Knights HistoryCast

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  Episode 30: Dr. Julian Chambliss and the 2023 ZORA! Festival Academic Conference. Plus, His Work on Afrofuturism, History Podcasting, and Comic Book Studies

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Julian Chambliss, a Professor of English with an appointment in History and the Val Berryman Curator of History at the MSU Museum at Michigan State University. He is also the Conference Curator of the 2020-2024 ZORA! Festival Academic Conference Cycle. This podcast focuses explicitly on the 2023 ZORA! Festival Academic Conference, which took place at the end of January. From his role in curating the conference, its direct connections and ties to Afrofuturism and Zora Neale Hurston, to podcasting and comic book studies, this episode of Knights Historycast covers all the incredible, dynamic, and transformative work Dr. Chambliss has done during his career.

  Down below are the links to his website and the podcast shows that he produced and is currently producing that were talked about during the episode:

  • His website: https://www.julianchambliss.com/
  • Link to all his former and current history podcast shows: https://www.julianchambliss.com/podcasts

  Here is a link to Dr. Robert Cassanello’s podcast that Dr. Chambliss was referring to: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/ahistoryofcentralfloridapodcast/

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  Episode 29: Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández and “When the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019-2022”

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández, a Pegasus Professor (highest faculty title/award that can be received at this institution) of History at the University of Central Florida, about his upcoming book, When the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019-2022. An award-winning historian and nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate, Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández beautifully uses the strengths of both disciplines to provide in real-time, astounding and shrewd historical analysis, insight, and commentary, of the unimaginable events of the past four years with the 66 opinion columns presented in the book. As Sebastian mentioned in the intro of the episode, this podcast serves as a preview of what readers can expect when reading the book, as Sebastian walks through all the topical sections of the book with Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández.

  You can pre-order the book now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retail bookstores. The book officially releases on February 15th, 2023. Use the links down below to either pre-order the book now or purchase the book when it comes out—it will be one of the best purchases you’ll make this year.

  • https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-the-world-turned-upside-down-luis-mart-nez-fern-ndez/1142555060
  • https://www.amazon.com/When-World-Turned-Upside-Down/dp/143319614X?ref_=ast_author_dp
  • https://culturaltrans.com/

  Want more after listening to this podcast and reading the book? Check out Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández’s website at https://culturaltrans.com/opinion-columns to continue to follow and read his weekly opinion columns.

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  Episode 28: The Florida-France Soldier Stories Project

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia spoke with the members of the Florida-France Soldier Stories Project research team to discuss the imperative and impressive work that they have done since 2015 to honor and commemorate Floridians that gave their lives to liberate France and defeat Germany in the Second World War.

  Down below are the timestamps in which each of the different group segments begins:

  Group 0: [3:27] Intro with Dr. Amelia Lyons (Principal Investigator)

  Group 1: [12:42] Faculty/Staff, featuring

  - Dr. Lyons (PI)

  - Richard Harrison III (Research Librarian Consultant)

  - Richard Gause (Research Librarian Consultant)

  - Dr. Amy Giroux (Digital Consultant)

  Group 2: [39:50] Graduate Students, featuring

  - Dr. Lyons (PI)

  - Marie Oury

  - Jim Stoddard

  - Elizabeth Klements

  Group 3: [1:20:28] Undergraduate Student, featuring

  - Dr. Lyons (PI)

  - Evan Murray

  To find out more information about this project and to read the biographies of the soldiers, check out their website (which was mentioned several times in the pod):

  https://projects.cah.ucf.edu/fl-francesoldierstories/

  Need LSAT tutoring? As mentioned in 1:43:46, Evan is an LSAT tutor for the Princeton Review. To contact him about this, please email him at murrayevan725@gmail.com

  A special shoutout to Professor Nikolas Gardiakos, who has helped Sebastian throughout this entire process of ensuring that these podcasts are of the utmost quality. As mentioned in the outro of this podcast, please check out Professor Gardiakos’s (and Professor Meeghan Faulconer’s) podcast—Discussions on Writing and Rhetoric—at https://ucfdwr.podbean.com/

  Check out Sebastian’s debut Florida Historical Quarterly Podcast, in which he spoke with Dr. Martin T. Olliff about his article in the Winter/Spring 2021 issue of the Florida Historical Quarterly. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq-podcast/44/

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  Episode 27: Jim Stoddard, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and His Experiences Going Back to Education Post-Military Service

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Jim Stoddard, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran that served from 2003 to 2013. After his military service, Jim decided to continue his education at UCF. In 2016, he earned his bachelor’s degree in history and continued to push forward in his pursuit of education by earning his master’s degree in history in 2020. Jim is currently working towards his Ph.D. in UCF’s Text and Technology program, with his doctoral research focusing on memory and identity in the U.S. Marine Corps. In this podcast, UCF History Department’s 1^st ever Veterans Alumni Roundtable Event was the basis of the conversation, with a specific focus on Jim’s personal journey going back to education post-military service.

  To read (highly recommend) Jim’s Master’s Thesis that was talked about during the podcast, the link is down below:

  https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd2020/138/

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  Episode 26: Dr. Frank Uekötter and Making Sense of the Juice: Florida Oranges and the Problems of Monoculture. Plus, a Sneak Peek of His Upcoming Book, The Vortex: An Environmental History of the Modern World

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Frank Uekötter, a Professor of Environmental Humanities at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, working on environmental issues, both past and present, in a global context. Their conversation primarily focused on Dr. Uekötter’s faculty talk event at UCF this past Monday (11/7), which was about the Florida citrus industry and issues of monoculture in this region, but also more broadly (starts at 16:06). This naturally led some portions of the conversation in the podcast to talk about themes and topics from his upcoming book The Vortex: An Environmental History of the Modern World—however the final segment of the podcast is dedicated solely to talking about his book, which will be coming out in February 2023 (starts at 1:01:02). Below you can find some links to Dr. Uekötter’s YouTube videos posted by the University of Birmingham to learn more about his research and his work.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j72s4nCoMEw (A Global History of Monoculture)

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSp6VyHuLlI (Making Food History)

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UmtKexCO0A (Dr. Uekötter research interests)

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  Episode 25: Dr. Jim Clark and a Crash Course History of Florida Politics Amidst the 2022 Florida Midterm Election

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Jim Clark, a professor of history here at the University of Central Florida. Their conversation centered on Dr. Clark’s 2014 book A Concise History of Florida, with specific attention to the chapters relating to the history of Florida politics, as the timing is appropriate since we are currently in midterm voting season in Florida, and having that historical background and understanding of Florida politics can enrich one’s experience going to the polls this voting season by being more aware and appreciative of those historical trajectories that got us into the present moment.

  NOTE: At 32:25 Sebastian said, “5 days out from the general election day” without following that statement with “as of this recording”. As of the publication of this episode we are 4 days out from the general election day which is Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Go vote now during early voting or on the day of the general election!

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  Episode 24: Dr. Bob Beatty and “Play All Night! Duane Allman and the Journey to Fillmore East”

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Bob Beatty, a double UCF History alum (B.A. 1994, M.A. 2002) and received his Ph.D. in Public History at Middle Tennessee State University in 2018. Dr. Beatty is currently the president of The Lyndhurst Group—a history, museum, and nonprofit consulting firm—and an instructor of Museum Studies and American History at Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. Their conversation in this episode primarily focused on Dr. Beatty’s newly released book titled, Play All Night! Duane Allman and the Journey to Fillmore East, and they were very much on theme with the Allman Brothers Band as they were “hittin’ the note” themselves in this conversation, and as a result they went over scheduled time (Dr. Beatty had to go to a book talk workshop at the UCF History Department after the recording)! Allman Brothers Band fans or not—this podcast is highly dynamic, entertaining, and educational, thus being worthy of its 2 hours and 20 minutes runtime!

  Continue the discussion by following Dr. Beatty’s socials @LongLiveTheABB on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

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  Episode 23: Allison Mitchell and Her Presentation at the 10th Annual Jerrell H. Shofner Lecture Series on Florida History and Culture, and Her Experiences as a History Graduate Student

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Allison Mitchell, a PhD Candidate at the University of Virginia and a Dissertation Fellow at Emory University’s James Weldon Johnson Institute. Mitchell was this year’s presenter at the Jerrell H. Shofner Lecture Series on Florida History and Culture with her presentation being titled, From Protest to Politics: Reconsidering the Impact of The Congress of Racial Equality’s Voter Registration Campaigns in Florida. Sebastian first talked with Mitchell about this presentation which examined the Voter Education Project campaigns orchestrated by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in Florida between 1962 and 1965. Then, they transitioned the conversation into Mitchell’s participation in day 2 of the 2022 FHS Annual Symposium event—specifically being a part of Session 7, Panel 14 titled, “Round Table on Graduate Education and the Future of History”. This naturally led to the broader conversation in this part of the podcast to be about Mitchell’s experiences as a current history graduate student.

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  Episode 22: Day 2 of the 2022 FHS Annual Symposium Event

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia attended this year’s annual FHS symposium event which is hosted every October at the University of Central Florida. Being one of the most significant historical events of the year for Florida history and culture, Sebastian wanted to capture the essence of this unique and imperative event by doing on-the-spot, raw, “quick chat” interviews with as many people that were involved with this event—from directors to panelists—as possible. This episode of Knights Historycast is composed of the several quick chat interviews that Sebastian was able to do from day 2 of this incredible and significant event. The following are timestamps to each of the individual interviews that Sebastian conducted during this day of the event:

  • Interview 1: Dr. Claire Strom from Rollins College and Dr. Rosalind Beiler from the University of Central Florida. Presented in Session 4, Panel 9, “Round Table: Turning Your Essay/Thesis/Dissertation Chapters into Publishable Articles”. (2:30)
  • Interview 2: Jared Frredline and Jacob Finnegan, UCF History Graduate Students. Presented in Session 5, Panel 10, “U.S. Colored Troops in Florida”, with their project titled, “Olustee: Remembering Black Soldiers Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice”. (16:13)
  • Interview 3: Olivia Aldrich and Lisa Lepenna, UCF History Graduate Students. Presented in Session 6, Panel 13, “Lightening Round: Future Florida Research”, with their project titled, “Seminole War Foundation”. (20:19)
  • Interview 4: Sarah Bousfield, UCF History Graduate Student. Presented in Session 6, Panel 13, “Lightening Round: Future Florida Research”, with her project titled, “Baking the Past” [Instagram blog: @bakingthepast] (30:22)
  • Interview 5: Dr. Christopher Meindl, Director of Florida Studies Program at the University of South Florida, and Dr. Scot French, Associate Professor of History and Director of Public History at the University of Central Florida. Presented in Session 7, Panel 14, "Round Table on Graduate Education and the Future of History". (43:50)

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  Episode 21: Day 1 of the 2022 FHS Annual Symposium Event

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia attended this year’s annual FHS symposium event which is hosted every October at the University of Central Florida. Being one of the most significant historical events of the year for Florida history and culture, Sebastian wanted to capture the essence of this unique and imperative event by doing on-the-spot, raw, “quick chat” interviews with as many people that were involved with this event—from directors to panelists—as possible. This episode of Knights Historycast is composed of the several quick chat interviews that Sebastian was able to do from day 1 of this incredible and significant event. The following are timestamps to each of the individual interviews that Sebastian conducted during this event:

  • Dr. Ben Brotemarkle, Executive Director of the Florida Historical Society (4:56)
  • Dr. Connie Lester, Associate Professor of History at UCF, Director of the RICHES Digital Archiving Program, Editor of the Florida Historical Quarterly, and Program Chair of the 2022 FHS Annual Symposium Event (8:09)
  • Dr. Christine Ardalan, Author, and Adjunct Professor of History at Florida International University. Presented in Session 1, Panel 2: “Florida’s Indigenous People: Tribal Origins and Tribal Health” (10:00)
  • Dr. Jacob Ivey, Assistant Professor of History at Florida Memorial University. Presented in Session 1, Panel 3 “Activism, Difficult History, and Challenging Times” (19:59)
  • John Venecek, from UCF Libraries Research and Information Services. Presented in “Brown Bag ‘Lunch and Learn’” (29:09)
  • Dr. Cecilia Rodriguez-Milanes, Associate Professor of English, Creative Writing, and Literature at UCF. Presented in Session III, Panel 6: “Puerto Rican Arts, Culture, and Politics: Five Years After Maria” (38:19)

  Links from Dr. Rodriguez-Milanes interview:

  • https://www.raimundiart.com/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25cuxybVwVQ
  • https://www.jaquiradiaz.com/
  • https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/11/puerto-rico-independence-not-statehood/671482/
  • https://www.npr.org/2022/10/05/1127047867/what-independence-for-puerto-rico-could-look-like-following-natural-disasters
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1IBXE2G6zw
  • www.oyechica.net

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  Episode 20: Dr. Steven Noll and Writing for the Public Good: Essays from David R. Colburn and Senator Bob Graham

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Steven Noll—a master lecturer in history and affiliate faculty member of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida. Their conversation focused on Dr. Noll’s most recent book titled Writing for the Public Good: Essays from David R. Colburn and Senator Bob Graham which was published in April of 2022. From the legacies and historical impact that David R. Colburn and Bob Graham had on the op-ed and journalism genre to how powerful and significant their op-eds pieces, which go as far back as 1990, are in the contemporary state and nation we all live in, and everything else in between was talked about in this podcast episode.

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  Episode 19: Holly Baker and Her Time as the Podcast Producer of Knights Historycast

  Sebastian Garcia

  The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Holly Baker, former podcast producer of Knights Historycast (and of The Florida Historical Quarterly Podcast). Their conversation ranged from the origins of Knights Historycast and how Holly was involved in that process to Holly’s extensive experience in the field of history podcasting—in explicitly doing them and researching the literature for her thesis—to some of her favorite moments running this podcast and much more!

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  Episode 18: The Longest Line on the Map: The United States, the Pan American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas

  Holly Baker

  This Knights Historycast podcast is brought to you by the University of Central Florida’s History Department.

  In this socially distant interview, Dr. Robert Cassanello talks with Dr. Eric Rutkow in the Fall of 2020. Dr. Rutkow is UCF History professor and the author of “The Longest Line on the Map: The United States, the Pan-American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas".

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  Episode 17: A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution

  Holly Baker

  For the Faculty Book Talk Series, The History Department’s Dr. Robert Cassanello interviewed historian Dr. David Head about his latest book, A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution.

  This “socially distant” interview took place during the historic 2020 coronavirus pandemic and was conducted through Skype.

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  Episode 16: Overcoming Injustice: Why Women's Constitutional Citizenship Still Matters.

  Holly Baker

  In 2020, the Africana Studies Program at the University of Central Florida hosted the second annual Dr. John T. Washington Lecture Series benefiting scholarships for Africana Studies Minors.

  Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California-Irvine School of Law presented Overcoming Injustice: Why Women's Constitutional Citizenship Still Matters.

  Professor Goodwin is the founder and director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy and its Reproductive Justice Initiative.

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  Episode 15: Holocaust Era Art Litigation in the United States

  Holly Baker

  Brandon Nightingale talked to Jennifer Anglim Kreder during the 2019 Pauley Speaker Series on Global Affairs about Holocaust Era Art Litigation in the United States. Professor Kreder is Professor of Law at the Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University.

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  Episode 14: Raising Our Voices: Madam C. J. Walker's Legacy of Leadership, Activism, and Education

  Holly Baker

  Brandon Nightingale talked to A'Lelia Bundles during the 2019 Dr. John T. Washington Lecture Series about her presentation titled, "Raising Our Voices: Madam C. J. Walker's Legacy of Leadership, Activism, and Education".

  A'Lelia Bundles is the great-great granddaughter of the famed Madam CJ Walker, an African-American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a political activist.

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  Episode 13: A Jewish Response to Jesus: Engaging the Gospels

  Holly Baker

  The Department of History’s Holly Baker talked with Dr. Zev Garber during the First Annual Judaic Studies Lecture Series. Dr Garber is Professor Emeritus and Chair of Jewish Studies at Los Angeles Valley College. His presentation was called, "A Jewish Response to Jesus: Engaging the Gospels".

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  Episode 12: Regional, National, and Global Perspectives on the Reconstruction Era

  Holly Baker

  The Department of History’s Holly Baker recently talked with Dr. Paul Ortiz, the Director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program and Associate Professor of History at the University of Florida. He is also the author of several books. His latest book is An African American and Latinx History of the United States. Dr. Ortiz was one of the presenters at the Sixth Annual Jerrell H. Shofner Lecture Series on Florida Culture and History. The topic was “Reconsidering Reconstruction: Regional, National, and Global Perspectives”.

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  Episode 11: Reconsidering the Reconstruction Era

  Holly Baker

  The Department of History’s Holly Baker recently talked with Dr. K. Stephen Prince, Associate Professor of History at the University of South Florida and author of the book Stories of the South: Race and the Reconstruction of Southern Identity, 1865-1915. Dr. Prince was one of the presenters at the Sixth Annual Jerrell H. Shofner Lecture Series on Florida Culture and History. The topic was “Reconsidering Reconstruction: Regional, National, and Global Perspectives”.

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  Episode 10: Lift Every Voice and Sing: An African Diasporan Interpretation

  Holly Baker

  The Department of History’s Holly Baker recently talked with Dorothy Davis about her presentation at the James Weldon Johnson Lecture Series titled, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”: An African Diasporan Interpretation. In her presentation, Dorothy Davis provided an interpretation of the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by discussing the life of her father, Griff Davis: a pioneering African-American photographer, journalist and diplomat.

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  Episode 9: Modern Distortions of the Medieval Crusades

  Holly Baker

  The Department of History’s Holly Baker recently sat down with Dr. Thomas Madden, Professor of History and Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University. Dr. Madden gave a lecture at the Pauley Speaker Series on Global Affairs titled, “The New Crusaders: Distorting Medieval Europe’s Holy Wars in Support of Modern Agendas”. In their interview, Dr. Madden talks with Holly about modern distortions of the Medieval Crusades and the misappropriation of its symbols and imagery.

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  Episode 8: A Tribute to Dr. Simon Barton

  Holly Baker

  The Department of History’s Dr. Robert Cassanello recently talked with Dr. Alun Williams from the University of Exeter in England. In the interview, they discuss Dr. Simon Barton’s work and career. Dr. Barton joined the Department of History at the University of Central Florida in January of 2017 and suddenly passed away in December of that same year at the age of 55. The Department of History at UCF produced this podcast interview to share the scholarly life and legacy of Simon Barton for those who knew him and for those who never got the chance.

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  Episode 7: Tuskegee Archives and Digitization

  Holly Baker

  The Department of History’s Dr. Robert Cassanello recently sat down with Dana Chandler, Archivist and Assistant Professor at Tuskegee University in Alabama. In March of 2018, Dana Chandler was a guest lecturer at the University of Central Florida. His lecture was titled, “Lifting the Veil: Tuskegee Archives and Digitization”.

  In the interview, Dr. Cassanello talks with Dana Chandler about his efforts to digitally preserve the Tuskegee University archival collection.

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  Episode 6: Florida and the Age of Fear 2000-2017

  Holly Baker

  The Department of History’s Holly Baker sat down with renowned author and historian, Dr. Gary Mormino, Professor Emeritus of Florida History at the University of South Florida St Petersburg. Dr. Mormino was the guest speaker at the 5th Annual Jerrell H. Shofner Lecture Series on Florida History and Culture. In the interview, Dr. Mormino talks with Holly about Florida between 2000 and 2017, a time he calls “The Age of Fear”.