CCHA Confers Award on Maureen Murphy Nutting

The Community College Humanities Association conferred its highest honor, the Distinguished Humanities Educator Award, on AHA member Maureen Murphy Nutting, professor of history at North Seattle Community College. Nutting was recognized for her work as an exemplary teacher, accomplished scholar, and activist for the humanities and the strengthening of history in community colleges at regional and national levels. The award, made biennially, was announced at the CCHA's national conference held in November 2005 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "Maureen Nutting stands out as a national leader for the humanities in the nation's community colleges," said CCHA Executive Director David Berry in his recognition statement.

Maureen Nutting received her BA from Fordham University in 1968 and her PhD in history from the University of Notre Dame in 1975. As a researcher, Nutting has written extensively and given numerous papers on such varying topics as Brazil's Japanese population, the history of Seattle, and the history of Catholic women's education. She has been the recipient of awards and research grants from such prestigious institutions as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the East-West Center, and the Ford Foundation. With grant support from these institutions, she has participated in travel and research seminars in China, India, Central and South America, as well as at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, and San Francisco City College.

As an educator, Maureen Nutting has demonstrated an extraordinary range. She has taught history at the University of Miami, Humboldt State University, Chaminade University of Honolulu, and Seattle University. In 1996, Nutting joined the faculty of North Seattle Community College, where she now presides as chair of the history department. She has taught a wide range of courses in world history and U.S. history. Her achievements as an instructor and innovator in the field of history and pedagogy have been recognized by numerous institutions, including the University of Miami; the University of Chicago, which awarded her recognition as an "Outstanding Teacher" in 1995; and the Seattle Community College District, which awarded her a Lifelong Learning Award in 1999.

Maureen Nutting has distinguished herself as an activist who has devoted her career to advancing the field of history, the professional status of community college educators, and women in the historical profession. She has written extensively on professional issues, in book chapters and articles that have appeared in the American Historical Association's newsmagazine, Perspectives, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. She has served on the AHA's Council, Professional Division, and was assistant director for the Promotion of Minorities and Women's Scholarly and Professional Interests. From 2001 to 2004, she served as a member of the AHA Task Force on Public History. In 2005, she chaired the Local Arrangements Committee when the AHA brought its annual meeting to her hometown of Seattle, Washington. Nutting currently serves as a trustee for the National History Center and HistoryLink.org.

Those who know Maureen Nutting personally are accustomed to hear her speak about people who live their lives with conviction. Executive Director Berry added, "The Community College Humanities Association believes Dr. Nutting provides a compelling example of someone whose commitment to the dissemination of the humanities as a scholar and educator has always translated into thoughtful and forceful action. We are delighted to grant her our highest honor."

Founded in 1979, the Community College Humanities Association, an affiliated of the American Historical Association, is the only national organization of its kind dedicated to strengthening the humanities in the nation's community colleges. It serves over 1,200 community colleges.

American Catholic Historical Association Confers Awards

The American Catholic Historical Association awarded its annual book prizes at its 86th annual meeting held in Philadelphia (in conjunction with the 120th annual meeting of the AHA) in January 2006. The association's John Gilmary Shea Prize was awarded to Stephen Schloesser, S.J., who holds the LoSchiavo Chair in Catholic Social Thought at the University of San Francisco, and who is also associate professor of history at Boston College, for his book, Jazz Age Catholicism: Mystic Modernism in Postwar Paris, 1919–1939. The book, published by the University of Toronto Press in 2005, is structured around the work of Jacques and Raïssa Maritain, who developed a theoretical perspective on the engagement of the Catholic Church with the modern world, and traces, through a close reading of their work, their intellectual development, and situates it in the context of their times.

Schloesser received his BA in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas, his MDiv. from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, and his PhD in history and humanities from Stanford University.

The association's Howard R. Marraro Prize was conferred on Augustine Thompson, O.P., associate professor of religious studies and history at the University of Virginia, for his book, Cities of God: The Religion of the Italian Communes, 1125–1325, published in 2005 by Pennsylvania State University Press. The prize committee's citation stated, "Remarkable for its scope and ambition, this book illuminates the crucial role of Christianity as a lived religion in shaping the structure and development of the self-governing Italian urban republics. . . . [and ] reveals how Christian religious practices mapped the sacred geography of urban spaces."

Thompson received his BA and MA degrees from Johns Hopkins University, his BA and MDiv. degree from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California, and his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley.