October 23 Public Lecture on Manhood at the New England Witch Trials, by Dr. Richard Godbeer, University of Miami

The history department at UAHuntsville is pleased to announce the fall History Forum.

On October 23, 2012, Dr. Richard Godbeer from the University of Miami will share his latest research on New England witch trials and manhood in the 17th century.

Dr. Godbeer's public lecture is entitled “‘Your wife will be your biggest accuser’: Reinforcing Codes of Manhood at New England Witch Trials.”

The lecture will be at 7:00 p.m. in 419 Roberts Hall on the University Alabama in Huntsville campus.

Dr. Godbeer has made outstanding contributions in religious and gender studies. His 1994 work Devil’s Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England was published in 1994 by Cambridge University Press and won the Annual Book Prize of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association. In his 2005 Oxford University monograph entitled Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692, he broke down New England stereotypes while detailing the Stamford, Connecticut, witchcraft hysteria.

In 2004, Dr. Godbeer again overturned conventional wisdom, this time about the sexual values and customs of colonial Americans in his The Sexual Revolution in Early America, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This work was a Selection of the History Book Club.

More recently, Dr. Godbeer compelled readers to re-think early American gender roles and sexuality, showing how sentimental, even physically expressive, relationships between eighteenth century men provided a basis for nation building in The Overflowing of Friendship: Love Between Men and the Creation of the American Republic also published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.

At the moment, Dr. Godbeer is working on a biography of Henry and Elizabeth Drinker, a prominent eighteenth-century Philadelphia Quaker couple.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Phi Alpha Theta Fall Faculty Lecture Series

The Tau Omega chapter of the international history honorary Phi Alpha Theta announces the Fall Faculty Lecture Series.

Kicking off the series is Professor Evan Ragland, with a lecture on "Making Trials in Early Modern Medicine" on October 10, 2012, at 7pm.

Next in the line up is Dr. Kira Robison, discussing "The Creature Within: Defining the Fiend in Medieval Anatomy," on October 17, 2012, at 7pm.

The following week, Dr. Anna Alexander will explore "It Rained Fireballs: The Petroleum Disaster in Mexico City," on October 24, 2012, at 7pm.

Concluding the series is Dr. Christine Sears, discussing "All Humble Mariners: Sailors and Democratic Discourse in the Early Republic," on October 31, 2012, at 7pm.

All lectures are held in Roberts Hall room 419 and are free and open to the public.

Please come and bring a friend!

National Archaeology Day Events 20 October 2012

National Archaeology Day

Saturday, October 20

Artifact Identification and Amnesty Event: 1:00-5:00 PM

Wilson Hall Theatre Foyer

                       

“Archaeology in Huntsville's Backyard: Prehistoric Cultures of the Middle Tennessee Valley” 7:00 PM

Ben Hoksbergen, Cultural Resource Manager/Installation Archaeologist, Redstone Arsenal

Wilson Hall Theatre

Have you found an object you think might be an artifact? Do you know you have an artifact but want to know more about it? Have you picked up artifacts on public land and want to ease your conscience? Professional archaeologists will be on hand at the National Archaeology Day event to identify artifacts you bring in and tell you more about them. They can also help you record archaeological sites you've found. Archaeologists from the Army and TVA will also be accepting artifacts from the public that were collected on federal land. It's illegal to collect artifacts on federal land or from federal waterways, but for this day only, anyone who turns in artifacts from federal land will be safe from prosecution and will be secure in knowing that the artifacts they collected will be available for professional study and public exhibit. Archaeologists from TVA will also be hosting children's activities, and there will be plenty of educational displays and literature to browse. Co-sponsored by the AIA, Redstone Arsenal, TVA, the Alabama National Guard, the Alabama Archaeological Society, and Tennessee Valley Archaeological Research.

For our evening talk, Ben Hoksbergen will discuss the Middle Tennessee River Valley of north Alabama, which has some of the richest archaeological resources in North America. Evidence of dense prehistoric occupation in the area goes back at least 13,300 years. Archaeologists have been systematically investigating sites in the valley over the last century and have uncovered a wealth of information about the people who populated the landscape before the arrival of Columbus. Hoksbergen will explore this rich cultural history, summarize what we've learned so far, and outline the mysteries that have yet to be solved.