Senior Editor: Cheryl Czekala Managing Editor: Katrina Olds Layout Editor: Ariana Varela Contributors: Cheryl Czekala, Kimberly Mondragon, Rachael Tsukayama, and Ariana Varela

Kimberly Mondragon wrote this reflection about her experience visiting LinkedIn for the newsletter. The History Student Council organizes a trip to LinkedIn every year in order to help our students learn about the various fields that a History degree can be marketed towards. History alumni Nicola Frasier and Lincoln Stanfield hosted the students at LinkedIn and discussed their experience in the tech industry. Nicola graduated from USF in 2007 and Lincoln graduated from USF in 2014.

SPRING 2017 ISSUE 6

SPRING 2017 UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY DEPARTMENT PAGE 1

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? If you have questions or comments

or are interested in contributing to the History Department newsletter, please contact Cheryl Czekala at czekala@ usfca.edu.

We welcome information about student and faculty news, publications, and upcoming events

at USF and in the Bay Area. LinkedIn Reflection

Last semester a couple of students and I had the privilege of attending a career exploration field trip to LinkedIn hosted by the History Department Student Council. The Student Council is a student-led organization that aims to bridge communication between History students and faculty. The Council also seeks to create events for the students that aid with professional development and foster a sense of community. Before this trip I was really unsure about what exactly a history degree could do for me career-wise. I knew that being a teacher/professor or going to law school were possible routes, but neither of those options appealed to me. So when I heard about the field trip to LinkedIn I was interested.

We met with two USF History graduates working at LinkedIn, Nicola Frasier and Lincoln

Stanfield. Nicola is a member of the Global Accounts team for LinkedIn where she works on talent solutions for the media and advertising industry. Lincoln Stanfield is a Senior Sales Development Specialist. Both Lincoln and Nicola stated that the skills they acquired from taking History courses, like reading large amounts of information and synthesizing this into a report, proved beneficial to their current careers. I was very surprised to meet two USF history alumni working at LinkedIn because the tech world seemed like a very distant, unattainable realm that I perceived to have nothing to do with history majors. They showed us around

the LinkedIn offices and sat down with us to answer our questions. The LinkedIn headquarters were very impressive. There were about twenty levels to the building and each floor had some sort of theme, including a silent disco floor and a dining hall. The top floor of the building had a balcony that overlooked downtown San Francisco.

Photo on Page 1: (Left to Right) Kimbo Mondragon, Ariana Varela, Jesus Mazariegos and Leah Micheal. Right: (Left to Right) Leah Michael, Kimbo Mondragon, Ariana Varela and Lincoln Stanfield All photos courtesy of Nicola Frasier.

Opportunity for Professional Development!

Interested in joining the next LinkedIn fieldtrip? The History Department Student Council is setting up another fieldtrip for the Spring 2017 semester. Be on the

lookout for future announcements in your History classes and on the Department’s Instagram: historyusfca.

History Newsletter

downtown San Francisco. After the tour, Nicola and Lincoln sat down and discussed their experience at Linkedin, and gave us

some advice in regards to applying to jobs and marketing our degree for the tech world. Before working at LinkedIn they did not realize that the tech world was an avenue for them and how beneficial a history degree was for various fields of employment. They discussed the other jobs they had before working at LinkedIn and mentioned that while these jobs were not their ideal job opportunity, the experiences they got from these jobs were invaluable. One of their most memorable pieces of advice was to not take any job for granted because any job provides an experience and skills that will eventually allow you to get jobs that you actually want. We were assured that after graduation it is important to keep striving for any job experience, because the connections and experience gained are essential.

After talking with Nicola and Lincoln, it became obvious to us that the tech world is a viable option for history majors. Overall, this field trip instilled confidence in our small group of history majors that there are different avenues and paths after graduation that did not involve law school or education.

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History Newsletter

Check Out Our Graduates! Curious about what our recent History alumni are up to? Here is a look into their post-grad life! 1. What did you do this summer? How has the transition from USF been? This summer was one of the first that I stayed in the country and in San Francisco itself! As you may know during my four years as an undergraduate at the University of San Francisco I participated in summer programs almost all four years, programs such as The Privett Global Scholars through the McCarthy Center that allowed me to work with a non-profit in Udaipur, India to an outside program that allowed me to teach English in Novara, Italy. This summer I decided to stay in the city and enjoy summer in San Francisco. I worked over the summer with Student Housing and Residential Education. in their Furniture Service Team getting the rooms ready for our Class of 2020 and continuing students. I also did a lot of babysitting with families that I have worked with for the past three years. It was a great summer; I got to visit and discover a lot of places that I didn't have the opportunity to before. 2. How do you feel your history degree has benefitted you? The transition has been smooth. I am still involved and am already on some of the USF Alumni committees planning the upcoming Alumni Weekend in September. I recently started working for Saint Mary's College of California (SMC) just across the Bay as one of their new undergraduate Admission Counselors. As a student at USF I was an intern in the Office of Multicultural Recruitment and Retention and then at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions for about three years. Now I get to continue to do the work that I enjoy at Saint Mary's College and I am loving it! The Jesuit values that I learned about at USF have many similarities with the Lasallian values of Saint Mary's College. 3. What advice do you have for our current majors/minors? A piece of advice that I would give to my fellow History majors is to not be discouraged by what others may say about your major. You are pursuing a field of study that genuinely interests you; what you decide to do with it is limitless. 4. Favorite History class at USF? My favorite history classes were with Professor Zaman’s “Islamic Empires” & Professor Kruze’s, “US & China Relations.”

FALL 2016 UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY DEPARTMENT PAGE 3

Pictured: Nathalie Moreira-Ramirez, Spring ’16 Latin American and

Islamic World double emphasis

Want to see more of Nathalie? Check out page 5 to see her amazing trip to Cuba and learn how YOU

TOO can get involved.

Pictured: Chloe Campbell, Spring ’16 European and Islamic World double

emphasis

History Newsletter

Check Out Our Graduates! (cont.)

1. What did you do this summer? How has the transition from USF been? After school I took a two- week trip to London and Paris. I was able to go and see all of the historic sights that I spent the last four years reading about and researching. The transition from USF to the "real world" has been hard. It's not easy to leave your "job" that you've had for four years. You have to be able to go from the routine and certainty of school to the freedom of the world between jobs. Although freedom seems easy it really does a number on your motivation and confidence. But after overcoming the trials that come with freedom I've found that life after school does change and make you become that grown up you've always looked for. 2. How do you feel your history degree has benefitted you? After talking to various professors in the program I realized that I was not able to follow through with my original goal of becoming a history professor. So instead I totally re-hauled my goals in life and began working in events management, which then led to a job at a fertility clinic and now a job at a healthcare agency. All of these different jobs I’ve had have been impressed with my degree - not because of the subject matter but because of the things that we get from the history degree. The degree has taught me to multitask and to be able to synthesize all sorts of information. Also, the small sizes of the history classes have taught me to speak up and really be able to impress people with my comfort and ease in interviews.

3. What advice do you have for our current majors/minors? Don't limit yourself in your classes. Don't just take the classes you have heard are the easiest. The more difficult teachers will bring something that will become applicable in every area of your life. Also, don't limit yourself in the job market after graduation. With a history major/minor you now know how to synthesize the thousands of readings that teachers assign, and because of that you are more valuable in the job market than you realize. 4. Favorite History class at USF? I loved all of the classes I've taken within the USF history department. The passion of the teachers really rubs off on the students. But if you're able to take Professor Zaman's “Sex and Transgression” class, don't hesitate.

The History Department encourages its majors to study abroad in order to complement their education in the classroom. If you would like to learn more about study abroad programs visit

https://www.usfca.edu/academics/undergraduate/study-abroad.

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History Newsletter

Esther Madríz Scholars’ Trip to Cuba

History Alumna Nathalie Moreira-Ramirez went on a trip to Cuba with the Esther Madriz Scholars program. Here are some photos from her trip.

The story behind La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (The Virgin of Charity of El Cobre) exemplifies the religious syncretism during the colonial period when the Spanish sought to evangelize the indigenous population of Cuba. The Virgin supposedly appeared to three boys who were on a boat. Two of the boys were of indigenous descent and one of the boys was of African descent. Interested in learning more? Check out Cachita’s Streets: The Virgin of Charity, Race, and Revolution in Cuba by Jalane D. Schmidt. This book analyzes the Virgin as Cuba’s patron saint and national symbol of identity. Schmidt places the image of the Virgin in the context of debated and competing claims over Cuban identity, religion, and political ideology.

Above and Top Right: These photos were taken in Proyecto Comunitario Muraleando, a community arts projects in a Havana barrio (neighborhood). Right: Taken in Santiago de Cuba, home to the conga of Los Hoyos (the men in the picture). Conga refers to large Cuban music groups who perform with specific choreography and costumes during street carnivals in Santiago de Cuba and Havana.

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SPRING 2017 UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY DEPARTMENT PAGE 5

History Newsletter

Esther Madriz Scholars’ Trip to Cuba cont.

Left: EMDS Cohort 10 in La Plaza de la Revolucion featuring steel memorial of one of the most important deceased heroes of the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara. Included is the quotation, “Hasta la Victoria Siempre” (Until Everlasting Victory, Always).

Bottom: Taken in Plaza Vieja, Ciudad de la Habana Cuba (Plaza Old Havana). Plaza refers to a public square centrally located in a city or town. The replication of plazas in the New World helped reinforce power hierarchies during the colonial period.

The Esther Madríz Diversity Scholars Program is a living and learning community for second and third year students. Students in the Esther Madríz program get the privilege of focusing on specific topic relating to social justice, diversity, inequality

and social change. Throughout the program students fundraise for their trip to Cuba during the winter. Want to know more? Check out

https://www.usfca.edu/housing/living-learning-communities/esther-madriz-diversity- scholars.

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History Newsletter

Professor Spotlight Check out what our awesome professors have been up to! Professor Katrina B. Olds recently won the 2016 John Gilmary Shea Prize for her book Forging the Past: Invented Histories in Counter-Reformation Spain. According to the American Catholic Historical Association’s website, the Shea Prize describes Professor Olds’s book as:

“In her scintillating [book], Katrina B. Olds considers the complex story of a set of “false chronicles” of the early Christian history of Iberia forged by a Spanish Jesuit in the late 16th century. While accepted as genuine by many, they also aroused suspicions of their authenticity almost from the time of their “discovery,” and by the 18th century their spurious origin had been demonstrated. Still, the impact of the “false chronicles” endured, and their elements remained embedded in Spanish popular devotion and religious practice. At first glance, this might appear no more than a quirky historical footnote, but in her skilled telling, Olds connects it to broader themes. More than simply an episode in Iberian Catholic and Jesuit history, it becomes a fascinating lesson in historiography. In dealing with her subject, the author deftly examines her Jesuit forger’s skill at mixing fact with fiction to achieve verisimilitude, as well as his possible motives in composing his texts, and offers intriguing insights on the broader subject of forgery in the European Christian tradition. Forging the Past serves as a model of a subtle, imaginatively conceived, and thoroughly engaging examination of a subject, small in itself, but that allows the author and reader to explore matters of universal interest and importance.”

For more information check out: https://www.achahistory.org/2016/09/katrina-b-olds-awarded-2016-shea-prize/

Professor Julio Moreno gave an interview with Univisión San Francisco discussing the first presidential debate and which candidate he thought won the debate. The interview is in Spanish. If you would like to watch the video or read the transcript check out: http://www.univision.com/san-francisco/kdtv/quien-gano-el-debate-presidencial-video

Want to stay in touch with the History Department? Check out the History

Department Facebook and Instagram! Follow us at historyusfca and like our Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/usfcahistory/?f

ref=ts.

FALL 2016 UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY DEPARTMENT PAGE 7

Photo courtesy of the American Catholic Historical Association

History Newsletter

Introducing the History Department Student Council Have any suggestions for the History Department or would you like to see different events created for the students? Feel free to contact any Student Council member.

Mission Statement

The student council’s purpose is to bridge the communication gap between students and professors and increase the flow of information from department to students. In order to effectively do this, we will explore multiple ways of collecting feedback from History students on their thoughts about the department and on

social and professional development events they would like to see take place. Events geared towards professional development will help students market their history degree for multiple fields. We also seek to

foster a connection with History alumni.

Left: Chris Sayas Media Planner

Right: Kimberly

Mondragon Secretary

Left: Ariana Varela Events Coordinator

Right: Leah Michael

Professor Liaison

FALL 2016 UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY DEPARTMENT PAGE 8