Every history of Eastern Michigan University presents an understanding of who we are and what we could be. As Eastern turns 175, this seminar will explore new ways of telling our story. By asking new and different questions, we can reorient ourselves to our past and to our possible futures. Faculty and students from the disciplines of history, educational leadership, preservation studies and visual arts will present their research looking at both big-picture themes and smaller stories that make up the fabric of EMU’s history. 

Schedule of Presentations

12:30-1:40: Panel 1

• Alexis Braun Marks, University Archivist, Welcome and Introduction

• James Smith, President, Eastern Michigan University, Remarks

• Ron Flowers, Professor of Leadership & Counseling, "The Normal Legacy: The Emergence, Development, and Ultimate Disappearance of the Normal School"

• Mackenzie Kortes, Graduate Student, History, "Even in the Smallest of Places: Microhistories and Legacies of the Michigan State Normal School"

• James Egge, Professor of Religious Studies, "'A Higher Standard of Excellence': Curricular Growth at the Michigan State Normal School"

1:40-1:55: Break

• Light refreshments will be served. 

1:55-3:05: Panel 2

• Finn Vincent-Fix, Graduate Student, Preservation Studies, "Andrew Jackson Blackbird: Indigeneity and the Michigan State Normal School"

• Kat Hacanyan, Graduate Student, Preservation Studies, "Exploring Student Culture on Campus with Oral History"

• Margeaux Claude, Assistant Professor of Ceramics, "Surface as Form: An Exhibition and Inquiry into Archival Research in Craft"

• John McCurdy, Professor of History, Response and Moderated Q & A

3:10-3:30: Gallery Open House

• We invite you to view the exhibit "Building a Legacy: EMU's Foundational Era" in the Halle Library Gallery. Curator Finn Vincent-Fix will introduce the exhibit and answer questions.

Approved for LBC credit. For more information, contact the University Archives.