Social Science Department

For the entire month of October, the Anthropology-Sociology Club hosted the Archaeology Month Film Festival. The showing was every Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. in Hyde 120. It is completely free, but donations were welcome.

On October 8, ANSO Club hosted our annual graduate school forum. This is a well-attended, important meeting that addresses a lot of the questions and concerns that students have when applying to graduate schools.

Some of the club members also attended the White Mountain National Forest’s Passport in Time Project on October 6 through the 10th.

Reported by Amanda Allen

Election results:
President – Amanda Allen
Vice-President – Abbie Young
Treasurer – Sarah Williams

The Geography and Environmental Planning Club held our outing at Loon Lake Camp during the first week of May again this year. PSU geography students began this activity more than 30 years ago and it is a nice tradition. We usually have a cookout with current students and faculty, but this year we invited all of the alumni (for whom the Alumni Office has addresses) from this program. To our delight, we had attendees who graduated last year, last decade, and from up to 40 years ago and everything in between! The current students and alumni interacted, students asked about careers, and alumnae asked if the faculty were still as wacky as ever.

The Geo and EPL Club sponsors a fall outing as well. On September 11, we hiked up Plymouth Mountain. This is a 4-mile round trip hike, gaining about 1300’ in altitude; it is a fairly steep and rugged trail with a great payoff, in that views are remarkable! We could see north to Franconia Notch and Mount Washington, south and east to Squam and Winnipesaukee lakes, and east into Maine. It was a fun experience.

This was a very exciting year for the History Club. We held our second annual Graduate School Panel, where graduate students come and answer questions for undergraduates, concerning graduate schools. Some of the club members spent the day at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge Massachusetts. In May we went to the Medieval Feast and elected officers for the ‘08-’09 academic school year.

We have worked on a banner for a contest during homecoming week. The Club had a game table set up for the actual contest. Several of us are also planning a trip to Washington, DC. for Spring Break ’09. The President of the History Club is Ashley Pistorino and the Faculty Adviser for the History Club is Whitney Howarth.

Members of the Model UN Club and their Faculty Advisor Filiz Otucu, went to Puebla Mexico during Spring Break in the spring of ’08 to participate in the World Model United Nations. Countries represented by the group were France and Zambia. The event was attended by approximate 2,000 students from around the world.

The National History Day in New Hampshire (NHDNH) program continues to thrive, now in its 7th year. May and Krueckeberg continue to serve as co-coordinators for the state educational program that brings nearly 100 middle and high school students to PSU for the state competition every April. This year-long program is truly a team effort, thanks to Rebecca Noel, Whitney Howarth, and a cast of several committed student volunteers. The 2008 theme Conflict and Compromise in History brought topics that took us back to events such as the Titanic disaster, the Salem Witch Trials, and the Trail of Tears, as well as Scopes Trial, the Battle of Moscow, and the 1863 New York Draft Riots. While these don’t appear at the surface to be uplifting subjects, the students inspired us all through their analysis of primary and secondary sources and exhibited the fine quality of research of our future young historians. PSU President Steen was present at the state competition again this year to announce the top finalists in the state and award medals. May and Krueckeberg once again accompanied the state finalists to the four-day national competition at the University of Maryland. In addition to the competition, the students had the opportunity to tour the Capitol and had very nice meetings with Congressman Paul Hodes and Congresswoman Carol Shay-Porter. We look forward to seeing the program continue to strengthen in upcoming years as our presence and partnerships throughout the state grow. If you know of any teachers or students who might be interested in participating in the program, please contact us!

History Day finalists and their teachers with Patrick May and Congressmen Paul Hodes.