MARSHA L. WEISIGER
CURRICULUM VITA
Department of History, New Mexico State University, MSC 3H (505) 646-4037
P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001 email: mweisige@nmsu.edu
EDUCATION
PhD (History), University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2000
MA (History), University of Oklahoma, 1991
BA (History), Arizona State University, 1978, summa cum laude
BA (Anthropology), Arizona State University, 1978, summa cum laude
ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT
New Mexico State University, Department of History 2001-present
Associate Professor (2007-present); Assistant Professor (2001-2007)
Southern Methodist University, Clements Center for Southwest Studies 2000-2001
Carl B. and Florence E. King Fellow in Southwest History
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of History Fall 1998
Instructor
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of History Fall 1996
Teaching Assistant
University of Oklahoma, Department of History Summer 1990
Instructor
University of Oklahoma, Department of History 1988-1990
Teaching Assistant
COURSES TAUGHT
American Indian History II
From the Wild West to the Atomic West
Claiming an American Past (Honors College)
Graduate Reading Seminar: Nature and Society (formerly Environment, Ecology, and Culture)
American West in Popular Culture
Public History Seminar: History and Memory
Southwestern Environmental History
Plague, Plunder, and Preservation: American Environmental History
Graduate Research Seminar: Land, Nature, and Culture
Making the American West
Historic Preservation
Introduction to Recent American History
Nature and Society (Southern Methodist University)
U.S. Environmental History (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
American West in Literature and Film (University of Oklahoma)
WORK IN PROGRESS
“Breaking Ground: Environmental Art and Our Conceptions of Nature,” by Jarma Jones and Marsha Weisiger. Book-length collection of essays, in progress.
"The River Runs Wild." Book-length collection of essays, in progress.PUBLICATIONS
Books
Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country. University of Washington Press, Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books. Forthcoming.
Buildings of Wisconsin. Principal author, with Jeff Dean, James Draeger, Geoffrey Gyrisco, Paul Jacobovich, William Philpott, and Tracey Will. Buildings of the United States series. University of Virginia Press and the Center for American Places. Forthcoming.
Land of Plenty: Oklahomans in the Cotton Fields of Arizona, 1933-1942. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. Recipient of the Angie Debo Prize in the History of the American Southwest, University of Oklahoma Press, 1999 (refereed). Finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award, Oklahoma Center for the Book, 1996.
Articles and Essays
“Gendered Injustice: Navajo Livestock Reduction in the New Deal Era.” Western Historical Quarterly. Forthcoming, Fall 2007.
“When Life Imitates Art.” Environmental History 12 (April 2007): 383-85.
“The Arts and Crafts Movement in Wisconsin.” In Buildings of Wisconsin, Marsha Weisiger, et al. University of Virginia Press. Forthcoming.
“Migrant Camps.” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Historical Society. Forthcoming.
“The Origins of Navajo Pastoralism.” Journal of the Southwest 46 (Summer 2004): 253-82.
“The Debate Over El Lobo: Can Historians Make a Difference?” Public Historian 26 (Winter 2004): 123-44.
"The Reception of The Grapes of Wrath in Oklahoma: A Reappraisal." The Chronicles of Oklahoma 70 (Winter 1991-92): 394-415.
"Mythic Fields of Plenty: The Plight of the Depression-Era Oklahoma Migrants in Arizona." The Journal of Arizona History 32 (Autumn 1991): 241-266. Recipient of the C. L. Sonnichsen Award for best article published in the Journal in 1991.
Public History
Boosters, Streetcars, and Bungalows. Phoenix: Roosevelt Action Association, 1984.
The Social and Economic Effects of the Siting of the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant, with David Pijawka. Washington, D.C.: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 1981.
Reviews and Indexes
Book Review, Picturing Arizona: The Photographic Record of the 1930s, ed. by Katherine G. Morrissey and Kirsten M. Jensen (2005), Journal of Arizona History, forthcoming.
Book Review, Nature’s Altars: Mountains, Gender, and American Environmentalism, by Susan R. Schrepfer (2005), Western History Quarterly, forthcoming.
Book Review. Navaho Expedition: Journal of a Military Reconnaissance from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Navaho Country, Made in 1849 by Lieutenant James H. Simpson, edited by Frank McNitt (2003). Military History of the West, 2005.
Book Review. Diné: A History of the Navajos and For Our Navajo People: Diné Letters, Speeches, and Petitions, 1900-1960, both by Peter Iverson and Monty Roessel (2002). Journal of Arizona History, Summer 2004.
Book review. Under Sacred Ground: A History of Navajo Oil, by Kathleen P. Chamberlain (2001). Journal of Arizona History, Autumn 2002.
Book review. Indian Country, God’s Country: Native Americans and the National Parks, by Philip Burnham (2000). Environmental History, July 2001.
Book review. Revolt Among the Sharecroppers, by Howard Kester, with an introduction by Alex Lichtenstein (1997). Labor History, November 1999.
Book review. Remaking the Agrarian Dream: New Deal Rural Resettlement in the Mountain West, by Brian Q. Cannon (1996). Journal of Arizona History, Summer 1998.
Index preparer. Muir: Nature Writings, by John Muir; edited by William Cronon. New York: Library of America, 1997.
PROFESSIONAL PAPERS
Chair and round-table participant: “Teaching Borderlands History from Comparative and Cross-Cultural Perspectives,” Western History Association, St. Louis, Missouri, October 2006.
“Teaching and Learning with the Land.” Round-table discussion on “Surveying the Landscape of Learning: Toward a Scholarship of Teaching in Environmental History.” American Society for Environmental History, St. Paul, Minnesota, March 2006.
“Changing Women: Navajo Women and Livestock Reduction.” Western History Association, Scottsdale, Arizona, October 2005.
“Teaching Borders, Boundaries, and Frontiers on the U.S.-Mexico Border.” Panel discussion with Kenneth Hammond and Margaret Malamud. Crossing Borders Interdisciplinary Conference, University of Glamorgan, Wales, December 2004.
“Remembering Ganado: Livestock Reduction, Landscape Change, and Memory in Navajo Country.” Navajo Studies Conference, Durango, Colorado, October 2004.
“Remembering Ganado: Livestock Reduction, Landscape Change, and Memory in Navajo Country.” American Society for Environmental History, Victoria, British Columbia, March 2004.
“Environmental and Public History.” Plenary-session panelist. American Society for Environmental History and the National Council on Public History (joint meeting), Victoria, British Columbia, March 2004.
“The Debate over El Lobo: Can Historians Make a Difference?” American Society for Environmental History, Providence, Rhode Island, March 2003.
“The Reintroduction of the Mexican Gray Wolf in the Southwest,” round-table discussion on “Environmental Historians and their Publics,” with Nancy Langston, Lynne Heasley, Thompson Smith, Richard White, and Paul Sabin. American Society for Environmental History, Denver, Colorado, March 2002.
"Sheep is Life: Land Use, Environment, and Identity in Navajo Country." Western History Association, St. Paul, Minnesota, October 1997.
"Contested Stories of the Land: Federal Range Experts, Navajos, and Livestock Grazing, 1890-1940." American Society for Environmental History, Baltimore, Maryland, March 1997.
"Preserving Community History: Interpreting Cultural Landscapes." Panel discussion with William Cronon, Dolores Hayden, Arnold Alanen, and Rebecca Bernstein, University of Wisconsin-Madison lecture series on preserving women's history, March 1995.
"Preservation Historians: Building a New Western History." Western History Association, Tulsa, Oklahoma, October 1993.
"So Long It’s Been Good to Know You: Exodus from the Oklahoma Cotton Belt, 1933-1940." Social Science Association, Austin, Texas, 1992.
"Prelude to The Grapes of Wrath: Oklahoma Migrants in Arizona." Western History Association, Reno, Nevada, October 1990.
"Congressional Investigation: The Tolan Committee and the Okie Migration of the 1930s." Mid-America Conference on History, Stillwater, Oklahoma, September 1989.
"The Reception of The Grapes of Wrath in Oklahoma: A Reappraisal." Phi Alpha Theta, Weatherford, Oklahoma, February 1989. Recipient of the award for best paper by a graduate student.
"Cotton Pickers Wanted: The Lure of Arizona in the Depression Migration from Oklahoma." Oklahoma Association of Professional Historians, El Reno, February 1988.
PUBLIC TALKS
"Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country." Public lecture for the College of Arts and Sciences Colloquium presented at New Mexico State University, April 2007.
“Architectural styles of New Mexico and the Southwest.” Workshop presented to the New Mexico Archaeological Council, April 2006.
“Remembering Ganado: Livestock Reduction, Landscape Change, and Memory in Navajo Country.” Talk for New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum summer lecture series, August 2005.
“Desperately Seeking Diné.” Talk for the Southwest and Border Cultures Institute, October 2003.
ACADEMIC and PUBLICATION AWARDS
Arts and Sciences Faculty Outstanding Achievement Award, New Mexico State University, 2007
John Topham and Susan Redd Butler Faculty Fellowship Award, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, 2006
Faculty Research Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2004-05
Educational Minigrant, College of Arts and Sciences, New Mexico State University, 2003
Senior Fellow, Environmental Leadership Program, 2003-present
Faculty Research Award, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, 2003
Research Minigrant, Southwest and Border Cultures Institute, New Mexico State University, 2003, 2004-05
National Endowment for the Humanities Focus Grant for “Creating Connections” project (co-principal investigator), 2003
Research Minigrant, Arts and Sciences Research Center, New Mexico State University, 2002, 2003, 2006
Carl B. and Florence E. King Fellow, Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University, 2000-2001
Fellow, Environmental Leadership Program, 2000-2002
Angie Debo Prize (for Land of Plenty), University of Oklahoma Press, 1999
Star Fellowship, Environmental Protection Agency, 1997-2000
American Fellow, American Association of University Women, 1997-98
Dissertation Research Grant, Department of History, UW-Madison, 1996, 1997
Phillips Fund Grant, American Philosophical Society, 1996
Graduate Student Award, Coordinating Council on Women in History/Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, 1996
Walter Rundell Graduate Student Award, Western History Association, 1995
C. L. Sonnichsen Award (for “Mythic Fields of Plenty”), Arizona Historical Society, 1992
A. K. Christian Graduate Fellowship in History, OU, 1990
District American History Scholarship Award, Colonial Dames of America, Oklahoma Chapter, 1990
Outstanding Graduate Paper, Phi Alpha Theta (Oklahoma region), 1989
Woman of the Year, ASU, 1978
Outstanding Liberal Arts Student, ASU, 1978
Reynold's Scholarship in Anthropology, ASU, 1978
Phi Beta Kappa, 1978
College Register, 1978
Mortar Board (Senior Honor Society), 1977-1978
Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, 1977‑1978
Phi Kappa Phi, 1977
Phi Alpha Theta (History Honor Society), 1976‑1978, 1988-1990
Regents' Academic Scholarship, ASU, 1975‑1978
Dean's List, 1975-1978
PUBLIC HISTORY GRANTS
National Park Service, “Historic Resource Study, Glorietta and Apache Canyon Units,” 2006.
New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities; Globalization, Modernization, and Its Discontents Speakers’ Series, 2004.
Southwest and Border Cultures Institute; Borders, Boundaries, and Frontiers Speakers’ Series, 2003
McCune Charitable Foundation, Leopold Forum: El Lobo (symposium) 2002-2003
Thaw Charitable Trust, Leopold Forum: El Lobo (symposium) 2002-2003
Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Leopold Forum: El Lobo (symposium) 2002-2003
Southwest and Border Cultures Institute, Leopold Forum: El Lobo (symposium), 2002-2003
New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities, Leopold Forum: El Lobo (symposium), 2002-2003
Environmental Leadership Program, Leopold Forum: El Lobo (symposium), 2001-2003
Oklahoma Humanities Foundation, Forgotten Legacies: Glimpses of Oklahoma's Social and Cultural History (museum exhibitions, traveling exhibit, and humanities lectures), 1991
Oklahoma Humanities Foundation, Oklahoma-Arizona Migration Project (oral history), 1990
Arizona Council for the Humanities, Oklahoma-Arizona Migration Project (oral history), 1990
PUBLIC HISTORY/CONSULTING EXPERIENCE
Historic Resource Survey, New Mexico State University Campus 2007
Principal investigator for an architectural survey of the main campus of New Mexico State University and the preparation of a Multiple Property Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and the State Register of Cultural Properties. Conducted in coordination with Van Citters Historic Preservation for the development of a historic preservation plan, funded by a grant from the Getty Foundation.
History Resource Study, Pecos National Historic Park 2006-2007
Principal investigator with Brie Blasi for a history of Glorietta Pass and Apache Canyon, focusing on the interpretation of historic resources and events in this portion of Pecos National Historic Park.
Mesquite Street-Original Townsite Historic District Survey Summer 2004
Principal investigator for reconnaissance-level survey of historic Hispanic neighborhood, consisting largely of adobe buildings. Conducted for Steve Newby Associates, the City of Las Cruces, and the Las Esperanzas neighborhood association.
American Journey Project Fall 2002
Member of the Editorial Advisory Committee for the creation of a Web site (www.americanjourneys.org) of the classic primary sources documenting European and Euroamerican exploration of the United States, for the Wisconsin Historical Society in conjunction with National History Day.
Leopold Forum: El Lobo February 2003
Project director for humanities symposium on the reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf into the Southwest borderlands, bringing together environmental historians, biologists, policy-makers, environmental activists, and ranchers.
Living U.S. Women’s History Project 2000-2001
Oral historian for project documenting the trail blazers of women’s history, under the direction of Mary Rothschild and Kathryn Kish Sklar. Interviewed Linda Kerber, Sara Evans, Lila Rupp, and Judith Leavitt.
Buildings of Wisconsin 1993-2001
Historian and principal author of book prepared for the Wisconsin Historical Society, Historic Preservation Division. Architectural encyclopedia emphasized the expression of social, economic, and environmental history through the built environment.
Oklahoma Historical Society 1990-1993
State Architectural Historian, State Historic Preservation Office. Administrator of National Register, survey, and compliance programs; public speaker and workshop coordinator.
"Forgotten Legacies: Glimpses of Oklahoma's Social and Cultural History." 1991
Volunteer project director for a three-part museum exhibit series for Norman Depot, Inc. Curator for "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad," a traveling exhibit that continues to criss-cross Oklahoma. Funded by the Oklahoma Humanities Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Meacham*Weisiger*Associates, Norman, Okla. 1987-1990
Co-owner of a consulting firm specializing in historic preservation.
Oklahoma Foundation for the Humanities 1989
Program Associate, assisting grant applicants in preparing successful proposals.
University of Oklahoma, Design/Research Center 1986‑1988
Graduate Research Assistant/Historian.
Weisiger & Associates, Tempe, Ariz. 1982‑1987
Owner of a historic preservation consulting firm.
Heritage Foundation of Arizona, Phoenix, Ariz. 1985
Executive Director of a statewide nonprofit historic preservation organization.
Edna Rider Whiteman Foundation, Mesa, Ariz. 1984‑1985
Executive Director for a philanthropic foundation.
Mountain West Research, Inc., Tempe, Ariz. 1980‑1982
Research Analyst for an economic/demographic consulting firm.
Mountain West Research, Inc., Tempe, Ariz. 1979‑1980
Editor and Technical Writer.
Arizona State University, Tempe 1977‑1978
Student Archeologist.
Arizona State University, Tempe 1977‑1978
Student Archivist/Oral Historian.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Historical Association
Western History Association
American Society for Environmental History
National Council on Public History
Coalition for Western Women's History
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Editorial board, Environmental History, 2006-present.
Volunteer, New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance Statewide Conference, Las Cruces/Mesilla, New Mexico, April 2004.
Rachel Carson Prize Committee for best dissertation, American Society for Environmental History, 2004.
Manuscript reviewer for Thinking Through the Past (3rd Ed.), by John Hollitz.
Manuscript reviewer, Agricultural History, 2003; Western History Quarterly, 2003; University of Washington Press, 2004; Environmental History, 2005.
Butler Young Scholar Award Committee, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, 2003.
Chair, “Natural Resources Research” session. Symposium on Agriculture and Rural Life in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico, sponsored by the Agricultural History Society, Las Cruces, New Mexico, May 2003.
Chair, “First Person Interpretation and Experienced History” session. Rural Women’s Studies Association and Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums joint conference, Las Cruces, New Mexico, February 2003.
“Incorporating Environmental History into the History and Science Classroom.” Talk given to National Endowment for the Humanities Teachers’ Institute, Las Cruces, June 2002.
Chair, “American Indian” session. Joint meeting, New Mexico Historical Society and Arizona Historical Society, Las Cruces, New Mexico, April 2002.
Commentor, “Gender, the Body, and the Environment” session. American Society for Environmental History, Denver, Colorado, March 2002.
Chair, “Building the West’s Living Spaces: Vernacular Architecture in the American West” session. Western History Association, San Diego, California, October 2001.
INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE
Member, Alamosa Alliance for Environmental and Community Sustainability, 2007-present
Planning committee member, “Environmental Justice?: Unifying Research and Activism,” J. Paul Taylor Social Justice Symposium, 2007
Co-founder, Southwest Borderlands Field Institute (with environmental history colleagues at the University of New Mexico, Arizona State University, and the University of Arizona)
Member, Student Fee Review Board, NMSU, 2007
Member, University Affairs Committee, 2006-07 term
Faculty Senate, NMSU, 2006-2009 term
Judge, Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference, 2006
Member, College of Arts and Sciences Council, 2005-06
Co-chair, Latino/a historian search committee, 2005
Search committee for a technical writer, Natural Resources research cluster, 2005-06
Natural Resources research cluster (land subcluster)
Working group to develop Natural Resource Ecology, Policy, and Management Ph.D. program
Graduate Studies Committee, NMSU Department of History, 2003-2004, 2005-present
College of Arts and Sciences Improvement of Instruction and Student Relations Committee, NMSU, 2003-06 term; chair, Spring 2006
Southwest and Border Studies committee to develop a new undergraduate program, 2003-2005
Southwest and Border Cultures Institute, 2003-present
Introductions for Robert Kennedy, Jr., University Speakers Series, March 2004
“Borders, Boundaries, and Frontiers,” co-director for history lecture series, 2003
“Creating Connections,” co-director for project to redesign the history graduate program, 2003
Undergraduate Studies Committee, NMSU Department of History, 2002
Public History Committee, NMSU Department of History, 2002-present
Judge, History Day, 2003
Women's History Community, University of Wisconsin, 1993-2000
History Graduate Students' Association, University of Oklahoma, President, 1989-1990 term
Graduate Student Senate, History Senator, University of Oklahoma, 1988-1989 term (member, Ways & Means Committee, and chairperson, Ad Hoc Committee on Conference-Fee Grants)
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Oscar Jacobson Native American Cultural Center, Board of Directors, 1991-1993
Norman Depot, Inc., Board of Directors, 1988-1992
Oklahoma Foundation for the Humanities, Program Evaluator, 1989-1990
Oklahoma History Day, Judge, 1989, 1992
Arizona Historic Sites Review Committee, 1984‑1985 term
Heritage Foundation of Arizona, Board of Directors, 1983‑1985
Tempe Historical Society, Board of Directors, 1982‑1984
Gentle Strength Cooperative, Convener/President, 1984
REFERENCES (Available upon request)
William Cronon
Linda Gordon
Margaret Jacobs
Nancy Langston
Sherry Smith
Peter Iverson