Mark Metzler Sawin

POSITION: Department Chair and Professor

POSITION: Director

LOCATION: Main Campus, Harrisonburg | RLN 316

PHONE: (540) 432-4468

Mark Metzler Sawin grew up in Hesston, a small town in rural Kansas. He earned a B.A., studying Literature and Politial Science at Goshen College (Indiana) and then, after a stint training as a chef and doing free-lance journalism, he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. in 2001 Mark joined the history department at Eastern Mennonite University as a U.S. historian, where he currently serves as the chair of the history department and as the director of EMU's Honors program. In the larger academic world Mark serves as a member of the Regional Chapters Committee of the American Studies Association; as a board member of the Eastern American Studies Association; and as the American Studies area chair for the Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association. In 2008-09 Mark was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Zagreb, Croatia and he returned to teach courses there again in 2017 and 2019. His scholarship focuses largely on the religious, literary, and popular culture of antebellum America (1850s); his book Raising Kane addresses Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane who in the 1850s authored two “best-selling” books about his travels while masterfully manipulating the popular media to enhance his celebrity status. Mark is currently editing a collection of novels by the notorious antebellum pop-fiction author and political rabble-rouser, Ned Buntline.
Mark is married to Erika Metzler Sawin, a nursing professor at James Madison University. They have two children.

Education

BA, Goshen College
MA, University of Texas at Austin
PHD, University of Texas at Austin

Publications
Book Editor & Introduction The Black Avenger of the Spanish Main (1847) by Ned Buntline. Harrisonburg, VA: Emu Editions, (forthcoming 2019).
Book Editor & Introduction The Volunteer; or, The Maid of Monterey (1847) by Ned Buntline. Harrisonburg, VA: Emu Editions, (forthcoming 2019).
Book Review "Perry Bush's Peace, Progress, and the Professor: The Mennonite History of C. Henry Smith." Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, Lancaster County Historical Society, 2016.
Article “Making Contact!: William Carlos Williams’ American Literary Aesthetic.” Umjetnost Riječi (The Art of Words: A Croatian/English Journal of Literary, Theatre and Film Studies) 58, nos. 3-4 (July-December 2014): 331-354.
Mennonites in Encyclopedia of American Studies (Online Edition), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014.
Essay “Pickups, The History of a Love Story: A Cultural Study of Pickup Trucks in America” in Howard Zehr, Pickups: A Love Story. GoodBooks, 2013.
Book Raising Kane: Dr. Kane and the Culture of Fame in Antebellum America, Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2008.
Review Article Exploring Other Worlds: Margaret Fox, Elisha Kent Kane, and the Antebellum Culture of Curiosity, by David Chapin; The Reluctant Spiritualist: The Life of Maggie Fox by Nancy Rubin Stuart; and Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism, by Barbara Weisberg. Journal of the Early Republic, (Winter, 2005): 668-74.
Cover Article “U.S. History through American Studies.” American Studies Newsletter (Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association) 17, no. 1 (Fall 2005): 1.
Book Review Desert Patriarchy: Mormon and Mennonite Communities in the Chihuahua Valley by Janet Bennion. BYU Studies 4, no.2 (Fall 2005): 177-180.
Article “Heroic Ambition: The Early Life of Dr. Elisha Kent Kane.” American Philosophical Society Library Bulletin, Fall, 2001, n.s. 1:2. Online
Book Review The Earth is the Lord’s: A Narrative History of the Lancaster Conference by John Landis Ruth. Mennonite Quarterly Review, October, 2002 76:4.
Article “Moving Stubbornly Toward the Kingdom of God: Mennonite Identity in the Twenty-First Century.” Mennonite Quarterly Review, January, 2001 75:1 89-98.
Short Story “Jed Said No.” What Mennonites Are Thinking, 1999. Good Books, 1999.
Article “A Sentinel for the Saints: Thomas Leiper Kane and the Mormon Migration.” Nauvoo Journal, Spring, 1998, 10:1 17-27.
Thesis Article “Raising Kane: The Making of a Hero, the Marketing of a Celebrity.” Elisha Kent Kane Historical Society, 1997. Online
Article “Mennonites & Amish.” Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America. Salem Press, 1997.
Scholarly Presentations and Abstracts
- Keynote Address "Pick-Uppity: A New Cultural Frontier for a Threatened Masculinity." Anglophonia: New Frontiers Conference, University of Zagreb, Croatia (May, 2019, Invited)
- Panelist "Frontier Societies." Anglophonia: New Frontiers Conference, University of Zagreb, Croatia (May, 2019, Invited)
- Presentation "Masculinity and the Triumph of the Truck: Currents in the American Automotive Industry." Eastern American Studies Association, Harrisburg, PA (March 2019)
- Presentation with Students "Learning from Ned Buntline." Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association, Baltimore (Nov. 2018)
- Presentation “Like a Rock?: The Pickup Truck & American Masculinity” University Colloquium Series, Eastern Mennonite University (Jan. 2018)
- Presentation “Pickup Truck? Hell Yes!: The Truck as Cultural Dissent in American Suburbia” International Symposium, A Cultural History of Capitalism: Britain, America, Croatia, University of Zagreb, Croatia (April, 2017)
- Panelist “Where American Studies is at Home/not Home: Working in Different Disciplinary and Professional Contexts.” American Studies Association. Denver, CO (Nov. 2016)
- Moderator “In the Heart of the Shenandoah Valley: Visions of Harrisonburg, 1867-2017.” Virginia Forum. Jamestown, VA (March 2016)
- Panelist “Regional Chapters Committee: A Discussion with ASA Regional Student Award Winners.” American Studies Association. Toronto Canada (Oct. 2015)
- Presentation “What Makes America American?, or, Rock’n‘Roll & Pickup Trucks: An American Studies Look at U.S. Culture.” U.S. Consulate General, Chennai American Library, India (July 2015, invited)
- Presentation “There’s Somethin’ ‘bout a Truck: America’s Love Affair with the Pickup Truck.” Eastern American Studies Association, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA (March 2013)
- Panelist “ASA Students’ Committee: Roundtable on the Results from the ASA Students Survey.” American Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico (Nov. 2012)
- Presentation “Sensation, Science & Scandal: The Popular Press in Antebellum America.” Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society, Dayton, VA (May 2012, invited)
- Moderator “Cultural Change through Popular Media.” Eastern American Studies Association, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (March 2012)
- Presentation “Damsels, Demons, & the Sensationalized South: Ned Buntline’s Civil War.” American Studies Association, Baltimore (Oct. 2011)
- “The Prolific Profligate: Ned Buntline & His Literary World.” Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association, Pennsylvania State Capitol, Harrisburg PA (April 2011)
- “Scoundrels! Secession! Sensation!: Ned Buntline, the Civil War, and the Demon of Fire.” Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association, La Salle University, Philadelphia (April 2010).
- “Hope in Hard Times: Obama, FDR & the Construction of Hope in American Politics.” Klub Studenta Anglistike, Zagreb, Croatia (March, 2009).
- “Rock n Roll in Black & White: Cultural Creation in the US Since the 1950s.” American Corner, Zagreb, Croatia (Nov, 2008 & March 2009); School of Economics, Vukovar, Croatia (Jan, 2009); American Corner, Zadar, Croatia (Feb, 2009); Turkish-American University, Istanbul, Turkey (Feb, 2009); University of Sarajevo, Bosnia (Feb, 2009); University Dzemal Bijedic, Mostar, Herzegovina (Feb, 2009).
- with Dr. Iva Polak “Grave New World: The Early History of North America & Australia.” University of Sarajevo, Bosnia (Feb, 2009); University Dzemal Bijedic, Mostar, Herzegovina (Feb. 2009).
- “Playing with the Spirits: Séances in Antebellum America.” Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association, Rochester, NY (April 2008)
- Presidential Address “The American Studies Scholar: An Emersonian Perspective.” Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association, Baltimore, MD (March, 2007)
- “When Caliban Impressed Prospero: Rethinking 19th-Century Exploration & Race Narratives.” Organization of American Historians, Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC (April, 2006)
- “Teaching the Violent Edge of Non-Violent Reform.” Faith in Action Conference, Samford University, Birmingham, AL (Jan. 2006)
- “Traveling Together: The Intertwined Ambitions of Elisha & Thomas Kane.” Kane Masonic Lodge / Elisha Kent Kane Historical Society, New York, NY (Jan. 2006, invited)
Exhibits, Performances and Productions
- TV Appearance 1-on-1: Remembering EMU Graduate Murdered in Congo. WHSV TV Harrisonburg, VA (March 2018)
- Radio Appearance "A Discussion of Elisha Kent Kane, American Hero." Mike Slater Show AM 760 San Diego, CA (June 2017)
- Public Interview with Civil Rights leader Dr. Vincent Harding Eastern Mennonite University (Feb. 27, 2014)
- Chapel Take the First Step in Faith: A History of Change Toward Inclusion at Eastern Mennonite Eastern Mennonite University (Jan. 17, 2014)
- TV Appearance Survey Questions How Challenging College Has Become. WHSV TV Harrisonburg, VA (May 2012)
- Baccalaureate Address: Wisdom & Vanity: A Teacher’s Parting Words. Eastern Mennonite University (April 2012)
- Chapel Faith This Far: African American History and Eastern Mennonite (EMHS March 2011, EMU Feb. 2011)
- “The Histories We Tell Ourselves” Melva Kauffman Annual Lecturer (3 part series). Hesston College (Sept. 2010, invited)
- “A Croatian Fulbright Sabbatical” EMU Tuesday Lunch series (April 2010)
- Book Opening “Raising Kane: My 13-Year Obsession with a Dead Ex-Hero” American Corner, Zagreb, Croatia (April 2009)
- “The Times They Are a Changin’: American Student Movements in the 1960-1970s.” Student Symposium during the Faculty of Philosophy Student Strike, University of Zagreb, Croatia (April, 2009)
- “The First Thanksgiving: Cultural History & Cultural Construction” Gornjogradska Gimnazija, Zagreb, Croatia (Nov. 2008)
- Chapel “Colleges, Christ & the Construction of Belief, or, How to Make a Mennonite” (EMU Feb, 2007; Hesston College Jan, 2007)
- Baccalaureate Address “Wandering Wondering: An Eclectic Guide to ‘Walking Humbly with your God.’” Eastern Mennonite University (April, 2006)
- Radio Appearance “Touring Virginia’s Black History.” by Martha Woodroof. Morning Edition & All Things Considered, Virginia Public Radio (Feb. 2, 2006).
- Radio Appearance “Exploring Zenda.” by Martha Woodroof. Morning Edition & All Things Considered, Virginia Public Radio (Jan. 3, 2006).
Church, Community and Professional Service
Community & Professional Service
Church Service
Honors, Awards and Grants
- Visiting Scholar Grant. University of Zagreb, Croatia (2017 & 2019)
- Sabbatical Award. Eastern Mennonite University (2008-09, 2017)
- Fulbright Scholar, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb, Croatia (2008-09)
- Summer Teaching Grant. Eastern Mennonite University (2002, 2004, 2006, 2011)
- Lilly Faculty Pilot Project Grant. “Reaching Out, Teaching In: EMU & Harrisonburg’s African-American Community. (2005)
- Summer Research Grant. Eastern Mennonite University (2002, 2003, 2004)
- Quality Service Award. Eastern Mennonite University (Fall, 2002)
- Grundy Resident Research Fellowship at the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, PA (1999)
- University of Texas’ 2000-2001 Dissertation Fellowship (2000)
Professional Memberships
- American Studies Association (1996-present)
- Eastern American Studies Association (2001-present)
- Society of Americanists (2017-present)
- Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association (2018-present)
Professional Conferences Attended
- Eastern American Studies Association (Harrisburg, PA, March 2019)
- Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association (Baltimore, Nov. 2018)
- International Symposium on the Cultural History of Capitalism (University of Zagreb, Croatia, April, 2017)
- American Studies Association (Denver, CO, Nov. 2016)
- Eastern American Studies Association (Franklin & Marshall, PA, April 2016)
- American Studies Association (Toronto, Canada, Oct. 2015)
- Eastern American Studies Association (Philadelphia, PA, March 2014)
- American Studies Association (Washington, DC, Nov. 2013)
- Eastern American Studies Association (EMU, Harrisonburg, VA, March 2013)
- American Studies Association (San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 2012)
- Eastern American Studies Association (Rutgers University, NJ, March 2012)
- American Studies Association (Baltimore, MD, Oct. 2011)
- Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association (Harrisburg, PA, April 2011)
- American Studies Association (San Antonio, TX, Oct. 2010)
- Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association (Philadelphia, PA, April 2010)
New Courses Taught
COURSES TAUGHT
- HONRS 111 Ruling Ideas
- HIST 121 Introduction to History & Methods
- HIST 131 American History to 1865
- HIST 142 American History 1865 to the Present
- HIST 222 African American History
- HIST 312 History of Nineteenth-Century America, A Novel Approach
- HIST 321 Modernizing America, 1865-1940
- HIST 411 History of Recent America, 1941-Present
- HIST 422 History Tutorial (changes topic each semester)
- HIST 452 Seminar in History
- History & Culture of Ireland & Northern Ireland (Cross Cultural)
- GVC 221 Cities
- HONRS 311 Honors Colloquia: The History We Tell Ourselves
- “Religion in American Literature & Culture” (University of Zagreb, Fall 2008)
- “America Since WWII: A Cultural & Literary History” (University of Zagreb, MA course, Fall 2008,)
- “Recent America, a Thematic Study” (University of Zagreb PhD course, Fall 2008)
- “American Literature: A Post-WWII Cultural Study” (University of Zagreb, Spring 2009)
- “American Literature: The Black Experience 1900-Now” (University of Zagreb, MA course, Spring 2009)
EMU Service
- Director, University Honors Program (2011-present)
- Chair, History Department (2003-04, 2009-12, & 2017-present)
- Chair, Honors Council and Committee (2011-present)
- Undergraduate Council (2003-04, 2009-present)
- Washington Community Scholars’ Center Advisory Board (2009-present)
- EMU Centennial Committee (2013-2017)
- Centennial Book Advisory Committee (2011-2017)
- EMU Presidential Search Committee (2015-2016)
- Admissions Committee (2009-2012)
- Intellectual Life Committee (2010-2012)
- Chair, Search Committee for Political Studies position (2009-2011)
- Gen-Ed Core/Undergraduate Council Executive Committee (2009-2011)
- Co-Leader of Summer Cross-Cultural to Ireland/Northern Ireland (2010)

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Mark Metzler Sawin

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