Welcome to CHIS 1023 Western Civilization II!
Please use the Storytelling & Communications Template introduced in Session 3 to tell us about yourself, why you’re interested in this project, and get to know your fellow team members.
Not sure if this is what I will include in the OER Western Civ textbook, but this is what I drafted:
(ps. I included my official name “Lise” because this is what I used in World History OER textbooks for LOUIS last year)
Lise Namikas is an associate professor of history at Baton Rouge Community College, Louisiana. She specializes in recent international history and as an adjunct and professor has taught a number of World, European, African, and US History classes. Her book Battleground Africa: The Congo Crisis and the Cold War, 1960-1965 (Stanford University Press, 2013) chronicled the first years of Congo’s independence. Currently she is writing memoirs with an Eritrean who escaped a life of servitude. She has advocated for greater access to education throughout her career and contributed to several OER textbook development projects within the LOUIS network. She volunteers with refugee resettlement and is frequently found helping new arrivals navigate America. She is originally from Canada and is Ukrainian and Irish by birth, and raised by a Belgian mother and Metis father who taught her the love of history. She is a mother of three, chef and chauffeur on demand.
Constance Milton is currently the reference and instruction librarian at SOWELA Technical Community College. She earned an MA in History from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2014, and an MLIS and Graduate Certificate in Archival Studies from Louisiana State University in 2018. She has been working in museums and libraries for the past ten years. Constance strongly believes in the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) and is a participant in several organizations promoting this work. Her role as librarian at a technical community college allows her to work with students from all different backgrounds, with varying academic and career paths. She strives to provide equitable access to information for all and working on creating OER content provides another avenue towards achieving this.
Kevin McQueeney is an Assistant Professor of History and the Coordinator of the Black Studies Certificate Program at Nicholls State University. He received his doctorate in History from Georgetown University, a master’s degree in History from the University of New Orleans, and a bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from Rutgers University. Kevin specializes in African American History; History of Louisiana; and the History of Medicine. In May 2003, the University of North Carolina Press will publish his book A City without Care: 300 Years of Racism, Health Disparities, and Healthcare Activism in New Orleans. Kevin’s scholarship and teaching reflects his background in social justice. Prior to earning his doctorate, he was a member of the AmeriCorps National Service program for two years and for three years was a Construction Site Supervisor for Habitat for Humanity. Last year, Kevin helped create an OER textbook for dual enrollment U.S. History classes in Louisiana. He views his work on health and health care inequity, affordable housing, and access to education as inter-connected issues of equity and inclusion.
I am Maya Banks, head of access services and reference librarian at John B. Cade Library. In this role, I seek ways to improve services, delivery methods, and workflows to provide innovative user services within the library. Additionally, I participate in information literacy teaching, research assistance, collection development, programming, grant writing and marketing/outreach for the library. Current areas of interests include social media engagement, marketing and outreach in libraries, information policy, library user experience and organizational leadership. I have a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in library and information science. I enjoy watching the sun set, Sunday dinners with my extended family, reading historical fiction, and being mom to my one and only son Leonardo who is 11 years old.