Sources: Albert Hamscher 785-532-0436, aham@k-state.edu;
and Sue Zschoche, 785-532-6730, suez@k-state.edu
Pronouncer: Zschoche is "Chuckee."
News release prepared by: Jessica Grant, 785-532-6415, jgrant@k-state.edu
Friday, March 7, 2008
K-STATE'S ALBERT HAMSCHER NAMED KENNETH S. DAVIS CHAIR OF HISTORY
MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's Albert Hamscher, a highly regarded historian of early modern France and a scholar of U.S. cemeteries, has been named the university's Kenneth S. Davis Professor of History.
The chair was established in a bequest to K-State's department of history from Davis, a writer and historian best known for his award-winning multivolume work on Franklin D. Roosevelt, said Sue Zschoche, associate professor and chair of the department.
It was Davis' wish that the chair be awarded to a department member with a general record of excellence in scholarship, but also with important attention to excellence in teaching, Zschoche said.
"According to the memo of understanding with Davis, the scholar chosen had to show 'an appreciation of the connectedness of the human experience' and they had to have 'compiled a general record of professional excellence and have shown special success in teaching,'" Zschoche said. "For more than 30 years, Al Hamscher has compiled an unrivaled record of excellence in scholarship and in teaching, and is incredibly worthy of this honor."
Hamscher teaches courses on European and French history, but is particularly known for the course The History of Death and Dying, which Zschoche said is one of the most popular courses taught in the department.
"There are only two constants in the universe -- death and taxes," Hamscher said of the course he created at students' request. "We spend a lot of time studying taxes, but not death. The subject is somewhat exotic and mysterious, and I think it attracts young minds because it's something we're all curious about."
Hamscher's teaching has earned high marks from students.
"Over the years, he has earned superb teaching evaluations," Zschoche said. "Perhaps most significant are the testimonies of former students -- all of whom speak to his extraordinary ability to 'kindle the desire' to learn."
In teaching, Hamscher finds it most rewarding when students are able to find relationships between seemingly unrelated things. "In my upper division courses, I don't want students to simply regurgitate things that I've told them -- I like independent and creative thinking," he said.
Hamscher joined K-State in 1972 and was promoted to full professor in 1986. His scholarly pursuits encompass two vastly different fields of study.
He was trained in the history of early modern France. In that field, he has authored several books and book chapters; published many articles chapters; and was one of the two founders of the revisionist school on royal absolutism. He is widely cited and internationally known and respected in the field, as evidenced by his election to the prestigious Societe de l'Histoire de France and his year's residence at The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., Zschoche said.
Hamscher also has published extensively and edited a book in the field of the cultural history of American cemeteries. He was a consultant and participant on a PBS program on death and dying in Kansas.
Among Hamscher's honors include the Conoco Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, three William L. Stamey Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards and K-State's Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award. He also has served on the editorial boards of French Historical Studies and the University Press of Kansas.
The Kenneth S. Davis Professor of History Chair is an ongoing honor and Hamscher will hold the title until retirement.
"I am honored by this award," he said. "I've always tried hard to be both a productive research scholar and an effective teacher."