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Texas State History

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Texas State History

The official page for the History Department at Texas State University.

09/04/2026

The Texas State University History Department will be closed on Monday, September 7, 2026, in observance of Labor Day. We will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, September 8.

09/03/2026

🎙️ Step inside one of Texas' most infamous true crime stories.

Join us on October 15 for a live recording of Lone Star Lore as Joleene Maddox Snider, Matthew Thornton, and special guest Kirsta Melton explore the murder trials of T. Cullen Davis and the questions that still linger decades later.

🗓 October 15, 2026
🕡 6:30 PM
📍 Taylor Murphy Hall 104
🎟 Free and open to the public

Audience members will have the opportunity to witness podcast production in action and may even become part of the final episode!

09/01/2026

✨ Department Spotlight: 2025–2026 History Ambassadors ✨

Please join us in congratulating our Department of History Ambassadors: Alexys Brock, Elena Fisher, Hunter Ford, Pauline Guy, and Daniel Suarez! 🎉

Our History Ambassadors serve as student leaders and representatives of the department, helping connect current and prospective students with the opportunities, experiences, and community that make TXST History special. Their enthusiasm, leadership, and dedication help strengthen our department and inspire future Bobcats.

Thank you for representing TXST History with such pride!

08/21/2026

A busy and exciting first week of Fall! 🍂

✅ First day of classes
✅ Graduate Student Orientation
✅ GIA Orientation
✅ Liberal Arts Open House
✅ First fall faculty meeting

We're energized and ready for an incredible semester ahead. Welcome back, Bobcats!

08/18/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Jessica Luepke on her newest publication!

Dr. Luepke's latest article has been published in Army History, a publication sponsored by the U.S. Army Center of Military History.

https://history.army.mil/Portals/143/Images/Publications/ArmyHistoryMag/pdf/AH139.pdf

08/17/2026

Meet our Administrative Assistant II for the Center for Texas Music History: Kristi Madden

With a background in live music production and artist management, supporting the Center for Texas Music History's mission to uplift regional artists and honor their contributions to our state's rich musical heritage has been a lifelong passion for Kristi. After expanding her skill set with a Digital Marketing Certification from UT Austin, she is thrilled to return to Texas State University and help expand the Center's reach and community impact.

Kristi serves as the Administrative Assistant II for the Center for Texas Music History and is the person to contact for events and public programming, publications, and development and engagement opportunities. She supports event coordination, scheduling, community outreach, publication distribution, donor engagement, and subscribing to the center's official newsletter.

Please join us in welcoming Kristi back to Texas State University and the Center for Texas Music History! We're excited to have her on the team.

08/14/2026

Please help us welcome Professor Paul A. Anthony to the Texas State History community!

Professor Anthony is a Connecticut native and longtime Texas resident who is completing a PhD in American religious history from Florida State University, graduating in December 2026. His dissertation focuses on the 2008 Texas raid of the Yearning for Zion Ranch, home to the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Prior to this and freshly out of college with a degree in journalism, he covered the FLDS raid as a reporter for the San Angelo Standard Times. He has been teaching college courses since 2021 and especially enjoys focusing on how religious ideas have influenced United States history.

Professor Anthony studies the history of new and fundamentalist religions and their interaction with American culture, especially news media, pop culture, and the state. He has published research on the early days of Christian Contemporary Music, news media coverage of the Children of God and Love Israel Family in the 1970s and 80s, anti evolution and anti ERA advocacy within Churches of Christ, and fundamentalist Mormon life during World War II.

Many of his past students have expressed that they did not realize how important religion was to the history of the United States and that they did not know history could be so interesting. He does not focus as heavily on memorizing dates and battles. Instead, he helps students explore how and why people acted and how those ideas and decisions shaped the culture students see around them every day. As it turns out, religion is a big part of the explanation.

His advice for students is to "Take advantage of your professors’ availability! Go to office hours, email when you can’t make it to class, let us know when you’re struggling. I’m happy to work with a student who needs some grace, but I can’t help situations I don’t know about until finals week. Hand in hand with that, prioritize your mental health, even if that means asking for an extension or missing a class. The world won’t end, and you’ll be in a better position to succeed than if you wear yourself out halfway through the semester."

08/13/2026

Please help us welcome Dr. Courtney B. Cook to the Texas State History Department!

Dr. Cook work brings together documentary film, public history, public media, and critical pedagogy. She earned her PhD in Cultural Studies in Education from The University of Texas at Austin and her MA in African American Studies from Boston University. Before entering higher education, she spent over a decade teaching American Literature and Journalism in public high schools in Atlanta and Massachusetts. From 2018–2026, she worked with American Documentary / POV developing educational and public engagement initiatives centered on independent documentary film and civic dialogue. She also works as a documentary producer and impact strategist, with recent projects including Cradled by Grace and Layers of Place: Austin, an augmented reality public art project developed with the MIT Open Documentary Lab that premiered at SXSW in 2026.

In the classroom, Dr. Cook "courses aim to help students ask better questions...which can be frustrating in a world that teaches us we need to have ALL the answers. My approach is deeply relational. I simply offer evidence they've (perhaps) not encountered, invite them to complicate the stories we've been told, and encourage them to have the courage and creativity to develop their own questions based on their valuable experiences and relationships to the world. She is delighted to center documentary film in her teaching within the Texas State Community."

Her advice for students: “Ask for help when something feels hard and remember that learning rules (even if it feels hard). Not having all the answers isn't a flaw, it's a gift. It means we get to keep asking new questions and staying curiously connected to our lives!”

08/12/2026

Please help us welcome Dr. Scottie Buehler to the Texas State History community!

Dr. Buehler is a historian of medicine whose path to academia began as a home birth midwife in Austin before moving to LA to earn a doctorate in history at UCLA. Her research explores the history of health and medicine, the French and Atlantic world, and the eighteenth century. She is passionate about using history to reframe how both midwives and the public think about the profession. After all, the stories we tell about the past shape how we think of ourselves today and what we imagine for the future.

In the classroom, Dr. Buehler focuses on skills development, project-based learning, and helping students connect the past to the present. She wants students to know "don't worry, you do not need any medical or scientific knowledge to take my classes! Medicine is one tool that humans use to make sense of the world around them. This means that it is a fruitful lens through which to study the cultural, social, political, and/or economic forces of society. It asks questions about how societies develop knowledge, decide what is true or authoritative, and prioritize values (like commitments to health and individual rights)." Outside of teaching and research, Dr. Buehler is a cat lover, bibliophile, and proud Texan.

Her advice for students is simple but powerful: “You can do hard things! Simply try and you will be surprised what you can accomplish.”

08/11/2026

Please help us welcome Dr. Paul Sampson to the Texas State History Department!

Dr. Sampson is originally from Oregon and enjoys exploring the world through both travel and the study of history. His work focuses on the history of science in the strange and fascinating 18th century-think of figures like Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin, but also alchemy, mesmerism, galvanism, and more!

After college, Dr. Sampson taught high school and middle school history before earning his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in New Jersey. His research interests include the history of science, Early Modern Europe, and world history. In his spare time he enjoys hiking, watching movies, studying Japanese, and spending time with his family.

Students who enjoy exploring how unexpected and weird events shaped the modern world will feel right at home in his courses. From surprising scientific developments to moments like how an epic sewage overflow forced British politicians to grapple with some ugly realities of the Industrial Revolution, Dr. Sampson helps students see how even the most unusual moments in history have lasting impact.

Dr. Sampson's advice to students "is to study what you love and don’t be afraid to take challenging classes. If you really love it, you will succeed. If you don’t love it, you’ll feel frustrated even if the class is easy."

Address

San Marcos, TX

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Website

http://www.txstate.edu/history

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