Julia Gossard Named 2023 Norm Jones Faculty Fellow

LOGAN — Julia Gossard, associate professor in the Department of History at Utah State University and associate dean for research in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, has been named the 2023 Norm Jones Faculty Fellow.

To qualify for the fellowship, which carries a $4,000 honorarium, faculty must be tenured in history, religious studies, or classics and demonstrate excellence in the main area of the role statement with very strong performance in the other two areas. In essence, the individual must be an “all-rounder,” which exemplified the career of Professor Emeritus Norman Jones.

Gossard was described by the selection committee as having vision and enormous energy and being particularly proactive in advancing research and teaching in history. She is the author of “Young Subjects: Children, State-Building, and Social Reform in the Eighteenth-Century French World” and is currently at work on three additional books, “Encountering Childhoods in Vast Early America,” “Habits of Mind: Designing Courses for Student Success,” and a textbook. As a researcher, she examines the history of society through quantitative and qualitative methods and has received competitive research funding from the American Historical Association, the Mellon Foundation, the Newberry Library, the Society for French Historical Studies, and the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.

Gossard’s excellence in research has been recognized with the Fass-Sandin Prize (2019) from the Society for the History of Children and Youth as well as the Best Article Prize (2017) from the Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, along with several honorable mention citations from other prestigious organizations for her publications.

A proponent of high-impact, innovative teaching, Gossard’s teaching portfolio at the graduate and undergraduate levels is expansive with specialties in gender, family, sexuality and childhood; the American, French and Haitian Revolutions; and historical research methods and theory. Her teaching evaluations are consistently high, whether for introductory history surveys or major courses. She has been designated as a distinguished honors education associate professor. The number of undergraduate and graduate students Gossard has mentored is exemplary. She holds both Master Teaching and Teaching Scholar certificates from Empowering Teaching Excellence at USU.

A three-person committee of senior faculty appointed by the CHaSS Dean reviewed 14 eligible candidate files to make the decision.

According to committee members, “Dr. Gossard’s research, teaching, service and administrative leadership emulate the standard set by Professor Norman Jones. She is a fireball of energy, interested not only in her field but also in higher education writ large.”

Previous winners of the Jones Fellowship include Danielle Ross (2022), Victoria Grieve (2021), and Jamie Sanders (2020).

In his career at USU, Norm Jones was a distinguished historian, an award-winning teacher, department head of history for 18 years, and director of general education. As department head, he led the creation of Classics and Religious Studies programs at USU. He believes the ideal professor should excel in research, teaching and service.

A cornerstone of Utah State University, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences brings together faculty members engaged in original research and creative activities to teach and mentor students who aspire to be leaders in their professions and communities. Degrees in humanities and social sciences cultivate highly-adaptable professional skills in students through teaching effective communication, research, data analysis, and creative problem-solving.