WVU History Department announces new faculty

Morgantown, WV, August 16, 2006: The Department of History in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University is pleased to welcome two new faculty members this fall, Dr. Tyler Boulware and Dr. Kathryn Staples.

Dr. Tyler Boulware holds a BA in history from Presbyterian College of Clinton SC. His MA and Ph.D. degrees, also in history, were earned at the University of South Carolina. He will teach courses in early American history, and has a special interest in Native American and frontier studies during the colonial era. "My current research examines nation-building among the Cherokees prior to removal," Boulware stated. "I look forward to working in the History Department and with the Native American Studies Program."

Dr. Kathryn Staples earned her MA and Ph.D. degrees in history from the University of Minnesota and her BA in history and French from the University of Minnesota-Morris. She will teach courses in medieval history as well as western civilization. Her research is presently focused on daughterhood in late medieval London. She is also interested in the social and cultural history of the central and late middle ages, including questions of identity and community. "Issues in the history of women, gender, and family hold a particular fascination for me," she said. "I am very excited to begin teaching at WVU, to join such a strong History Department, and to get to know West Virginia."

"We are extremely pleased to bring such fine scholars to the Eberly College and to WVU," stated Dr. Mary Ellen Mazey, Dean of the Eberly College. "Our History Department has a long tradition of excellence, and these two new assistant professors will help not only to maintain that level of excellence, but also to raise it even higher."

For more information, please contact Dr. Robert Blobaum, Chair of the Department of History, at Robert.Blobaum@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-2421.

W-V-U