The department is currently in the process of significantly expanding the existing course offerings that are already particularly strong in ancient, medieval, and modern European history; in U.S., Middle Eastern, African, and Asian history; and in Women’s history. Finally, we offer our students a wide range of special topics courses under our History 290. 

Why Take History?
After you finish your A.A., you may wish to go on in your education and major in history. With a B.A. in history, a student can teach at the secondary level, pursue a law degree, attend graduate school for the Masters in Arts or the Ph.D., or can work in a variety of fields including editing, education, government, and public relations. 

The History Department invites you to visit with the chair of the Historical and Policy Studies program, Dr. Erick Mann, who would be happy to discuss the program. The Department offers a wide range of courses including American and world history surveys to specialized topic courses. 

Faculty

Erick J. Mann, professor of history
Chair, Historical and Policy Studies
Area of teaching: History 
Degrees 
M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison - History
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison - History
Area of teaching specialization
1. Precolonial, Colonial and Modern Africa
2. Germany (19th and 20th century) and former East Germany
3. Non-Western Civilizations (Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America)
Oakton e-mail address: emann@oakton.edu

Craig M. Cook
Area of teaching: History
Degree
M.A., History, Roosevelt University
Area of teaching specialization
1. World History Since 1945
2. African American History
3. American History: Discovery to Present
4. Race and Ethnicity
Oakton e-mail address: ccook@oakton.edu

Robert Gourley
Area of Teaching: History
Degree
M.A., History, Loyola University of Chicago
Area of teaching specialization
1. Ancient Rome: the Late Republic
2. Medieval Europe: the papacy (twelfth and thirteenth centuries); medieval monasticism
3. Modern Europe: the Stuart monarchy
Oakton e-mail address: rgourley@oakton.edu

W. Jim Holderfield
Area of Teaching: History
Degree
M.A., Roosevelt University
Area of teaching specialization
1. Modern America: Chicago, Urban, Social/Cultural, 20th century
2. Public/Local: Oral History, GIS
3. Modern Europe
Oakton e-mail address: jholderf@oakton.edu

Donald P. Jacobson
Area of Teaching:History
Degree
M.A., University of Illinois at Chicago
Area of teaching specialization
1. Modern European History (Post 1789) 
2. United States Foreign Policy (1776-present) 
3. European Diplomacy (1815-1957: Congress of Vienna to the Treaty of Rome)
Oakton e-mail: djacobso@oakton.edu

Michal P. Kwiecien
Area of teaching: History
Degree
B.A., University of Illinois-Chicago - History, Gender Women’s Studies
Area of teaching specialization
1. Modern European History, Western Civilization
2. History of Poland and Germany
3. Central and East European borderlands
4. History of East European Jewry
5. History of Gender and Sexuality
Oakton e-mail address: (to come)

Michael Madill
Area of Teaching: History
Degree
M.Sc., Politics of Asia and Africa SOAS, University of London
Area of teaching specialization
1. Decentralization and democratization of local government in sub-Saharan Africa and the European Union
2. Micro-level politics and transaction cost economics of bureaucratic reform in sub-Saharan Africa and the former Soviet Union
3. History of governmental participation, representation, and accountability in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
Oakton e-mail: mmadill@oakton.edu

Maureen L. Melody
Area of teaching: History
Degree
M.A., History, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago
Area of teaching specialization
1. British History: Tudor England
2. Modern European History
3. Ancient and Medieval Civilizations
Oakton e-mail address: mmelody@oakton.edu

Frances H. Mitilineos
Area of Teaching: History
Degree
Ph.D. Loyola University, M.A., Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago
Area of teaching specialization
1. Medieval Europe: Late medieval Britain, medieval women, Anglo-Jewry, Byzantium.
2. Ancient Greece and Rome.
3. Early Modern Britain: Tudor/Stuart.
Oakton e-mail address: fmitilin@oakton.edu

Kirsty Montgomery
Area of teaching: history
Degree
M.A., Social Sciences (history), The University of Chicago
Area of specialization
1. 19th century British Empire; paternalist politics and political economy
2. Non-western history prior to 1900: British India and Qajar Iran
3. WWI and non-western perspectives of the Arab Revolt
Oakton e-mail address: kmontgom@oakton.edu

James T. Owens
Area of teaching: History 
Degree
M.A., University of Denver, Denver
Area of teaching specialization 
1. European History: French Revolution and Napoleon
2. Military History: the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon; World Wars I and II
Oakton e-mail address: jowens@oakton.edu

Toufic El Rassi
Area of teaching: History 
Degree
M.A., History, DePaul University 
Area of teaching specialization
1. Modern Middle East 
2. Modern United States history 
3. Twentieth century United States Foreign Policy 
Oakton e-mail address: telrassi@oakton.edu

Wendy A. Sarti, professor of history
Area of Teaching: History
Degree
M.A., Roosevelt University, Chicago
Area of teaching specialization 
1. American History (cultural and social) 
2. European History (World War II, Nazi Germany, the Holocaust; role of female perpetrators; genocide;
post-war Europe)
3. Women’s History
Oakton e-mail address: wsarti@oakton.edu

Richard Smelter
Area of teaching: History
Degrees
M.A., History, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago
Ed.D, Northern Illinois University
Area of teaching specialization
1. United States Political History
2. Military History
3. Early and Modern Europe
Oakton e-mail address: rsmelter@oakton.edu

Annmarie Valdes
Area of Teaching: History
Degree
M.A., History, DePaul University, Chicago
Area of teaching specialization
1. Latin American History: Pre-Colonial to Present
2. History of American Constitutional Law/United States History
4. Western Civilization: Ancient Near East to Exploration and Colonization
Oakton e-mail address: avaldes@oakton.edu

Barbara D. Vallaly
Area of teaching: History
Degree
M.A., Education-History, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Area of teaching specialization 
1. Contemporary Non-western History: China, Africa, Japan, and Middle East
2. United States History
3. History of the American Indian
Oakton e-mail address: bvallaly@oakton.edu

George Van Dusen
Area of teaching: History
Degrees
M.A., History, Loyola University of Chicago
Ph.D., History Loyola University of Chicago
Area of teaching specialization
1. American Government (Federal and Local)
2. American History: Discovery to Reconstruction
3. Modern European History: 1648 to present

Internet Resources

The American Historical Association website: www.historians.org/index.cfm

Citing Sources within a Paper: www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/within.htm

H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences online: www.h-net.org/

The History Guide: A Student’s Guide to the Study of History: www.historyguide.org/guide/guide.html

Occupations: www.bls.gov/oes/2003/may/oes_19Li.htm

Scholarly Societies Project www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/history_soc.html
This site is highly recommended as an invaluable source.
Facilitates access to Web sites of scholarly societies across the world. A set of guidelines is used in determining whether to include resources.

Tips on Writing a Research Paper: www.oakton.edu/resource/iss/multimedpape.htm

Turabian/Chicago Manual of Style Research Guide: www.libs.uga.edu/ref/turabian.html

United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics for Life, Physical, and Social Science

Plagiarism Links and Information
www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/within.htm#Turabian
www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html
www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/QuotingSources.html