Cecilia L. Gowdy-Wygant

Cecilia L. Gowdy-Wygant, of Amarillo, Texas, is a recent graduate in the department of History at Texas Tech University. She is a triple alumnus of Texas Tech University who earned a B.A. in History graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2003, a M.A. in History with a 4.0 GPA in 2004 and a Ph.D. in History with a 4.0 GPA in August of 2007. She taught American History survey courses and Western Civilization in the Department of History at Texas Tech University since 2003. She accepted a faculty position at Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado to begin teaching in the fall of 2007.

She is the past recipient of the TEACH Fellowship, Louis Graves Scholarship, W.B. and Mozelle Rushing Scholarship, the Virginia Balch Outstanding Graduate Instructor of the Year, the Phi Alpha Theta Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year, as well as research and presentation travel grants from the Department of History. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, Golden Key International Honour Society, and was listed in 2003 in the National Dean's List. Her dissertation under the direction of Dr. Mark Stoll, is entitled Cultivating Victory: Environment, Gender and International Cultural Transformation. It is an analysis of British and American women's rural and urban cultivation during the world wars of the first half of the twentieth century as tools for shaping national and personal identity.

The dissertation explores national and transnational interconnections and variances in the Victory Garden and Women's Land Army campaigns of the First and Second World Wars as well as their cultural transcendence through time. The study marks new territory in both historiography and analysis from environmental, gendered and cultural perspectives and representations, as it explores the varying perspectives as well as the similarities and differences in their national wartime food campaigns.

She is proud to have shared her graduate school experience with her husband, David Wygant, who received a Ph.D. in Fine Arts (Theatre) in August 2007 as well. According to Gowdy-Wygant, being married graduate students with children made finishing their programs a matter of determination, perseverance and their faith in each other. As a first generation college graduate, she find it extremely gratifying to find success and completion in this endeavor.

Through the excellent guidance and support of the faculty of the Department of History, Cecilia believes that she is well prepared to move forward into a future career as a researcher and teacher.