History Majors:

Daniel Owens, '13 tutoring students at Amantigulu High School--a rural high school in northern Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.

Past, Present and Future

Where can majoring in history take you?

Opportunities for history students are limited only by students' imagination and initiative. Hope history students have studied in Europe, South America, Africa, Asia and Australia, worked in internships at nationally-known museums, organizations such as Human Rights Watch, and government agencies such as the United States Department of State, and taught in schools in a variety of communities, from urban settings to rural villages. Closer to home, students have had papers accepted at the regional coference of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society, and engaged in research with Hope professors. The History Colloquium Series brings engaging speakers to Hope College, and provides students with the opportunity to hear about history and current events from those who chronicle them and those who experience them.

Teaching and administration …

• George Klupchak '08 completed a M. Ed at the University of Notre Dame and now teaches at Chicago Bulls College Prep in Chicago.
• Dan Wizner '07 teaches at Traverse City Christian High School
• Jessica Patrick '04 teaches history at Liberty High School in Bealeton, Virginia
• Melissa LaBarge '01 is a history teacher at Bloomingdale High School
• Donna Rottier '94 teaches high school in San Diego, California
• Dirk Weeldreyer '86 serves as Superintendent of the Fennville, Michigan School District
• Jason Rubel '97 serves as the Principal of East Hills Middle School, Bloomfield Hills Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Legal profession …

• Tina Panayides '94 is Staff Attorney, Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• David Kraska '89 is an attorney in the legal department of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Francisco
• Blaque W. Hough '88 lectures in Comparative Law and Legal History at Sabanci University, in Istanbul Turkey, and lectures for members of the Istanbul Bar Association through Yeditepe University, in Istanbul.
• Amy Hinderer Feltus, law degree from Vanderbilt, practices public finance law in Phoenix
• Whitney Leigh, law degree from Stanford University where he was president of the Black Law Students Association, specializes in civil litigation and criminal defense with Gonzalez & Leigh in San Francisco
• Barbara Timmer has a law degree from the University of Michigan, serves as legal counsel for MyPrimeTime, Inc., an integrated media company

Higher education and scholarship…

• Lauren Berka '08 is in the graduate history program at Arizona State University.
• Samantha Miller '08 completed her M. Div. and is working on a Ph. D. at Marquette University.
• Michael Douma '04 recently earned his Ph.D at Florida State University and is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois-Springfield.
• Jeff Howard '01 completed his master’s degree program in higher education/student affairs at Loyola University of Chicago, and now works in the office of gay, lesbian and transgendered student affairs at the University of Chicago.
• Joel Ward '01 successfully defended his dissertation at NYU and is teaching in an adjunct position at NYU and at Brooklyn College this year.
• Brett Bebber '00 teaches history at Presbyterian College in South Carolina.
• Matthew Sterenberg '98 is is a professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan.
• Anna-Lisa Cox '94, Ph.D, who recently published A Stronger Kinship: One Town’s Extraordinary Story of Hope and Faith is an independent scholar living in Kalamazoo.
• Hayley Froysland '88 is a professor at Indiana University, South Bend, Indiana.
• Lauren Hinkel is working on a Ph.D. in history at UCLA.
• Noah Haiduc-Dale is a Professor of history at Waynesburg University where he teaches Western Civilization and Middle Eastern history.
• Tim Fry, who had worked in the Department of Health & Human Services, is now in law school at Northwestern.
• Brett Geier '94 is assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of South Florida Polytechnic.
• Michael Headley '09 has received his Master's degree in Military History from Norwich University.

Business …

• Brian Pageau, Business Development and Marketing for Midwest Energy Group.
• Geordie Mackenzie '06 works as an account executive with the Fleischman Hiller public relations firm in San Francisco.
• Jeff Bates '98 is Vice President of Editorial Operations for SourceForge, Inc., an online media company in Ann Arbor.
• Amy Strassberger '98 VanStee lives in Chicago where she is an editorial manager with a health information publisher, and a freelance editor. She earned a Masters in Writing from DePaul University.
• David Charnin '96, law degree University of Michigan, is now general counsel for a financial services company in Greenwich, CT.
• Rick Lumsden '93 is Institutional Sales Manager, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
• Barbara Good '87 Van Heest is is a vice president and relationship manager for Chase’s business banking group in West Michigan.
• Doug Holm '86 is Vice President for Communications/Research with MacFarlane Partners, a real estate investment management firm in San Francisco.
• Meg Smitley is computer programmer at a mid-sized financial intermediary in London.

Consulting and communication …

• Erica Puntel '00 is a publicist for CNN in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Daniel Stid '87, a Rhodes Scholar, Harvard Ph.D. and author of The President as Statesman: Woodrow Wilson and the Constitution, is a partner in the Bridgespan Group, a consulting firm in San Francisco

Government and public service …

• Jason Burns '06 is Executive Director for Equality Wisconsin.
• Jon Bandstra '01 received a Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois and works at the Herrick Library, Holland
• Louis Canfield '01 earned a Masters in Public Administration and is Development Center Coordinator for the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Anna Cook '05 completed a joint History and Information Technology graduate program at Simmons College and is now working for the Massachusetts Historical Society.
• Alicia Irvine '02 Reinhardt completed a MA in library science at the University of Maryland and is now a reference and local history librarian at Henrietta Publlic Library in Henrietta New York
• Rafael Diaz '98 is on Holland’s police force and is currently working on a law degree
• Ryan Kreider '94 is Senior Director of Financial Management and Control, EastWest Institute, New York City
• Jacquelyn Funk-Huss is Curator of Education at the Lakeshore Museum Center in Muskegon, Michigan
• Shannon Craig Straw '09 is Press Secretary at the Public Religion Research Institute in Washington D.C.
• Cynthia Bachhuber earned a MLS from the University of Wisconsin and is currently the Campus Librarian at Globe University in Middleton, Wisconsin

International affairs …

• Jordan VandeBunte '05 recently received a Masters in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona
• James Plasman '03 earned a Masters in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and is a Foreign Service Officer; he is currently studying Urdu and next year will be in the political affairs office of the American embassy in New Delhi, India.
• J. Scott Carpenter formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, is now a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Serving the church …

• Jonathan Schakel '94 is the organist and co-director of Music Ministry at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia
• Seth Weeldreyer '91 is pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Marshall, Michigan
• Kirk Slater '90 is a missionary in Uganda
• Phil Tanis '87, former mayor of Holland while he was at Hope is currently Manager of Information Technology for the Reformed Church in America
• Ryan Sweet recently completed his M. Div. at Western Theological Seminary.
• Michael Golden is a student at Dallas Theological Seminary.
• Molly Mead is a student at Western Theological Seminary.