Dr. Michael Scott Van Wagenen
Associate Professor of History (2012) & Internship Coordinator
B.A., Brigham Young University, 1992; MAIS, University of Texas at Brownsville, 1999; Ph.D., University of Utah, 2009.
Teaching and Research Interests: Public History, U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, Historical Applications of Film and New Media, Battlefield Archeology, Folklore.
Upper-Level Courses:
- HIST 3231 Introduction to Public History
- HIST 4790 Internship in History
- HIST 5210G Advanced Topics in Public History (Family History & Visual History)
- HIST 7651 Graduate Seminar in Public History
- HIST 7781Public History Internship
- HIST 7990 Non-Thesis Project in Public History
Website:
Contact Information:
Department of History
Georgia Southern University
P. O. Box 8054
Statesboro, GA 30460-8054
Office: #3012, Interdisciplinary Academic Building
Tel.: 912-478-5466
Email: mvanwagenen@georgiasouthern.edu
Fax: 912-478-0377
Selected Publications:
- Remembering the Forgotten War: The Enduring Legacies of the U.S.-Mexican War (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2012).
- Between Pulpit and Pew: The Supernatural World in Mormon History and Folklore (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2011) co-edited with W. Paul Reeve.
- The Texas Republic and the Mormon Kingdom of God (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2002).
- “U.S.-Mexican War Veterans and the Congressional Pension Fight,” Military History of the West, vol. 40 (2010): 27-51.
- “Sam Houston and the Utah War,” Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 76, no. 1 (Winter 2008): 66-78.
Documentary Films:
Professional Activities, Honors, and Awards:
- National Council on Public History Book Award (Honorable Mention), Remembering the Forgotten War: The Enduring Legacies of the U.S.-Mexican War, 2013
- American Battlefield Protection Program Grant, National Park Service, 2010-2012.
- DeGolyer Library Research Grant, Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University, 2007.
- Research Grant, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, 2007.
- Summer Research Grant, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, 2007.
Current Research:
- I am writing a book manuscript about historical documentary filmmaking based on my decade as a professional filmmaker. My related work includes serving as the director of the Ogeechee International History Film Festival, the only international history film festival in the United States. I am also the co-director of the Visual History Summer Institute which trains academic and public historians to produce films supporting their research. Beyond film, I am also interested in family history and am completing a book manuscript titled “The Ponce Family of the Parral Mining District: Race, Identity, and Migration in the Mexican Frontier.”
Last updated: 8/1/2024
