A Recap of the (first ever!) Iowa History Conference
The first ever Iowa History Conference was held in early June at the State Historical Society of Iowa in Des Moines. It was sponsored by the State Historical Society of Iowa and University of Iowa and featured scholars, students, museums, directors, and archivists. There were a wide variety of topics and panels at the conference and I particularly enjoyed the panel on Indigenous history in Iowa, and the history of indigenous agriculture in Iowa.
I presented on a panel entitled "History Education in Iowa," alongside the Social Studies rep from the Iowa Board of Education, Stefanie Wager, and a professor of religious studies at UNI, Mike Graziano. We all shared the various methods and approaches to encourage students to engage with history in general and history in Iowa, specifically. I shared about the role of primary sources and helping students to figure out how to trust sources through active historical inquiry. I also championed the role of local history to connect with history sources outside of the classroom through field trips, oral history projects, local museums, and archives. We had a lively discussion between panelists and the public who attended the panel. I loved the opportunity to engage with more local history ideas and to network with various people connected to history from around the state.
The Iowa History 101 series is a 60 minute online learning series tied to a topic in Iowa History. There is a wonderfully diverse array of topics and people that have been covered in the series, put on by the State Historical Society of Iowa. The webinars are free and open to the public and after a presentation, there are questions and discussion with the audience. I presented on Iowa Summer camps, which is part of my larger scholarly work on the history of evangelical summer camps in the post World War II era. In my research, I am animated by the question, for Christians: how should you pass your faith to next generation in a faith community that requires some sort of personal commitment/conversion experience? I think studying summer camps is a great way to get an answer to that question, and I had a wonderful experience with the team from the State Historical Society and great questions from the audience as well.
- RK
Learn more about the M.Ed. in Teaching History program at Northwestern.
To learn more, click this link for the webinar from State Historical Society of Iowa and the Iowa History 100 Series.
About the author
A Northwestern College graduate, Dr. Koerselman earned a master’s degree in history and political science from Iowa State University and a doctorate in United States history with an emphasis on gender and religion from Michigan State University. Before joining Northwestern's faculty, she was an assistant professor of history at Oklahoma Baptist University.
