Knights HistoryCast

Episode 35: Alexis Castellanos, Author of “Isla to Island”, and Her Panel Presentation during the Operación Pedro Pan Two-Day Event

In Part 1 of “Operación Pedro Pan: The Voices and Stories of Cuba’s Child Exodus—A Knights HistoryCast Mini-Series,” the Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Alexis Castellanos, an author, illustrator, graphic novelist, and a panelist at the esteemed, conspicuous, and powerful “Operación Pedro Pan: Honoring the Cultural, Historical Legacy of Cuba’s Child Exodus” Two-Day Program that Florida Humanities, UCF’s Department of English and Department of Modern Languages and Literatures sponsored (see https://cah.ucf.edu/pedro-pan/ for more details on sponsors and the program in general).
Sebastian structured this specific episode on Alexis Castellanos’ Isla to Island, a wordless graphic novel grounded by her personal family history and the history of Operación Pedro Pan (Operation Peter Pan). By analyzing such a historic event through the medium of fiction, Sebastian argued that this is one of the most unique Knights HistoryCast episodes of all time. Naturally, their conversation expanded to what she talked about during her panel presentation in Panel One, Day 1 of the event that featured “internationally renowned scholars that discussed the political, historical, and cultural legacy of Operación Pedro Pan (1960-1962).” (https://cah.ucf.edu/pedro-pan/)
To purchase Isla to Island (strongly recommend), check out: https://islatoisland.com/.
To find out more about Alexis and her professional work, check out her website at https://alexiscastellanos.com/

Episode 34: History Research Projects/Posters at the 2023 UCF Student Scholar Symposium Event

The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia attended the 2023 UCF Student Scholar Symposium Event, UCF’s most prominent showcase event of the year, where students from all disciplines can present their research. Sebastian talked with all the students of this year’s program who did historical research, regardless of the student’s major/discipline. Sebastian recorded these interviews LIVE at the event, hence the ambiance in the background of all the conversations. Below are the names of the students who talked with Sebastian, the title of their research project, and the timestamps in which the conversation takes place during the episode.
Marena Montes-Colon, Las Floriquenas: Puertoriquenas’ Experiences in Central Florida Presented Through a Historical Framework (00:02:21-00:13:31)
Julia Condes, Juan De Pareja: The Portrait That Preceded Freedom (00:13:37-00:22:50)
Glenn Ritchey III, Ancient Defenders in the Modern Body Politic: The Ulster Cycle’s Boy and Man Heroes (00:22:56-00:40:45)
Cameron Garrow, Protection or Control? The History and Impact of the Major Crimes Act on Native Americans (00:40:50-00:51:42)
Jacqueline Houser, Relocate the Original Bumper Missile Blockhouse (00:51:47-01:01:21)
Jochen Riehm, The Dreyfus-Affair in the Alsatian Press: Politics, Society, and Religion in a German Borderland Region, 1906-1914 (01:01:26-01:10:03)
Sarah Boye, Southern Justice and the Cultural Legacy of the Civil War in Orlando (01:10:08-01:18:39)
Here is a link to this year’s virtual program, where you can find and see the posters that these students presented during the event: https://virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/#/event/3315/program

Episode 33: Dr. Jennifer Palmer and Her Keynote Presentation at the 16th Annual Pauley Lecture Series on Global Affairs

The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Jennifer Palmer, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Georgia, about her keynote presentation at the 16th Annual Pauley Lecture Series on Global Affairs titled, “To Have and To Hold: Race, Gender, and Property in the French Atlantic World.” Given that the recording of this podcast took place before her lecture presentation, Sebastian took a holistic approach and asked questions about Dr. Palmer’s first book (Intimate Bonds: Family and Slavery in the French Atlantic) and research more broadly (Early Modern France, the Atlantic World, and the Caribbean) to provide a more dynamic and fresh preview at the lecture she planned on presenting at the recording of this episode.

Episode 32: Dr. Mwita Chacha (featuring Dr. Jonathan Powell) and His Keynote Presentation at the 5th Annual Dr. John T. Washington Lecture Series

The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Mwita Chacha, an Assistant Professor in International Relations at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Dr. Chacha was the keynote speaker at this year’s annual Dr. John T. Washington Lecture Series hosted by the UCF Department of History’s Africana Studies Program. He discussed recent trends in regional cooperation in Africa by identifying the uniqueness of these trends and placing them in a historical context. Dr. Jonathan Powell, an Associate Professor in the School of Politics, Security, and International Relations at the University of Central Florida and a longtime colleague of Dr. Chacha, joined Sebastian and Dr. Chacha in this podcast conversation as both Dr. Chacha and Dr. Powell have worked together on numerous projects. Together, they provided a dynamic podcast that broadly covered research examining the politics of regional integration and the consequences of political and economic interdependence on domestic security and conflict.
NOTE: At 56:29, Sebastian said “60 or so,” not to be confused with “6 or so,” as it appears to be.

Episode 31: Professor Paul W. Wehr Day at the Pioneer Days Pine Castle Historical Society History Tent Event

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on March 3rd, 2023) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Mr. Richard Lee Cronin, author, historian, and event coordinator of the Pine Castle Historical Society HISTORY TENT, at the Annual Pine Castle Pioneer Days Event.
This episode is dedicated to and is in honor of Professor Paul W. Wehr.
A Professor of History at UCF since the Department’s inception in 1969, Professor Wehr retired in 1995 after 25 years of teaching his passion for history—inspiring countless students and faculty. Professor Wehr devoted much of his time to documenting the history of Orange County, specifically Pine Castle. This naturally led to a close relationship with the Pine Castle Historical Society, which dedicated Day 1 of the 2-day event at Pioneer Days to Professor Wehr for the first time this year. Sebastian decided to pay tribute to one of UCF’s original history professors by going to the Pine Castle Pioneer Days HISTORY TENT event dedicated to him and produced a podcast on location with Mr. Richard Lee Cronin, who knew Professor Wehr personally.
Below are links to an Orlando Memory interview featuring Professor Wehr himself that Sebastian mentioned in the introduction of this podcast, the page to know more about his books and association with Pine Castle, and a UCF CAH article written about Professor Wehr shortly after his passing in 2021.
https://orlandomemory.info/topics/oral-history-interview-with-dr-paul-w-wehr/
https://www.pinecastlehistory.org/publications-books-pamphlets/
https://news.cah.ucf.edu/news/remembering-paul-w-wehr/

Episode 30: Dr. Julian Chambliss and the 2023 ZORA! Festival Academic Conference. Plus, His Work on Afrofuturism, History Podcasting, and Comic Book Studies

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on February 16th, 2023) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Julian Chambliss, a Professor of English with an appointment in History and the Val Berryman Curator of History at the MSU Museum at Michigan State University. He is also the Conference Curator of the 2020-2024 ZORA! Festival Academic Conference Cycle. This podcast focuses explicitly on the 2023 ZORA! Festival Academic Conference, which took place at the end of January. From his role in curating the conference, its direct connections and ties to Afrofuturism and Zora Neale Hurston, to podcasting and comic book studies, this episode of Knights Historycast covers all the incredible, dynamic, and transformative work Dr. Chambliss has done during his career.
Down below are the links to his website and the podcast shows that he produced and is currently producing that were talked about during the episode:
His website: https://www.julianchambliss.com/
Link to all his former and current history podcast shows: https://www.julianchambliss.com/podcasts
Here is a link to Dr. Robert Cassanello’s podcast that Dr. Chambliss was referring to: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/ahistoryofcentralfloridapodcast/

Episode 29: Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández and ”When the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019-2022”

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on January 30, 2023) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández, a Pegasus Professor (highest faculty title/award that can be received at this institution) of History at the University of Central Florida, about his upcoming book, When the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019-2022. An award-winning historian and nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate, Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández beautifully uses the strengths of both disciplines to provide in real-time, astounding and shrewd historical analysis, insight, and commentary, of the unimaginable events of the past four years with the 66 opinion columns presented in the book. As Sebastian mentioned in the intro of the episode, this podcast serves as a preview of what readers can expect when reading the book, as Sebastian walks through all the topical sections of the book with Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández.
You can pre-order the book now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retail bookstores. The book officially releases on February 15th, 2023. Use the links down below to either pre-order the book now or purchase the book when it comes out—it will be one of the best purchases you’ll make this year.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-the-world-turned-upside-down-luis-mart-nez-fern-ndez/1142555060
https://www.amazon.com/When-World-Turned-Upside-Down/dp/143319614X?ref_=ast_author_dp
https://culturaltrans.com/
Want more after listening to this podcast and reading the book? Check out Dr. Luis Martínez-Fernández’s website at https://culturaltrans.com/opinion-columns to continue to follow and read his weekly opinion columns.

Episode 28: The Florida-France Soldier Stories Project

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on December 29th, 2022) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia spoke with the members of the Florida-France Soldier Stories Project research team to discuss the imperative and impressive work that they have done since 2015 to honor and commemorate Floridians that gave their lives to liberate France and defeat Germany in the Second World War.
Down below are the timestamps in which each of the different group segments begins:
Group 0: (03:27) Intro with Dr. Amelia Lyons (Principal Investigator)
Group 1: (12:42) Faculty/Staff, featuring
 Dr. Lyons (PI)
Richard Harrison III (Research Librarian Consultant)
Richard Gause (Research Librarian Consultant)
Dr. Amy Giroux (Digital Consultant)
Group 2: (39:50) Graduate Students, featuring
Dr. Lyons (PI)
Marie Oury
Jim Stoddard
Elizabeth Klements
Group 3: (01:20:28) Undergraduate Student, featuring
Dr. Lyons (PI)
Evan Murray
To find out more information about this project and to read the biographies of the soldiers, check out their website (which was mentioned several times in the pod):
https://projects.cah.ucf.edu/fl-francesoldierstories/
Need LSAT tutoring? As mentioned in 01:43:46, Evan is an LSAT tutor for the Princeton Review. To contact him about this, please email him at murrayevan725@gmail.com
A special shoutout to Professor Nikolas Gardiakos, who has helped Sebastian throughout this entire process of ensuring that these podcasts are of the utmost quality. As mentioned in the outro of this podcast, please check out Professor Gardiakos’s (and Professor Meeghan Faulconer’s) podcast—Discussions on Writing and Rhetoric—at https://ucfdwr.podbean.com/
Check out Sebastian’s debut Florida Historical Quarterly Podcast, in which he spoke with Dr. Martin T. Olliff about his article in the Winter/Spring 2021 issue of the Florida Historical Quarterly. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq-podcast/44/

Episode 27: Jim Stoddard, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and His Experiences Going Back to Education Post-Military Service

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on December 5th, 2022) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Jim Stoddard, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran that served from 2003 to 2013. After his military service, Jim decided to continue his education at UCF. In 2016, he earned his bachelor’s degree in history and continued to push forward in his pursuit of education by earning his master’s degree in history in 2020. Jim is currently working towards his Ph.D. in UCF’s Text and Technology program, with his doctoral research focusing on memory and identity in the U.S. Marine Corps. In this podcast, UCF History Department’s 1st ever Veterans Alumni Roundtable Event was the basis of the conversation, with a specific focus on Jim’s personal journey going back to education post-military service.
To read (highly recommend) Jim’s Master’s Thesis that was talked about during the podcast, the link is down below:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd2020/138/

Episode 26: Dr. Frank Uekötter and Making Sense of the Juice: Florida Oranges and the Problems of Monoculture. Plus, His Upcoming Book, ”The Vortex: An Environmental History of the Modern World”

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on November 9th, 2022) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Frank Uekötter, a Professor of Environmental Humanities at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, working on environmental issues, both past and present, in a global context. Their conversation primarily focused on Dr. Uekötter’s faculty talk event at UCF this past Monday (11/7), which was about the Florida citrus industry and issues of monoculture in this region, but also more broadly (starts at 16:06). This naturally led some portions of the conversation in the podcast to talk about themes and topics from his upcoming book The Vortex: An Environmental History of the Modern World—however the final segment of the podcast is dedicated solely to talking about his book, which will be coming out in February 2023 (starts at 1:01:02). Below you can find some links to Dr. Uekötter’s YouTube videos posted by the University of Birmingham to learn more about his research and his work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j72s4nCoMEw (A Global History of Monoculture)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSp6VyHuLlI (Making Food History)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UmtKexCO0A (Dr. Uekötter research interests)

Episode 25: Dr. Jim Clark and a Crash Course History of Florida Politics Amidst the 2022 Florida Midterm Election

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on November 4th, 2022) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Jim Clark, a professor of history here at the University of Central Florida. Their conversation centered on Dr. Clark’s 2014 book A Concise History of Florida, with specific attention to the chapters relating to the history of Florida politics, as the timing is appropriate since we are currently in midterm voting season in Florida, and having that historical background and understanding of Florida politics can enrich one’s experience going to the polls this voting season by being more aware and appreciative of those historical trajectories that got us into the present moment.
NOTE: At 32:25 Sebastian said, “5 days out from the general election day” without following that statement with “as of this recording”. As of the publication of this episode we are 4 days out from the general election day which is Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Go vote now during early voting or on the day of the general election!

Episode 24: Dr. Bob Beatty and ”Play All Night! Duane Allman and the Journey to Fillmore East”

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on October 28th, 2022) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Bob Beatty, a double UCF History alum (B.A. 1994, M.A. 2002) and received his Ph.D. in Public History at Middle Tennessee State University in 2018. Dr. Beatty is currently the president of The Lyndhurst Group—a history, museum, and nonprofit consulting firm—and an instructor of Museum Studies and American History at Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. Their conversation in this episode primarily focused on Dr. Beatty’s newly released book titled, Play All Night! Duane Allman and the Journey to Fillmore East, and they were very much on theme with the Allman Brothers Band as they were “hittin’ the note” themselves in this conversation, and as a result they went over scheduled time (Dr. Beatty had to go to a book talk workshop at the UCF History Department after the recording)! Allman Brothers Band fans or not—this podcast is highly dynamic, entertaining, and educational, thus being worthy of its 2 hours and 20 minutes runtime!
Continue the discussion by following Dr. Beatty’s socials @LongLiveTheABB on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Episode 23: Allison Mitchell and Her Presentation at the 10th Annual Jerrell H. Shofner Lecture Series on Florida History and Culture, and Her Experiences as a History Graduate Student

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on October 23rd, 2022) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Allison Mitchell, a PhD Candidate at the University of Virginia and a Dissertation Fellow at Emory University’s James Weldon Johnson Institute. Mitchell was this year’s presenter at the Jerrell H. Shofner Lecture Series on Florida History and Culture with her presentation being titled, From Protest to Politics: Reconsidering the Impact of The Congress of Racial Equality’s Voter Registration Campaigns in Florida. Sebastian first talked with Mitchell about this presentation which examined the Voter Education Project campaigns orchestrated by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in Florida between 1962 and 1965. Then, they transitioned the conversation into Mitchell’s participation in day 2 of the 2022 FHS Annual Symposium event—specifically being a part of Session 7, Panel 14 titled, “Round Table on Graduate Education and the Future of History”. This naturally led to the broader conversation in this part of the podcast to be about Mitchell’s experiences as a current history graduate student.

Episode 22: Day 2 of the 2022 FHS Annual Symposium Event

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on October 22nd, 2022) 
The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia attended this year’s annual FHS symposium event which is hosted every October at the University of Central Florida. Being one of the most significant historical events of the year for Florida history and culture, Sebastian wanted to capture the essence of this unique and imperative event by doing on-the-spot, raw, “quick chat” interviews with as many people that were involved with this event—from directors to panelists—as possible. This episode of Knights Historycast is composed of the several quick chat interviews that Sebastian was able to do from day 2 of this incredible and significant event. The following are timestamps to each of the individual interviews that Sebastian conducted during this day of the event:
Interview 1: Dr. Claire Strom from Rollins College and Dr. Rosalind Beiler from the University of Central Florida. Presented in Session 4, Panel 9, “Round Table: Turning Your Essay/Thesis/Dissertation Chapters into Publishable Articles”. (02:30)
Interview 2: Jared Frredline and Jacob Finnegan, UCF History Graduate Students. Presented in Session 5, Panel 10, “U.S. Colored Troops in Florida”, with their project titled, “Olustee: Remembering Black Soldiers Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice”. (16:13)
Interview 3: Olivia Aldrich and Lisa Lepenna, UCF History Graduate Students. Presented in Session 6, Panel 13, “Lightening Round: Future Florida Research”, with their project titled, “Seminole War Foundation”. (20:19)
Interview 4: Sarah Bousfield, UCF History Graduate Student. Presented in Session 6, Panel 13, “Lightening Round: Future Florida Research”, with her project titled, “Baking the Past” [Instagram blog: @bakingthepast] (30:22)
Interview 5: Dr. Christopher Meindl, Director of Florida Studies Program at the University of South Florida, and Dr. Scot French, Associate Professor of History and Director of Public History at the University of Central Florida. Presented in Session 7, Panel 14, "Round Table on Graduate Education and the Future of History". (43:50)

Episode 21: Day 1 of the 2022 FHS Annual Symposium Event

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on October 21st, 2022) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia attended this year’s annual FHS symposium event which is hosted every October at the University of Central Florida. Being one of the most significant historical events of the year for Florida history and culture, Sebastian wanted to capture the essence of this unique and imperative event by doing on-the-spot, raw, “quick chat” interviews with as many people that were involved with this event—from directors to panelists—as possible. This episode of Knights Historycast is composed of the several quick chat interviews that Sebastian was able to do from day 1 of this incredible and significant event. The following are timestamps to each of the individual interviews that Sebastian conducted during this event:
Dr. Ben Brotemarkle, Executive Director of the Florida Historical Society (04:54)
Dr. Connie Lester, Associate Professor of History at UCF, Director of the RICHES Digital Archiving Program, Editor of the Florida Historical Quarterly, and Program Chair of the 2022 FHS Annual Symposium Event (08:04)
Dr. Christine Ardalan, Author, and Adjunct Professor of History at Florida International University. Presented in Session 1, Panel 2: “Florida’s Indigenous People: Tribal Origins and Tribal Health” (09:57)
Dr. Jacob Ivey, Assistant Professor of History at Florida Memorial University. Presented in Session 1, Panel 3 “Activism, Difficult History, and Challenging Times” (19:57)
John Venecek, from UCF Libraries Research and Information Services. Presented in “Brown Bag ‘Lunch and Learn’” (29:07)
Dr. Cecilia Rodriguez-Milanes, Associate Professor of English, Creative Writing, and Literature at UCF. Presented in Session III, Panel 6: “Puerto Rican Arts, Culture, and Politics: Five Years After Maria” (38:18)
Links from Dr. Rodriguez-Milanes interview:
https://www.raimundiart.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25cuxybVwVQ
https://www.jaquiradiaz.com/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/11/puerto-rico-independence-not-statehood/671482/
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/05/1127047867/what-independence-for-puerto-rico-could-look-like-following-natural-disasters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1IBXE2G6zw
www.oyechica.net

Episode 20: Dr. Steven Noll and ”Writing for the Public Good: Essays from David R. Colburn and Senator Bob Graham”

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on October 14th, 2022) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Dr. Steven Noll—a master lecturer in history and affiliate faculty member of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida. Their conversation focused on Dr. Noll’s most recent book titled Writing for the Public Good: Essays from David R. Colburn and Senator Bob Graham which was published in April of 2022. From the legacies and historical impact that David R. Colburn and Bob Graham had on the op-ed and journalism genre to how powerful and significant their op-eds pieces, which go as far back as 1990, are in the contemporary state and nation we all live in, and everything else in between was talked about in this podcast episode.

Episode 19: Holly Baker and Her Time as the Podcast Producer of Knights HistoryCast

(Originally published by Sebastian Garcia on October 7th, 2022) The Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with Holly Baker, former podcast producer of Knights Historycast (and of The Florida Historical Quarterly Podcast). Their conversation ranged from the origins of Knights Historycast and how Holly was involved in that process to Holly’s extensive experience in the field of history podcasting—in explicitly doing them and researching the literature for her thesis—to some of her favorite moments running this podcast and much more!

Episode 18: The Longest Line on the Map: The United States, the Pan American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas

(Originally published in 2020 by Holly Baker) In this socially distant interview, Dr. Robert Cassanello talked with Dr. Eric Rutkow in the Fall of 2020. Dr. Rutkow is a UCF History professor and the author of “The Longest Line on the Map: The United States, the Pan-American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas."
(Current producer's note: To purchase Dr. Rutkow's book, please visit his website at https://www.ericrutkow.com/longest-line-on-the-map)

Episode 17: A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution

(Originally published in 2020 by Holly Baker) For the Faculty Book Talk Series, The History Department’s Dr. Robert Cassanello interviewed historian Dr. David Head about his latest book, A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution.
This “socially distant” interview took place during the historic 2020 coronavirus pandemic and was conducted through Skype.
(Current producer's note: To purchase Dr. Head's book, please visit his website at https://www.davidheadhistory.com/publications)

Episode 16: Overcoming Injustice: Why Women’s Constitutional Citizenship Still Matters

(Originally published in 2020 by Holly Baker) In 2020, the Africana Studies Program at the University of Central Florida hosted the second annual Dr. John T. Washington Lecture Series benefiting scholarships for Africana Studies Minors.
Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California-Irvine School of Law presented on the topic, Overcoming Injustice: Why Women's Constitutional Citizenship Still Matters.
Professor Goodwin is the founder and director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy and its Reproductive Justice Initiative.
Jeffrey Daglaris spoke to Michele Goodwin about her presentation and her work.