Friday, January 22, 2010
Gregg McManus: Putting a human face on history
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Betty Vawter Senior Editor, News & Information Services 812/480-1873 McManus is the recipient of the 2009-10 Award for Outstanding Teaching by Adjunct Faculty. Sponsored by the USI Foundation, the recognition includes a $500 one-time stipend and a $500 professional development grant. An adjunct faculty member since 2005, McManus draws upon his extensive experience in government and business in his teaching. He spent 28 years with Vectren and its predecessor companies, retiring in 2004 as vice president of government and public affairs. His experience at USI is not his first turn at teaching. McManus earned an undergraduate degree in history and government with a minor in teaching at Butler University. He taught at the high-school level for two years before enrolling at Georgetown University, where he earned a master's degree in foreign service. He worked in the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Senator Birch Bayh during the Watergate period. McManus also holds a master's degree in business administration from Indiana University. "I got the itch to go out and make history," he said of his transition to a career in government and business, "but I always loved teaching. Now I'm able to take my experiences in the real world and share them in the framework of an academic setting." McManus teaches History 102, a course in the University Core Curriculum. "Because it's U.S. History Since 1865, we're going right up to the present period," he said. "I don't wait until the last week to talk about what's happening today." He shares articles relating to course topics from the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and other sources. McManus assigns students to interview their oldest living relative or acquaintance about that person's experience growing up. Many recount their experiences during the depression, World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam era, or the civil rights movement. Some students have discovered fascinating stories about their families. One learned about a grandparent who swam to freedom from East Berlin to West Berlin. Another related the story of a World War II soldier marrying a Japanese woman who had family members and girlhood friends killed by American bombs. "History comes alive for the students," McManus said. "Many are having a kind of dialogue that they've never had with that person. I can tell by student comments that it is often a 'eureka' moment for them." He finds that students often are astounded at the deprivation or lack of affluence that people have experienced. Students come away with a greater sense of appreciation for what they have. "The times themselves help to shape us," McManus said. "When I talk about how some people did not trust banks after the Great Depression, I've had students say that "when my grandmother died, we found money hidden all over the house." They make the connection," he said. Last fall McManus taught a new course, The Rise of American Business, which he developed for the University Core Curriculum. He compared the course to a medical school's gross anatomy course. Students dissect how and why things happened the way they did as American business developed. The course offered opportunities to study the economics that drove the founding of the 13 colonies, the emergence of industrialists such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, and the current economic crisis. Students also researched and wrote papers about Evansville-area entrepreneurs. McManus also teaches students in the liberal arts Living Learning Community. The LLC is a community of freshmen with similar interests who live on the same floor of a residence hall and take certain courses together. A special experience for the LLC students that McManus developed is an evening showing of the movie "The Grapes of Wrath' along with a buffet dinner. The film set in the depression era relates to classroom study. "Once again, I want to show students the human face of history, and this time was a period that challenged our beliefs in our economic system, our government, and ourselves. I think this has touched a number of students," he said. The teaching award was announced at the faculty and administrative staff meeting on January 4. |
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