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King’s DNA throws a curve ball; WSU scholars weigh in

WSU historian Jesse Spohnholz, left, and molecular anthropologist Brian Kemp. Skeleton in foreground is not that of King Richard III. (Photo by Shelly Hanks, WSU Photo Services)
WSU historian Jesse Spohnholz, left, and molecular anthropologist Brian Kemp. Skeleton in foreground is not that of King Richard III. (Photo by Shelly Hanks, WSU Photo Services)

The recent announcement that a skeleton found under a parking lot in England two years ago is that of King Richard III has laid one mystery to rest – while giving rise to another.

Findings of a study published this month in the journal Nature Communications confirmed the skeleton as that of the English monarch who was killed in battle in 1485. But the DNA analysis also lays bare the fact that a break – or breaks – occurred on the male side of the monarch’s family tree. In other words, a woman married to a king had a son from another man.

“Basically, the more information that was gleaned from retrieving the king’s DNA, the more complicated the story became,” said WSU molecular anthropologist Brian Kemp who, with WSU historian Jesse Spohnholz, read the report and commented on its findings.

“At what point in the royal lineage the infidelity occurred is not known, and to identify the break in the male line would require examining six centuries of marriages,” said Kemp, who is widely known for his genetic analyses of 10,000-year-old Native Americans.

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It’s The Apocalypse, Stupid: Understanding Christian Opposition to Obamacare, Civil Rights, New Deal and More

Matthew Sutton
Matthew Sutton

American evangelicals have been waiting for the world to end for a long time. But that’s not to say they’ve just been sitting around. Apocalypticism has inspired evangelistic crusades, moral reform movements, and generations of political activism.

In his latest book, Matthew Avery Sutton, WSU professor of history, traces this history of American evangelical apocalypticism from the end of the 19th century to the present day. In the process, he proposes a revised understanding of American evangelicalism, focused on the urgent expectations of the end of human history. If you want to understand modern evangelicalism, Sutton says, you have to understand their End Times theology.

Daniel Silliman spoke with Sutton at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies, in Heidelberg, Germany.

Read their Q&A online

Company town celebrates 100 years

Laurie Mercier
Laurie Mercier

Wishram, Wash., is just one example of the communities along the Columbia River, from Coulee Dam to Astoria, Ore., that originated as company towns in the past two centuries. Wishram’s shifting fortunes as a railroad town is a familiar story for Laurie Mercier, a history professor at WSU Vancouver. She has written extensively about towns built around one company or one industry.

A lot of small company towns have struggled with reinventing themselves: logging towns, mining towns, fishing towns and even agricultural towns.

“One advantage the Pacific Northwest has over places like Pennsylvania or Ohio—the ‘Rust Belt’—is the landscape,” Mercier said. “Leavenworth (a former mining town) re-creates itself as a Bavarian village. White Salmon takes advantage of wind surfing.” In Idaho’s Silver Valley, “Kellogg is trying to become a tourist mecca through skiing.”

Learn more about company towns along the Columbia River

Oct. 16: President Carter part of U.S.-China relations gathering

WSU is among some 70 venues nationwide that simultaneously accessed a free, public, webcast conversation with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, including the option to send in questions via email, during the annual CHINA Town Hall at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, in College Hall 220.

The nationwide programming about China, offered by the National Committee on United States-China Relations, has been a featured event of the Asia Program at WSU for several years. The WSU Department of History is a co-sponsor this year.

Find out more in WSU News

WSU Tri-Cities to offer course on Hanford history

Kathleen McAteer
Kathleen McAteer

A history course at WSU Tri-Cities is being overhauled with a local focus to better engage a growing freshman student body.

Five professors will teach “Hanford: An Interdisciplinary Team-Taught Freshman Seminar” this fall. The course will use local history, culture and development to teach students about global issues, while also covering time management and study skills to help freshmen adjust to college.

“The opportunity to look at Hanford from an interdisciplinary perspective is unique,” said Vice Chancellor Mike Mays. “Our students have a rich opportunity to benefit from this location and study of the Hanford area.”

Kate McAteer, a clinical assistant professor of biological sciences, received a $5,000 grant from the Samuel H. and Patricia W. Smith Teaching and Learning Endowment to turn the History 105 “Roots of Contemporary Issues” course into the new seminar course.

It will put freshmen into a lecture hall setting twice a week followed by smaller group discussions with a faculty member once a week. There will also be field trips to the new Hanford Reach center in Columbia Park and the Hanford site.

Read more in The Columbian