“One should study the past to understand better the world and his or her place in it. History students become professionals and community leaders, who can approach a wide array of complicated problems with sharp analytical skills, research experience, communication skills, and a deep understanding of the diversity of human experiences.”

Title

Professor of History; Department Chair; Director of the American Studies Program

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Ohio State University – Columbus, OH
• M.A., Bowling Green University – Bowling Green, OH
• B.A., University of Louisana – Lafayette, LA

Year Joined Franklin

2011

Expertise

Modern U.S. history, women’s and gender history, African-American history

What do you enjoy most about teaching history at Franklin College?

What I find most satisfying about the work I do are those moments when I am successful at helping students to understand better the complexity of their world or ones past. These moments appear when the impassioned class discussions bleed into the hallways, when students connect material from my class to their other studies, and when former students visit my office after graduation to reflect on their education.

Selected Professional Accomplishments

Honors and Awards

The Arthur Wilson Champion of Diversity Award, Franklin College, 2014
Selected Participant, “The Gilded Age Seminar” with Prof. Richard White, Council of Independent Colleges and Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Stanford University, July 14-19, 2013
Dietz Award for Faculty Development, Franklin College, (Teaching Professor Conference Presentation Grant), Fall 2012
Spirit of Eternity Award, Epsilon Xi Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, March 29, 2012

Grants

Project Coordinator, Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle, sponsored by National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)’s Bridging Cultures Initiative and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, 2014-2016
Project Coordinator, Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863 and the March on Washington, 1963, sponsored by the American Library Association, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Museum of American History, Spring 2017

Selected Scholarship

“Persecuting Black Men and Gendering Jury Service: The Interplay between Race and Gender in the NAACP Jury Service Cases of the 1930s,” in Interconnections: Gender and Race in American History, eds. Alison Parker and Carol Faulkner, University of Rochester Press, 2013.
“Women Jurors on Trial: Popular Depictions and Cultural Constructions of the American Woman Juror, 1920s-1960s,” Journal of Research on Women and Gender, June 2011

What Students Say

“Dr. Clark-Wiltz is an amazing professor. Even though she wasn’t my adviser, I felt comfortable approaching her about anything. Without her support, I would not have realized my full potential as a student.” – Karoline Park ’15

In My Spare Time…

My favorite book is Linda Kerber’s No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship. As an undergraduate, I found this book raised important questions for me about gender, race, and citizenship. My research has followed these questions ever since that moment.