If, as Dr. Ronald Huch says, there is a "direct connection between scholarship and what happens in a college classroom," then EKU history students are indeed fortunate.

In the past three years, nine faculty members (half the total) in the Department of History have authored 13 books, some of which are groundbreaking, said Huch, chair of the Department.

The figure is even more impressive considering that most of the nine were carrying a full teaching/advising load at the time they were researching and writing.

"This amount of book publishing is equivalent to what you'd expect at a research university, and that's what makes it unique," Huch said. "It takes a great deal of commitment and dedication for a professor to turn out work of this quality."

The authors and their books (all the result of original research) are: Dr. Tom Appleton, "Negotiating Boundaries of Southern Womanhood: Dealing with the Powers That Be," "Roadside History: A Guide to Kentucky Highway Markers," "Searching for Their Places: Women in the South Across Four Centuries"; Dr. David Coleman, "Creating Christian Granada: Society and Religious Culture in An Old-World Frontier City, 1492-1596"; Dr. Hank Everman, "Bourbon County Since 1865";" Dr. Mary Ellen Klatte, "Kentucky Woman: The Life of Viebie Catron Cantrell";" Dr. Peter Szok, "La ultima gaviots, Liberalism and Nostalgia in Early Twentieth-Century Panama";" Dr. Robert Topmiller, "The Lotus Unleashed: The Buddhist Peace Movement in South Vietnam,1964-66," "A Brief History of Vietnam"; Dr. Stephen Warren, "Between Villages and Nations: The Emergence of Shawnee Nationalism, 1795-1870"; Dr. Robert Weise, "Grasping at Independence: Debt, Male Authority and Mineral Rights in Appalachian Kentucky," "U.S. History Documents Collection to Accompany American Passages, Vols. I and II"; and Dr. Bradford Wood, "'This Remotest Part of the World': The Formation of North Carolina's Lower Cape Fear Region, 1725-1775." Most were published by university press associations at Kentucky, Missouri, Cornell, Illinois, Tennessee and South Carolina.

"I don't buy the adage that teachers should only teach," Huch said. "The best teachers are those who are scholars. That doesn't always mean publishing books and articles; it can mean reading and keeping abreast of what's going on in your profession."

One example of the latter, Huch said, is Professor Mick Lewis, who has received Student Government Association awards for teaching excellence the past two years.

"I've been on so many campuses where professors pretend to get by on 30-year-old information," Huch said. "I've always thought that one of the rules for being a historian is writing history, and our faculty members have come through in big ways."

Huch believes the best may be yet to come, from these authors and others in the department. "We have the kind of scholars for whom the sky's the limit," he said. "I'm not sure all of them are aware of the potential they have."

The books are attracting national notoriety for the authors and for Eastern's history program, which offers baccalaureate and graduate degrees. "The kind of respect we're getting is reflected in the number of invitations our faculty are receiving for seminars and national conferences," Huch said, "and when faculty are doing things that gain us respect and recognition, others in the department benefit from the attention.

"When I came to EKU I had a most positive attitude, but I never thought I was joining a department that was on the verge of becoming a national force in the discipline." Huch said the support of President Joanne Glasser, Provost Dr. Michael Marsden and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Dr. Dominick Hart has been critical to the publishing bonanza.

"The success of any department or university is directly tied to the support faculty receive from the deans and provosts, and not just financial support. More than financial support, they know that what they're doing here is appreciated, and that's rare at a regional university. (Glasser, Marsden and Hart) have gone out of their way to show our faculty members how much their work is appreciated, and you just can't overstate the importance of that."