A Letter from the President
Dear WHA Members and Friends of the Association,
It is a great honor to offer this initial letter to the membership and our friends. As I informed the Executive Council on 7 January when I assumed the office, following Anand Yang’s dedicated stewardship, if these next two years witness any progress, it will be because of the support and hard work of not only the 12 other officers of the WHA but of the many generous WHA members who give so unstintingly of their time and talent. Together we can accomplish much.
With this in mind, I am setting “WHA Volunteerism” as the theme of my two-year term as president, and I invite all of you to join in the effort. To that end, a volunteer form now appears as a pull-down item on this web site, where you will find it under “Support the WHA.” Please look at it, consider downloading it, filling it out, and sending it by FAX or postal mail to the WHA offices.
So many strides have been made and so much has been accomplished since the founding of the WHA in 1982, but many things remain for us to do if, indeed, we wish to become the association that we are capable of being. What is more, although the day-to-day functioning of the association is in the capable hands of our hard-working Executive Director, Winston Welch, and of the WHA’s equally industrious Administrative Assistant, Jackie Wah, our part-time Secretariat needs the assistance of many willing members in order to function as it must.
But rather than dwelling on what we can and must do over the next several years, allow me to inform you of some recent contributions to the WHA by its members and some recent initiatives that we, your elected officers, have undertaken. I also want to recognize the on-going work of some of our members. Inevitably, by singling out some, I will err by overlooking other equally deserving members. I hope in future open letters to correct those oversights.
The WHA has a new affiliate—the Midwest WHA (MWWHA)—thanks largely to the work of its first president, Paul Jentz of North Hennepin Community College. Please take some time to look at its web site www.mwwha.org. Soon another new group, the Florida World History Association (FLAWHA), will be applying for official affiliate status, thanks to the work of Fred Bisson, a transplanted emeritus from Keene State (NH), Carol Grigas of Daytona State College, and a host of others. This affiliate-in-the-making has a web site at www.flawha.org. Beyond that, largely due to the vision of Winston Welch and David Ruffley, with the assistance of Paul Jentz, a third new affiliate is taking shape, the Mountain West Affiliate that covers the states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Check out its web site at www.mountainwestwha.org. To date, no suitable acronym has yet been coined for it. With this affiliate in place, by the way, all 50 states in the USA are now covered by regional organizations, and the list of affiliated world history organizations around the world is growing fast. Look for one in your neighborhood by going to the pull-down section “Affiliates” at this web site.
Across the Atlantic, the African Network in Global History/Rėseau Africain d’Histoire Mondiale took shape during the waning days of 2009, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Peter Adebayo of the University of Ilorin and Pat Manning of the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Adebayo will attend the WHA’s annual conference in San Diego, where he will present a paper. Please welcome him when you see him there.
Affiliates in the USA and beyond are an integral part of the WHA and a medium through which the association can reach out to its membership around the world. Affiliates also offer the WHA an avenue through which it can potentially expand its membership. Because of the importance of the WHA’s maintaining close contact with and supporting its affiliates, Marc Gilbert, our new Vice President, requested that he be given the task of coordinating affiliate relations. Appointing him to that task was a no-brainer. Assisting him will be Paul Jentz, who, given his track record with the MWWHA, should prove to be a fine second-in-command.
As noted, one largely untapped potential offered by the affiliates is to help in our recruiting of new members. Craig Benjamin of Grand Valley State College has assumed the key position of chair of the Membership Committee. I have asked the committee to set as a goal raising WHA membership by 25 percent, from the current 1200 to 1500, by the end of this year. This is a level of membership for which the WHA has often strived in the past but never attained. Despite this history of failure, it is worth trying again. To achieve it, the committee will employ several tactics. As I type these words, the final touches have just been applied to a brochure that sets out clearly reasons why everyone involved in world history at any level should join the WHA. Thanks to the graphic-design talents of Jackie Wah and Paul Jentz, this brochure is eye-catching, as well as informative. This brochure will be a valuable tool in what is still only a partially formulated plan to institute an association-wide recruitment drive that will call upon all members to assist in this effort to reach the magical mark of 1500 members.
One person who is already active in promoting expanded awareness of the WHA within the teaching community is Sharlene Sayegh of California State University at Long Beach, who recently negotiated an advertisement swap between The History Teacher and the Journal of World History.
Speaking of the JWH, Jerry Bentley has been at the editorial helm of that publication for 21 years and deserves the WHA’s profound thanks. The JWH and Jerry have become inextricably intertwined, and one seems unimaginable without the other. Likewise, Micheal Tarver has served as editor of the World History Bulletin since 2002, and under his leadership the WHB has become an important medium that serves the pedagogical needs of our members through its Teaching Forum and periodic issues, many with guest editors, that have focused on specific themes in world history. Assisting Micheal more than ably have been Alexander Mirkovic as assistant editor and Peter Dykema as book review coordinator. Micheal was recently promoted to a deanship at Arkansas Tech, and this Spring 2010 issue is his last as editor. A committee is now actively looking for a new editor who will exhibit the drive, vision, and energy that has characterized Micheal’s tenure. Volunteers? If so, contact Winston Welch at thewha@hawaii.edu.
Other editors who deserve special recognition are three persons who have taken on the often unheralded job of being gate-keepers for H-World submissions and discussions: David Kalivas, Eric Martin, and, most recently, Maryanne Rhett. Their devotion to the task has ensured that H-World is and remains a highly professional medium for exchange.
It is also imperative to recognize the vast array of editors of and contributors to World History Connected, led by Marc Gilbert and before him Heather Salter-Streets. This is truly a major contribution to world history pedagogy.
Another of our activist members who deserves special notice is Joel Tishken of Washington State University. At the strategic-planning retreat of the Executive Council held in Seattle in November, it was decided that the WHA should institute a Speakers’ Bureau as a means of spreading the word of world history, serving the needs of institutions and organizations that require the services of a guest lecturer in this field, advertising the WHA more broadly and widely, and even raising some funds for the WHA. A few weeks ago, Joel volunteered to oversee the coming-into-being of the bureau. He and two graduate assistants, Johanna Lash and Nathan Sowry, are currently advertising the bureau’s existence and gathering the names and areas of expertise of volunteer speakers. As of 31 January, six WHA stalwarts had already signed up as volunteer speakers. If you are interested in joining the bureau, contact Joel at jtishken@wsu.edu.
The WHA has also begun to ask members to remember the association in their planned giving, either as bequests or as memorials established in honor of someone else, perhaps a favorite mentor. Although only a few months old, this search for sources of endowment that will exist far into the future has resulted in several promises of bequests.
One grant that we received recently is funding for two new student awards, thanks to the generosity of Mark Welter, a long-time instructor of world history, supporter of the WHA, and former member of its Executive Council. Beginning in the Fall semester of 2010, the WHA will launch two parallel essay competitions aimed exclusively at high school and community college students. Each competition will carry with it a prize of $500. A committee has been formed to write the rules governing the competition and to evaluate submissions. Further details will be available in the near future.
Finally (and mercifully), let us not forget the volunteerism of all who make our annual conferences so rewarding and enjoyable. The Conference Program Committee, chaired by Maryanne Rhett and previously by Carolyn Neel, has done a spectacular job in often trying circumstances. Last year’s conference in Salem was fantastic, thanks in large measure to the work of this committee and also of the Local Arrangements Committee and especially Dane Morrison and Chris Mauriello. This year’s conference in San Diego promises to be its equal because of the dedicated on-site work of Laura Ryan, Ed Beasley, Ross Dunn, Alex Zukas, and a host of other people.
I hope to see many of you in San Diego in June. And, when you are there, look for a few new wrinkles, including “Affiliate Thursday,” when space will be given to all requesting affiliates and interest groups in which they can hold afternoon meetings. As in Salem, we will also have a table near the registration desk for affiliate and interest-group literature. But you will have to come to San Diego to see and experience all that we have in stock for you, including a luncheon on Saturday with live mariachi music hosted by Southwestern College.
All best to all,
Al Andrea