The ASU History Department Proudly Shines the Spotlight on Some of its Finest Faculty, Alumnae, and Students!

Steven Barker, B.S.E. Student
Cooper-Hewitt Scholarship Recipient

This month, the ASU history department shines its spotlight on Steven Barker, who plans to graduate in May of 2007 with his B.S.E.  Besides being one of our history department commemorative scholarship recipients, Steven plays a very active role around the department.  When Dean Gloria Gibson of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences launched her pilot Supplemental Instructor program to provide peer teaching to students in selected survey courses, Steven was in the very small group of students who made the cut as trial SI's.  He has continued to help his fellow students in this innovative program for the past three semesters.  Last fall when the history department held its first annual Hattie Caraway Day, commemorating the first woman to be elected to the United States Senate, Steven was one of the main student organizers, taking charge almost single-handedly of the stationary displays, as well as helping in lots of other ways. He is also very active in our chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society.  It is no surprise to his family and friends that this young man has succeeded in college, since he graduated valedictorian of his class at Salem High School, Salem, AR.  Steven says his interest in history was first sparked way back in grade school when he read a biography of Sitting Bull.  Since then, he has remained fascinating with the subject.  By the way, even with all the time he spends on his own studies, plus working as an SI, Steven still finds time to enjoy hobbies such as softball (he was on Dr. Dougan's softball team), woodworking, hunting and reading.  After graduation, he plans to pursue a masters degree and hopes to teach at either the high school or junior college level.   Home is still Salem, however, where he has, in his words, "a large extended family."  His parents are Steven C. Barker and Rhonda Koelling, and he has one sister, Stephanie. 

Travis Eddleman (B.A. 2004, M.A. 2005)

Arkansas State Park Interpreter,

Old Davidsonville State Park

On August 1, 2006, former classmates of ASU History Department graduate Travis Eddleman who happened to be watching the Jonesboro, AR, television channel 8 evening news might have been surprised to see a familiar face in a very nice uniform.  Travis, known to his friends and professors for his sense of humor and engaging style, was knowledgeably chatting with an interviewer about things to do on a summer weekend in "his" state park, Old Davidsonville. But talking about history and the park was just part of the job for this park interpreter, whose ASU training has served him well.  Eddleman came to ASU with an Associates Degree from Phillips Community College.  He graduated with a B.A. in history in 2004 and his M.A. in 2005.  His work with the Arkansas State Park system began the summer between his bachelor's and master's programs when he worked at Jacksonport State Park.  He has worked as a living history interpreter at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock and museum curator back at Jacksonport.  He was eventually appointed by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism as the first full-time park interpreter at Powhatan Historic State Park.  Since then, however, he has moved to Old Davidsonville where his duties include public programming, historical research, writing and various administrative duties associated with the daily park operations.  He is also the First Aid/First Responder Instructor for that department and after he attends the Arkansas Law Enforcement Academy this winter, will take on park law enforcement duties, as well. 

Michael B. Dougan, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus

Dr. Michael Dougan retired from our department the summer of '06. Although Dr. Dougan is widely renowned as one of the foremost authorities on Arkansas history, he is not, strictly speaking, a "native son" of this state.  Originally from Neosho, Missouri, Dougan attended Southwest Missouri State at Springfield, before going on to Emory for his masters and doctorate degrees.  His publications include numerous books and articles on Arkansas history, such as the comprehensive one-volume text, Arkansas Odyssey: The Saga of Arkansas from Prehistoric Times to Present (1994), for which he won an award from the American Society for State and Local History and was honored by the Arkansas legislature.  His Confederate Arkansas: The People and Policies of a Frontier State in Wartime (1976) won the Mrs. Simon Baruch University Award from the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Most recently, Dougan completed a study of nearly two centuries of Arkansas newspaper history in Community Diaries: Arkansas Newspapering, 1819-2002 (2006).  A past member of the State Historic Preservation Review Board, he lives with his wife, Carol, in the J. V. Bell House, a National Register of Historic Places home.