CONNECTING WHAT MATTERS

Deborah Vess

EDUCATION: Ph.D. University of North Texas (1991)

Web address: http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/dvess.shtml

Areas of Interest

Dr. Vess's main area of interest is medieval history, especially monastic history and spirituality, scholasticism, and the thought of Peter Abelard. She co-founded and co-edited Magistra: A Journal of Women's Spirituality in History and previously served as joint editor of Vox benedictina. She has far-ranging interests in intellectual and cultural history from antiquity through the twentieth century. Dr Vess has devoted the last several years to exploring applications of technology in the history and interdisciplinary classroom, and has created two history eCore courses for the University System of Georgia, a set of interactive multimedia programs for world civilization courses, WEBCT packages and Web sites on course-related topics.  Dr. Vess served as the Net Review Editor for The History Computer Review from 1997-1998 and is currently an editor of H-Catholic, an H-Net discussion list.  She is the author of two world civilization textbooks for the AP and the SAT II exams, and is currently serving as coordinator of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at GCSU. 

Recent Awards

Dr. Vess recently received the Ernest L. Boyer International Award for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology and the Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology Award at the International Conference on College Teaching and Learning (2008). In 2007, she received the University System of Georgia Board of Regents' Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award and in 2001 received the USG Board of Regents' Research in Undergraduate Education Award. In 1999 she was named a Carnegie Scholar (Pew National Fellowship Program for Carnegie Scholars) with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In 1996 she was recognized as a USG Board of Regents' Distinguished Professor of Teaching and Learning.

Dr. Vess was a member of the system-wide faculty team that created the U.S. History I eCore course for the University System of Georgia and Georgia Globe, which was recognized at the 2001 International WEBCT conference as an exemplary course. She is also the author of the University System's World Civ I eCore course. Dr. Vess has won numerous other local, state and national awards for her teaching, including two National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) awards for Excellence in Teaching. 

Courses Taught

World Civilization (HIST 1131 and HIST 1132)
People Who Changed the World (HIST 2005)
Classical Greece (HIST 4110/5100)
Rome (HIST 4120/5120)
The Middle Ages (HIST 4130/5130)  
  Intellectual and Cultural History of Europe to 1500 (HIST 4280/5280)
Intellectual and Cultural History of Europe since 1500 (HIST 4285/5285)
Renaissance and Reformation (HIST 4140/5140)
Ancient Egypt (HIST 4950/5950: Special Topics)
Medieval Monasticism (HIST 4950/5950: Special Topics)
The Crusades (HIST 4950/5950: Special Topics)
The Medieval World in Film (HIST 4950/5950: Special Topics)
 Crises of the Late Middle Ages (HIST 4950/5950: Special Topics)
Women in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (HIST 4950/5950; WMST 4950: Special Topics)
The History of Women in Film (HIST 4950/5950; WMST 4950; ENGL 4950: Special Topics)
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table  (HIST 4950/5950; ENGL 4950/5950: Special Topics)
The Renaissance and Reformation in Film (HIST 4950/5950:Special Topics)
History of Christianity (HIST 4950/5950 and RELIG 3950: Special Topics)
I Claudius Course: Imperial Rome (HIST 4950/5950 Special Topics)
Historical Methods and Interpretations (HIST 6001)
Advanced Topics in European History (HIST 6201: Gender and History; the Crusades)
The Fine & Applied Arts in Civilization (IDST 2310)
The Heroic Quest (IDST 2305)

Selected Recent Publications

"Stay Tuned for Podcast U and the Data on M-Learning." In Handbook of Computer Mediated Communication.  Edited by Sigrid Kelsey. IGI, 2008.

"A Fetus or a Baby? The Abortion Debate in America." In Faith in America: Changes, Challenges, and a New Spirituality Vol. 2, Religious Issues Today. Ed. Charles Lippy. Praeger Press, 2006. 

"The Toys Are Really Cool But Will the Kids Play With Them? Multimedia Usage Patterns in Asynchronous and Hybrid World History Courses." In The Journal of the Association of History and Computing Vol. IX, No. 1 (April 2006).

"History to Go: Why iTeach with iPods." The History Teacher Vol. 39, No. 4 (August 2006).

"Eunuchs for the Kingdom: The Origin and Discipline of Clerical Celibacy." In Religion and Sexuality: Passionate Debates, 137-167. Peter Lang Press, 2005. 

"Asynchronous Discussion and Communication Patterns in Online and Hybrid History Courses." In Communication Education Vol. 54, Issue 4 (October 2005): 355-364.

"History in the Digital Age: A Study of the Impact of Interactive Resources on Student Learning."  In The History Teacher Vol. 37, No. 3 (May 2004).

"Monastic Moonshine: Alcohol in the Middle Ages and Beyond." In Religion and Alcohol: Sobering Thoughts.  Peter Lang Press, 2004.

Grants

Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) grant for the creation of an online course portfolio completed under the auspices of the Association for Integrative Studies. Co-sponsored by the American Association for Higher Education 2001. ($5,000)

Collaborator on Project Intermath Consortium grant (funded by the National Science Foundation) for creation of Gödel, Escher, Bach (IDST 4950) course, and Digital Art (IDST 3950) course, Summer 1999. ($37,200)

Model Technology Infused Course grant from the University System of Georgia Board of Regents for the creation of a multimedia online textbook for the IDST 2310 Fine and Applied Arts course, Spring 1999. ($20,000)

"Cultivating Humanity: Knowledge as Transformative," grant from the Georgia Humanities Council, Spring 1999. ($8,000)

Model Technology Infused Course grant from the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, Fall 1997. Global Issues: An Interdisciplinary Web Site for the 21st Century. ($18,975)

Deborah Vess, Professor of History and Interdisciplinary Studies