched and written as part of the senior thesis required of history majors. Dr. Estes along with History faculty members Robert Slayton, Brenda Farrington, Bill Cumiford, Jennifer Keene, and Phi Alpha Theta faculty advisor Carolyn Vieira-Martinez attended the conference to hear six additional senior history majors present portions of their theses.
Sumit Raghuvanshi, president of Chapman's Phi Alpha Theta chapter and the recipient of a student research travel award funded by Board of Trustee member David Henley, shared findings from research conducted in British archives. Senior Jennifer Mousseau presented her research on the Dutch Jewish theatre in World War II, written under the tutelage of Dr. Slayton. Jennifer Grabot's paper analyzed Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles campaign in WOrld War I, Joy Purpus discussed the Polish question at the end of World War II.
Two Seniors Continue their Studies in Paris
In addition to receiving the outstanding French major award for 2007, Kathleen Fleetwood, French and English major, was recently accepted to the prestigious Middlebury College M.A. in French Program in Paris, France.
Also accepted to Middlebury College in Paris, France was triple major (Spanish, French and German) Blake DeLong. Blake was awarded the Outstanding Spanish Major award at the Duclie and Lawrence Kugelman Humanities Awards Luncheon on May 3, 2007.
Journalism Student Will Spend Summer at San Luis Obispo Journal
Journalism student Annie Nguyen was selected from a nationwide field of applicants to participate in the Dow Jones editing fellowship to commence in May 2007. Dow Jones owns and operates the Wall Street Journal; the foundation annually selects the nation's top journalism students to participate in intense editing fellowships, which includes a week of training and an assignment on a daily newspaper. Annie will spend her summer at the San Luis Obispo Journal.
Wilkinson English Majors Attend International Convention
Six English majors -- Shannon David, Tiffany Monore, Erika Mobraaten, Alexander Lane, Samantha Felix, and Adam Salazar -- attended the international convention of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society, in Pittsburgh, PA.
Four presented their creative or critical work at the convention, and the other two moderated sessions. Below is a list of the presenters and their titles:
Shannon David
: "'A Girl Can Get Anywhere': Women and Dependent Relationships in Hard Times"
Tiffany Monroe: "'As in the Days That Were': Examining the Central Tension in Tennyson's Morte d'Arthur"
Samantha Felix: "Poetic Psychology of the Quarter Life Crisis"
Alexander Lane: "On Creation"
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