Marianne S. Wokeck
Welcome to the professional space that complements the information posted in the faculty directory of the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI): http://liberalarts.iupui.edu/directory/bio/mwokeck.
I have been a member of the History Department for more than a quarter century and have been an active member of the school’s community and those of the campus and the university.
In 2018, I retired as Chancellor's Professor emeritus. I remain involved on campus as a Senior Fellow of the Institute for American Thought https://iat.iupui.edu/; Fellow of the Max Kade German-American Center https://liberalarts.iupui.edu/maxkade/);
and a member of the IUPUI Senior Academy https://senioracademy.iupui.edu/.
Please note: This website is under construction.
RECENT and UPCOMING EVENTS
While I pursued research-focused and community-based projects in addition to travel during the first couple of years of retirement, plans for 2020 have been completely upended with the order to stay at home in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. While personal get-togethers and travel have been impossible or imprudent since March 2020, I have been fortunate in having a very comfortable and safe home that is also well equipped to allow me to connect virtually with family and friends. And while I had time to do some necessary sorting of drawers and cabinets, may list of things to do, professionally and personally has not become significantly shorter. Boredom has not been a problem--one of the many things for which I am grateful. Now fully vaccinated, I am hoping for linking up in person, in Indianapolis and well beyond the circle city.
MY CURRENT RESEARCH
I am working on a project that focuses on how German-speaking immigrants and settlers in early America defined and re-defined their identity. Particular focus is on the role Protestant ministers and the members in their households played in setting examples. Earlier research of mine about indentured servants alerted me to the unexpected demand of teenage girls as household help. I want to find out more about the role of girls, kin as well as servants, in families that made their living in the eighteenth century.
I continue to explore and learn about ways to translate the research that profiled ancestors who migrated into paths that can be traced visually and interactively through space and time.