Events

The Department of History hosts several events each semester including community-wide talks at local libraries, faculty panel discussions on current events, and research forums for faculty and students.

Easley Lecture Series

The Easley Lecture Series in the Department of History provides for a guest lecturer to offer a unique perspective on historical events and relevant topics. The Easley family began this fund to honor the late Sid Easley, a graduate of the Murray State History Department. Mr. Easley served his community in a variety of capacities as a lawyer and judge, and was an author as well.

Guest Speakers

2022: Melissa Beals Goan
2021: John David Smith - "James Forman’s ‘Black Manifesto:’ A Miroir Noir Before the Conscience of American Christianity"
2019: Douglas Charles - "The FBI in Time and Place, Then and Now"
2018: Andrew Maraniss - "The Collision of Race and Sports in the South"
2017: Bobbie Ann Mason - "Making Fiction Out of History"
2015: Christine Kinealy - "'An Errand of Mercy': Sending Relief to the Irish Poor during the Great Hunger"
2014: Joe Lee - “Michael Davitt: Between Two Worlds”
2013: James Epstein - “Scandals of British Colonial Rule”
2012: Daniel L. Unowsky - "Local Violence, Regional Politics, and State Crisis: Anti-Jewish Riots in Habsburg Galicia in 1898"
2011: Christopher Browning

Other Events

Each semester the department hosts a number of interactive and informative events that involve both the immediate and regional communities, as well as the campus community. One such event is the Library Community talks, offered at least once per month by various history faculty. Also, the History Research Forum is held biweekly on Thursday afternoons. The forums are one of several opportunities the Department of History provides for both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty members, to present and receive feedback on their research. Other history-related opportunities include the annual Western Kentucky Regional History Competition, which is more affectionately known as "History Day," hosted by Murray State's chapter of Phi Alpha Theta. Additionally, the campus-wide Scholar's Week provides an open forum for both undergraduate and graduate students to present their research to faculty and peers. Both of these events occur in the Spring term.

Beasley and Hammack Scholarships

The Beasley Scholarship is given to juniors for use in their senior years. Dr. T. Wayne Beasley taught British and European history for the Murray State Department of History from 1965 to 2008.

Recipients

2022: David Adams, Joshua Rausch, Entropy Cramer, Elise Eaton
2021: Morgan Brian, Maya Noonan, Jennifer Whithouse, Megan Overhot
2020: Jessica Guldner, Evan Massamore, and Joseph Mickley
2019: Jewell "Trae" Cumbee, Ashleigh Deno, Madelyn Eisele, and Jessica Guldner
2015: Helen Beckert
2014: Austbrook Hudson

The James W. Hammack Scholarship Fund supports History Graduate Education at Murray State University. This scholarship is named for Dr. James W. Hammack, who served on the History Department faculty for over 30 years. He spent 10 of those years as Chair of the department.