Social Sciences at Shawnee State University

10/20/2025

This Thursday, 10/23, at 4pm, the Shawnee State University Kricker Innovation Hub and the SSU Center for Public History will host a public program with author James B. Wells. Scioto County native Wells will read from his new book, "Because," and sit with Prof. Andrew Feight for a conversation about his thirty-year odyssey to uncover the truth and meaning behind his father’s covered-up and still CIA-classified death in Vietnam in 1965.
They will discuss how James’ discovery of a trove of letters in his mother’s house started his journey and became the basis for his “investigative memoir.” Along the way, they will explore the challenges of researching and telling stories that involve still-classified sources. Copies of Because: A CIA Coverup & a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew will be on sale at the program.

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07/02/2025

The Department of Social Sciences at Shawnee State University invites applications for a full-time, non-tenure track Instructor in American History. This is a renewable annual appointment beginning in August 2025.

The History Program at Shawnee State University includes a Public History focus that emphasizes project-based learning through the award-winning Center for Public History. Students gain hands-on experience with museums, archives, and digital history projects, preparing for careers in education, museums, archives, cultural resource management, public policy, and heritage tourism, or for graduate study in history, law, library science, or museum studies. Located in the Department of Social Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences, the History Program’s faculty also teach courses in the General Education Program.

We seek a dynamic teacher-scholar with a preferred expertise in post-Civil War U.S. history and public history. Preference will be given to candidates whose work engages the Appalachian region or the Upper Ohio Valley.

The successful candidate will teach a 5:5 load of undergraduate courses, including U.S. history surveys and upper-division electives in their area of specialization.The instructor will contribute to the development of a new Public History concentration with strong ties to the Shawnee State University’s Center for Public History. We welcome candidates committed to community-engaged teaching and public-facing scholarship.The search committee will review applications until the position is filled; however, to ensure best consideration, candidates are encouraged to submit their application by July 15, 2025.

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06/16/2025

The Department of Social Sciences at Shawnee State University invites applications for a full-time, non-tenure track Instructor in American History. This is a renewable annual appointment beginning in August 2025.

About the Program:
The History Program at Shawnee State University includes a Public History focus that emphasizes project-based learning through the award-winning Center for Public History. Students gain hands-on experience with museums, archives, and digital history projects, preparing for careers in education, museums, archives, cultural resource management, public policy, and heritage tourism, or for graduate study in history, law, library science, or museum studies. Located in the Department of Social Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences, the History Program’s faculty also teach courses in the General Education Program.

We seek a dynamic teacher-scholar with a preferred expertise in post-Civil War U.S. history and public history. Preference will be given to candidates whose work engages the Appalachian region or the Upper Ohio Valley. The successful candidate will teach a 5:5 load of undergraduate courses, including U.S. history surveys and upper-division electives in their area of specialization.

The instructor will contribute to the development of a new Public History concentration with strong ties to the Shawnee State University’s Center for Public History. We welcome candidates committed to community-engaged teaching and public-facing scholarship.

The search committee will review applications until the position is filled; however, to ensure best consideration, candidates are encouraged to submit their application by July 15, 2025.

The Department of Social Sciences at Shawnee State University invites applications for a full-time, non-tenure track Instructor in American History. This is a renewable annual appointment beginning in August 2025.  About the Program:The History Program at Shawnee State University includes a Public ...

02/01/2025

Our very own, Dr. Andrew Feight, Professor of History and the director of the SSU Center for Public, is in the spotlight over at the Portsmouth Daily Times.

“My mission is to work with college students and local non-profits to preserve and promote the history of Portsmouth and the surrounding Appalachian region. We have an incredibly rich history and residents of the city and region have made important contributions to national history. We have a history for which we can be proud. This history when combined with the historic architecture that has been preserved is what gives Portsmouth it’s character,” Dr. Feight said.

While there are still missions to be accomplished and hurdles to leap in the greater Portsmouth area, there is massive progress being made all over by everyday people who are

11/07/2024

Dr. Maja Halilovic-Pastuovic will present her research from the EU Research Project GEMS November 19, at 7pm, at the East Ballroom in MUC, on Shawnee State University Campus

Send a message to learn more

11/01/2024

Exciting news for Portsmouth, Ohio, and Allen Chapel!

10/28/2024

Don’t miss this screening of a film about Robert Putnam’s book, Bowling Alone!

On October 30, 2024 from 6:00 - 9:00 PM in the VRCFA, join Leadership Ohio and host partners Scioto Literary and for a screening of "Join or Die" – a film about social connection in America, and the relationship between community life and the fate of our democracy.

Free Registration » https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/8uru265

10/10/2024

"Upon his first arrival in Portsmouth in 2010, Philip Eil met with Andrew Feight, a history professor at Shawnee State University who had just begun his deep dive into the area’s history. To better understand why Portsmouth became an epicenter of the opioid epidemic in the United States, one must first look at Portsmouth’s history.

In the 1830s, the river town of Portsmouth saw the revolution of transportation with steamboats, canal systems and the development of iron and steel industries. The 1850s brought railroads which helped spur the development of the shoe industry. Portsmouth was a booming, industrial town by the Ohio River by the 1890s. The population began to leave, though, with the 1937 flood that devastated the city. From there, Portsmouth began losing its shoe factories. In the 1970s, one of Portsmouth’s biggest employers, the steel mill in New Boston, began to close. With the deindustrialization of the Rust Belt and the continuing decline of available jobs, Portsmouth residents left. By the end of the 20th century, social issues, poverty and structural unemployment became the norm for the city and its remaining residents. “In some ways,” said Feight, “it left the city primed for the opioid epidemic.”

Philip Eil is a journalist from Providence, Rhode Island. He has written several articles, many for acclaimed publications such as The Boston Globe and The Atlantic. In the late 2000s, Eil learned of a fascinating story he wanted to pursue about a doctor who had overprescribed millions of opioids to...

10/09/2024

In preparation for Thursday’s program at the Shawnee State University Kricker Innovation Hub, I had the pleasure of spending part of my day with Philip Eil, the author of Prescription for Pain, which tells the story of Paul Volkman, a Portsmouth area doctor (who actually lived in Chicago) who was sentenced to four life sentences for the overdose deaths of his patients here in southern Ohio.

Here Phil and I are at the entrance of the SSU Center for Public History. I enjoyed giving Phil a tour of the Center and discussing our various projects. Time flies. We first connected in 2010 on his first reporting trip to the city. As a community we’ve come along way since those days.

Join Phil and I this Thursday at 4pm for a conversation about his book, the local history of the op**te epidemic, and media depictions of Portsmouth. Event info in the comments below.

08/24/2024

Welcome back to both new and returning students!! Come check out lunch options and stay for the awesome atmosphere 😉 .. have a great semester!!

Welcome back, Shawnee students! We were glad to see everyone during the Weekend of Welcome, and hope to see you here with those free hour coupons you received. 💪

If you didn't get a chance to see us, no worries! Always feel free to stop in and check the place out, there is never an entry fee for the facility.

In the game design program? Talk to us today about how you your game or project can be put on our server and playtested by all of our customers! 🕹

We appreciate all students who support us during their academic journey, and we aim to be a fun, chill, and memorable spot for you to spend your time at during your time here.

We'll see ya here, gamers!