May 13: From Frankfurt to Munich: Arrival in Germany

Train Station at the Frankfurt Airport

After we touched down in Frankfurt, we collected our luggage and went to the airport's train station. The train station was a glass dome with many stores in it. I was blown away about how different our cultures are from just observing inside the train station. Although some of the stores were similar to ours in America, (Starbucks, McDonald's, Burger King, etc.) many were German bakeries. I had a croissant while I was there to get my first taste of Germany. 

WJU 2015: Bavaria and Austria

It is time again for the Wheeling Jesuit University History 
Department's annual May trip. 26 students, alumni, and faculty left May 12 for a nine day trip through Central Europe, with stops in Munich, Nuremberg, and Salzburg. As is our usual practice, the blog will be updated by history students describing their experiences and impressions of the trip. Our initial post for this year's trip follows after the jump.

WJU's Commencement 2015

The Wheeling Jesuit History Department would like to congratulate the following seniors who graduated today with history majors: Jared Baranowski, Steve Bridgeman, Tori Fluharty, Kara Gordon, Nick Malarbi, Marque Marry and Hunter Onderko. They were a good group of students and people who represent what we would like our students to be when they graduate from our university.

C-SPAN and the Wheeling Jesuit University History Department

As part of the C-SPAN's Cities Tour, two historians at Wheeling Jesuit University were interviewed about their research. The interviews were part of a larger project that looked at both the history and literary culture of Wheeling, West Virginia that aired over the past weekend on various C-SPAN channels.

C-SPAN 2014 Cities Tour and WJU Historians

As part of the C-SPAN 2014 Cities Tour, two historians from Wheeling Jesuit University -- Associate Professors Dan Weimer and Jeff Rutherford -- were interviewed about their respective publications. The C-SPAN series highlights the history and literary communities of various American cities, with recent stops in Waco and Austin, Texas, as well as Madison, Wisconsin and Lafayette, Indiana. While in Wheeling, C-SPAN will investigate the history of National Road, look at the importance of Wheeling as an entrance to the western frontier, and examine the life and legacy of Earl Oglebay. In addition to focusing on the history of the region, the program also interviews local authors of non-fiction.

WJU Historian at Work, Part III: Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front: The German Infantry's War, 1941-1944

In keeping with the History Department's emphasis on maintaining an active scholarly agenda, Jeff Rutherford, Associate Professor of History, recently published the monograph Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front: The German Infantry's War, 1941-1944 with Cambridge University Press. The book was released simultaneously in hardcover, paperback, and electronic form. David Stahel, author of four books on Germany's 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, has written in War in History that the book is "[a] pioneering new work. . . It is an impressive achievement which underlines the potential for future research into the many unknown divisions of the German Ostheer. Wherever such research takes us, Rutherford’s concept of ‘military necessity’ will require substantive engagement. . . "
   

WJU Students, Berlin, & its History: An Appraisal, Part VI

Gardens in Potsdam

The outgoing President of the History Club, Kayla Mason, class of '14, offers these observations on Germany and its engagement with its history.


Traveling offers visitors the opportunity to learn about the history and culture of other regions. For me, one of the most interesting aspects of this experience is examining how these countries choose to remember their past – including the good and the bad. German history is unique and through the exploration of the city of Berlin, visitors are directly confronted with every aspect of this nation’s past.