to attend Yale seminar

FAYETTE, Iowa (August 15, 2008) - Each summer Upper Iowa University grants a select number of its faculty a scholarship stipend to use for professional enhancement.

               Dr. Donald R. Shaffer, assistant professor of History, attended two notable activities with his grant--one at Yale University and the other at the University of Wisconsin.

               Shaffer was one of only 35 instructors chosen to participate in the Slave Narratives Seminar at Yale University from June 15-18 in New Haven, CT. The nationwide competition was for Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) faculty members.

               David W. Blight, Yale professor and world-renowned scholar in African-American history, facilitated the seminar, which was sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and CIC. According to Shaffer, participants engaged in an intensive four-day exploration of published accounts of slavery by former slaves.

               "I was honored to be chosen for the Yale seminar," said Shaffer. "And am confident it will enhance my instruction of African American history at Upper Iowa by giving me a better knowledge of this important original source on the black experience from actual slaves."

               At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Shaffer attended the annual Institute for the Editing of Historical Documents from July 7-12, sponsored by the National Historical Publication and Records Commission of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. "This experience provided me with a greater familiarity of the principles and techniques of editing historical documents," said Shaffer. "It will also make me a more discerning user of original sources in the future."

               Shaffer holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Maryland, College Park and resides in Fayette.

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Sheila Miller
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millers@uiu.edu
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