Mark L. Shanks

Clio Eternum, Vita Brevis, Ludisimus*

What's up in Mark's world...

University of California at Santa Barbara

Department of History, Public History Program

Academic Work

I'm a Ph.D. student at UCSB, with eclectic interests in living history, museums, public history, public memory, presentational historiography, and American history. I've also been known to take an occasional eccentric historical side excursion into California, military, and early-modern British history. Beyond the bounds of the department, my academic interests include performance theory and theater's role in presenting history. My advisor, mentor, and chief academic guru is Dr. Ann Plane.

My current academic goals include completing my dissertation (expected academic year 2005), finishing up a couple of journal articles, and maintaining sanity.

Departmental Contact

I am not currently on campus at UCSB, having completed my coursework and sought professional employment in the museum field. If you need to contact me, e-mail (click here) is the best bet, or drop me a note via the graduate secretary in the the history department offices.

Current Writing Projects

"Marching to the Sound of the Guns: Contrasting the "Origins Debate" in American Civil War Historiography of the Academy and Popular Reenactment"

A paper which grew out of my 1840-1920 American history graduate reading seminar, it poses the thorny problem of comparing public with academic historiography. I contrast the academia's view of the American Civil War with historical views presented by popular reenactment, and suggest that there are fundamental and revealing differences in their messages.

"To Make a Profe and Tryall, Can Com No Hurte": Reconsidering the Origins of the Babington Plot

Sometimes you trip over the oddest things while doing living history. (...and I'm not talking about tent stakes or animal manure...) While researching an Elizabethan historical figure I portrayed, I came across information which tends to cast the Babbington plot in a whole new light. I originally wrote up my research for a graduate seminar, but I am currently reworking the paper for publication.

"Who Wears the Blue and Grey? A Brief Consideration of Civil War Reenactors"

A preliminary analysis of the survey data I collected from 1000+ ACW reenactors for my dissertation. While the demographics are not terribly surprising, some of the implications raised by questions that suggest ideological motivation are quite interesting. Have a look.

Personal Interests and the REST of Mark's Life

(Yeah… Like grad students are supposed to HAVE a life…)

As should be obvious from my research topics, I have a long personal involvement in living history. Over the years, I've been involved in a variety of historical museum interpretations and reenactments presenting Elizabethan & Dickensian England, American Civil & Revolutionary War, western expansion and settlement, and 19th century schoolhouse education. I enjoy historical dance including English Country, Regency, Victorian ballroom, and Big Band Swing; all of which I practice with great enthusiasm and as well as anyone saddled with a bad knee/ankles and two left feet. I enjoy cooking and collecting historical recipes, which I practice to the advantage of my friends and detriment of my waistline. I collect tavern and saloon songs and games, and have been known to imbibe while demonstrating these arcane skills.

I am personally fascinated by birds of prey, and have hunted and done historic presentations with them in cooperation with several falconers. While a student lifestyle and housing isn't conducive to the hours of training and roomy enough for mews (bird housing to the un-initiated), perhaps in the future I can get set up in a situation to get licensed as a falconer. I am also a voracious reader, with interests outside of history which include science fiction, horror, fantasy, and the works of Kipling, Twain, Clancey, and King. In a more technical vein, I'm an avid computer user, and have gained significant bilingual experience. (both IBM and Mac) I am happy to chat about all sorts of academic and recreational computing, including hardware issues, desktop publishing, Internet research, computer cartography, OCR, and web publishing.

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Hot List of Favorite Links

H-NET: Humanities and Social Sciences Online, a great place for those interested in the humanistic side of academia. Discussion lists, book reviews, academic announcements, and a wide variety of other resources.

ALHFAM: The Association of Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums, arguably the most important organization of outdoor historical museums. A good set of information, links to member museums, and professional resources can be found here.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT: History on the web doesn't have to be purely practical or deadly dull. The Center For Fawkesian Pursuits presents a light hearted look at Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

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Biographical Information

Want to see my resume?

How about a Vita?

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Contact Information

Mailing Address:

c/o Department of History,

University of California,

Santa Barbara, California 93106

E-Mail Address:

mlshanks@ix.netcom.com

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* History is eternal, life is short, play hard. (loosely translated from the Latin)

Last Revised: 6/16/03

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