Hendrix College to install new Elbert L.
Fausett Distinguished Professor of History at August 24 convocation
CONWAY,
Arkansas (July 6, 2023)—Hendrix College has announced Dr. Allison K. Shutt, a
faculty member in the Department of History since 1997, as the new Elbert L.
Fausett Distinguished Professor of History. Shutt, the sixth Hendrix faculty
member to hold the position, will be formally installed at a convocation set
for Thursday, August 24, at 11:10 a.m.
Established
in 1980, the professorship honors Elbert L. Fausett (1903-1985), a leading
Arkansas business executive, realtor and long-time friend of the College. Previous
recipients include Dr. George H. Thompson ’48 (history, 1980-1991), Dr. Robert
C. Eslinger (mathematics, 1997-2004), Dr. Thomas E. Goodwin (chemistry,
2004-2016), Dr. Stella M. Čapek (sociology, 2017-2019), and Dr. Matthew D.
Moran (biology, 2019-2022).
Shutt
holds M.A. (African Studies) and Ph.D. (History) degrees from the University of
California, Los Angeles and a B.A. (History) degree from William Smith College.
Throughout her time at Hendrix, she has received numerous commendations for her
work, including an Exemplary Teaching Award from the United Methodist Church’s
General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, and several grants for research,
including a Hendrix Odyssey Professorship.
In
2015, Shutt’s first book, Manners Make a
Nation: Racial Etiquette in Southern Rhodesia, was shortlisted for the British
African Studies Association’s Fage-Oliver
Book Prize, which is “awarded biennially to the author of an
outstanding original scholarly work published on Africa during the preceding
two years.”
“The
prize committee called the book ‘rare and innovative,’ ‘original and engaging.’
For me, those four words constitute the highest praise a work of scholarship
can receive,” wrote one nominator. “It’s also significant that she has not let
up. She’s a senior faculty member who continues to improve her teaching, make
her leadership felt in the community, and forge ahead with her scholarly life.
It can’t be easy to stay as productive as she is when her subject’s primary
materials are literally an ocean away.”
She
is currently working on another book, Jasper
Savanhu: History and Historiography.
Shutt’s
“Doing History” course, which features Reacting to the Past role-playing games, is popular
with students and well known among her colleagues.
“Everyone
in Mills [Center for Social Sciences] can attest to the success of those
classes, as we hear debates bursting loudly from her classroom,” a group of
colleagues wrote in nominating her for the Exemplary Teaching Award. “Allison
shows all her students that history can be alive and relevant.”
Shutt
joins five other faculty members who hold distinguished professorships:
Dr.
Carol West, the Harold and Lucy Cabe Distinguished Professor of English;
Dr.
Jennifer Peszka, the Virginia A. McCormick Pittman Distinguished Professor of
Psychology;
Dr.
Alex Vernon, the M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Distinguished Professor of English;
Dr.
John Krebs, the Willis H. Holmes Distinguished Professor of Music; and
Dr.
Lyle Rupert ’82, the C. Louis and Charlotte Cabe Distinguished Professor of Economics
and Business.
About
Hendrix College
A
private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently
earns recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal arts institutions,
and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the
Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and rigor, innovation, and
value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous college guides, lists,
and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been affiliated with the United
Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.