Dr. Liesl Harris and Dr. Melissa Fulgham have big summer trips planned, made possible by the Marshall and Mosal Awards for Phi Theta Kappa advisors.
Harris, advisor to the Beta Lambda Delta Chapter at Jefferson State Community College’s Shelby Campus in Alabama, received the 2017 Marshall Award and will travel to Jerusalem in July to work on her project, “Never Again? A Study of the Holocaust and Leadership Implications.” She will take a three-week study course for educators at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
“For years, people told me to apply for a Mosal or Marshall Award,” she said. “I waited, however, until I found a project that truly aligned with my passions.”
Harris’ study will look at the leadership failures that allowed the atrocities of the Holocaust to happen. She believes that identifying these failures will help guard against it happening again.
The Marshall Award is named for Dr. Jo Marshall, president of Somerset Community College in Kentucky. It awards a $5,000 stipend to an advisor to complete a project that leads to personal leadership growth.
Marshall formerly served as advisor to the Pi Pi Chapter at Jefferson State’s Birmingham Campus, adding extra meaning to the award for Harris.
“Receiving this award meant everything!” Harris said. “The Marshall Award gives me the opportunity to do something big and bold that I simply could not have done by myself. I know this experience will make me a better teacher, advisor, and person.”
Harris plans to use her exploration to develop a special leadership symposium to teach as a stand-alone seminar and as part of her Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development course.
Fulgham is advisor to the Alpha Mu Chi Chapter at Northeast Texas Community College. She received the 2017 Mosal Award to complete her project, “On the Path of Pacifism: Retracing a Personal and Global Heritage of Peace,” which focuses on the roots of Mennonites specifically and the global Anabaptists movement in general.
She will travel to Amsterdam this summer to explore the deep roots of Anabaptists, their heritage of peace, and the stories of people involved in the movement.
“This project emerged from two events: a visit to the Amish country of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as a Faculty Scholar, and the death of my father,” Fulgham said. “After my parents’ passing, I gained a renewed interest in exploring my own Mennonite heritage and Anabaptist ancestors in greater detail.”
The Mosal Award is named for Dr. Margaret Mosal, Phi Theta Kappa’s first executive director. It carries a $5,000 award for the completion of a project that leads a chapter advisor to personal professional growth.
Through her project, Fulgham will dig deeper into the impact one person can have — in this case, Menno Simmons, and how he ensured the survival of the Anabaptist movement by steering it in the direction of pacifism during a time period of extreme violence. She hopes to gain insight into the origin of the movement; she wants to see the hardships faced by the group and the strength of will it took for them to endure.
“I also am a firm believer in the benefit of international travel and global perspectives,” she said. “Tracing personal roots and traveling internationally allows one to broaden perspectives and connect on a broader level with the world at large, finding one’s place within it as well.”
Fulgham will use her research to write about the symbiotic relationship of ideas and behavior as evidenced in history and share her work at a scholarly conference as well as with her history students.
Applications for the 2018 Marshall and Mosal Awards are being accepted now through February 16. View details and eligibility requirements:
The Marshall Award
The Mosal Award
