Tiffany Ziegler
Class of 2003
Assistant Professor of History, Minot State University
Hometown: Ogallala, Nebraska
It all started at Hastings College. I received my BA in history and secondary education, as well as a minor in art history, at Hastings College in 2003. During that time I worked under Professors Babcock, Jordan, and Laegreid, which allowed me to develop professional networks and networks of support. Although I received a teaching certificate, I was not convinced that the classroom was for me—at least not yet. I was fortunate enough to be able to continue graduate work in history when I became the recipient of the 2003 Jeffrey Wallis Ellis Trust. The trust allowed me to relocate to Lubbock, Texas, where I completed a MA at Texas Tech University in 2005 in Medieval History with a minor emphasis in French. My thesis focused on artistic devotion and patronage of confraternities during the high and later Middle Ages.
I began work towards a PhD in Medieval History in 2005 at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where I worked under Dr. Lois Huneycutt. There I did the things graduate students do—course work, comprehensive examines, TAing, teaching, and dissertating. Again, I was fortunate to be the recipient of two dissertation scholarships, one to travel to do research and a Phi Alpha Theta dissertation fellowship. Both allowed me to finish my doctoral dissertation in 2010, which explored the spiritual and everyday interactions of religious groups and patrons at the Hospital of Saint John in Brussels during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. I graduated, PhD in hand, in May 2010.
I am currently an Assistant Professor of History at Minot State University in Minot, ND. It is a smaller public institution that has a liberal arts curriculum, much like HC. I am one of five history professors, and with about 60-70 history students at any given time I end up teaching a number of different courses on a variety of topics. Some of these include World Civilizations to 1500; The Middle Ages; Vikings; Crusades; Urban History; Greece, Rome, and the Mediterranean World (Islam, especially); Women’s History; Renaissance and Reformation; Practice and Methods; and Medieval Religion. In addition to teaching and serving on a number of committees, I am the faculty advisor for both the History Club and our newly-chartered chapter of Phi Alpha Theta.
I think it is safe to say that I would not be where I am today if it had not been for HC. The liberal arts background, the varied and superb instruction, and the professional and personal advice of members of the department helped me to become the well-rounded individual who can now (hopefully) meet the needs of her students as was once done so well for her.
