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Jessica Clark, PhD Student
Department of History Doctoral Student
Germans from Russia History Doctoral Fellowship
Dakota Memories Oral History Project Coordinator

Jessica Clark, Coordinator

Jessica earned her Bachelor of Arts from Central Washington University in History Broad Area: Secondary Education in 2002. In December 2004, she graduated with her Master of Arts in Modern European History from North Dakota State University (NDSU). Her thesis research focused on Modern Germany, while incorporating social history, educational history, collective memory, and oral history. A copy of her thesis - "Holocaust Education and Collective Memory in West Germany, 1945-1970" - is available at NDSU's library. As the Germans from Russia History Doctoral Fellow, Jessica is coordinating the Dakota Memories Oral History Project - a project that she and Michael M. Miller (Director and Bibliographer of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection) created in January 2005, in collaboration with Dr. Tom Isern (NDSU Professor of History) and Dr. Kimberly Porter (University of North Dakota Associate Professor of History and Editor of The Oral History Review). This project documents the childhood memories of second- and third-generation Germans from Russia. Jessica is using these interviews for her doctoral dissertation research on growing up German-Russian on the Northern Plains. Her research areas include Rural History (in the West), North American History (emphasis in Public History), and Western European History. Within each research area, she is especially interested in family history, childhood history, memory, and oral history.

Jessica’s Research/Professional Activities:

• Conference Paper – “ ‘More than a Photo’: Germans from Russia Reflect upon Their Grandparents,” Oral History Association Annual Meeting, Little Rock, Arkansas (October 2006)
• Guest Lecture – “Childhood Memories: Growing Up German Russian on the Northern Plains,” Phi Alpha Theta Lecture Series, Chadron State College, Chadron, Nebraska (October 2006)
• News Article – “News from Abroad” in UK Oral History Journal (October 2006)
• Guest Lecture – “Growing Up German Russian on the Northern Plains,” Dr. Mark Harvey’s American West Since 1850 course, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota (April 2006)
• Conference Paper – “ ‘Captain May I Take One Elephant Step?’: German Russian Childhood Fun,” Western Social Science Association,, Phoenix, AZ (April 2006)
• Public Forums – “My Adventures in South Central North Dakota: Visiting with Germans from Russia,” Dakota Memories Oral History Project Pubic Forums, Wishek and Gackle, ND (2005)
• Conference Paper – “ A History Overlooked by Academic Historians: Germans from Russia on the Northern Plains,” 37th Annual Dakota Conference, Sioux Falls, SD (2005)
• Interview – “Hear it Now” show on North Dakota Public Radio [2 October 2005]

For further information, visit Jessica’s Biography on Dr. Tom Isern’s website.

For further information on the Dakota Memories Oral History Project, please contact Jessica Clark via e-mail at Jessica.Clark@ndsu.edu or call 701-231-8419.