Majors Past, Present and Future

Hope alumna Erica Puntel (2000), working with women in Ethiopia during a summer research project.

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.

Celebration of Undergraduate Research January 2007 Professor Janis Gibbs and Lauren Berka, with Lauren's project, "An Exercise in Reflection: The Valladolid Debate Between Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés Sepúlveda."

Celebration of Undergraduate Research January 2007 Katherine Stritzke, with her project, "Ideas into Images: Cartoon, Caricature and the Development of Modern British Political Identities." Research conducted with Professor Marc Baer.

Alumni Majors and Minors:

Teaching and administration …

• Jessica Patrick teaches history at Liberty High School in Bealeton, Virginia
• Brett Geier serves as Superintendent of Schools in Bloomingdale, Michigan
• Donna Rottier teaches high school in San Diego, California
• Dan Wizner teaches at Traverse City Christian High School
• Melissa LaBarge is a history teacher at Bloomingdale High School

Legal profession …

• Tina Panayides is Staff Attorney, Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault
• 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
• Blaque Hough practices law in Allegan, Michigan
• David Kraska is an attorney in the legal department of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Francisco
• Barbara Timmer, law degree University of Michigan, serves as legal counsel for MyPrimeTime, Inc., an integrated media company

Higher education and scholarship…

• Matthew Sterenberg is Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Northwestern University
• Anna-Lisa Cox, Ph.D, who recently published A Stronger Kinship: One Town’s Extraordinary Story of Hope and Faith is an independent scholar living in New York City
• Brett Bebber is completing his Ph.D. in history at the University of Arizona and will begin teaching at Presbyterian College
• Lauren Hinkel is working on a Ph.D. in history at UCLA
• Hayley Froysland is a professor at Indiana University, South Bend, Indiana
• Joel Ward is a Ph. D. candidate, New York University
• Cynthia Bachuber attends the graduate library school at the University of Wisconsin
• Anna Cook is enrolled in a joint History and Information Technology graduate program at Simmons College in Massachusetts
• Alicia Irvine Reinhardt is doing a MA in library science at the University of Maryland.

Business …

• Barbara Good Van Heest is Vice President of Business Banking at National City Bank, Grand Haven, Michigan
• Geordie Mackenzie works as an account executive with the Fleischman Hiller public relations firm in San Francisco
• Meg Smitley is computer programmer at a mid-sized financial intermediary in London
• David Charnin, law degree University of Michigan, is now Vice President and Chief Investment Counsel for a financial services company in New York City
• Rick Lumsden is Institutional Sales Manager, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
• Amy Strassberger 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
• Jeff Bates is Vice President of Editorial Operations for SourceForge, Inc., an online media company in Ann Arbor
• Doug Holm is Vice President for Communications/Research with MacFarlane Partners, a real estate investment management firm in San Francisco

Consulting and communication …

• Daniel Stid, 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
• Erica Puntel is a publicist for CNN in Atlanta

Government and public service …

• Louis Canfield earned a Masters in Public Administration and is Development Center Coordinator for the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Ryan Kreider is Senior Director of Financial Management and Control, EastWest Institute, New York City
• Jacquelyn Funk is a curator at the Muskegon County Museum
• Jon Bandstra received a Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois and works at the Herrick Library, Holland
• Rafael Diaz is on Holland’s police force and is currently working on a law degree

International affairs …

• J. Scott Carpenter is Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
• James Plasman earned a Masters in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and is a Foreign Service Officer
• Jordan VandeBunte recently received a Masters in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona

Serving the church …

• Kirk Slater is a missionary in Uganda
• Seth Weeldreyer is pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Marshall, Michigan
• Phil Tanis, former mayor of Holland while he was at Hope is currently Manager of Information Technology for the Reformed Church in America
• Jonathan Schakel is the organist and co-director of Music Ministry at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia