History Faculty

Permanent Faculty

• EUGENE LARSON

• After graduating with honors in history from Occidental College in 1961, Professor Eugene Larson pursued graduate studies at the University of Oregon and at UCLA, where he was the recipient of the Haynes Foundation fellowship and was awarded the C.Phil. degree. Coming to Pierce College in 1970, he has team-taught numerous interdisciplinary humanities courses as well as courses in the history of America, Britain, western civilization, and world civilization. A former director of the college's Honors Program, he is presently the chair of the History and Humanities Department, and he has published widely on various historical and literary topics.

• Voice Mail: 818-710-4305

 

• STEVE MCHARGUE

  • Professor Steve McHargue ("Dr. Mac") returned from his last sabbatical having visited a dozen Presidential libraries and 15 foreign nations.  He loves teaching American and California history at Pierce partly because he has lived through so much of it, and partly because he grew up on campus where his father was one of the original faculty members (and a history grad from UCLA.) Dr. McHargue has 2 master's degrees in History from Occidental College and Pepperdine University, plus a J.D. from Pepperdine.  He is on sabbatical for the Spring 2008 semester.

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• RICHARD McMILLAN

• Professor Richard McMillan has been teaching history at Pierce College since 1996. He received his A.A. degree from Los Angeles Valley College in 1973, the B.A. degree from California State University, Northridge in 1991 and he was awarded the M.A. degree from CSUN in 1992. Since coming to Pierce, Professor McMillan has taught various courses in American history and in Latin American history. He has authored several articles on the slave trade which have appeared in such journals as the Gulf Coast Historical Review (1998) and The Georgia Historical Quarterly (1994).

• Voice Mail: 818-710-2893




• BRIAN P. WALSH

  • Brian has earned a B.A. in Political Science from American University in Washington DC and an M.A. in History from Monmouth University in New Jersey. In 2001, he moved to Los Angeles where he wrote for television, authored five books for Marvel Comics and has taught various history classes within the LACCD, among them Western Civilizations I and II, American Histories 11 and 12, Twentieth century history as well as African-American and Mexican-American History

   

• SHEILA WILLIAMS

• Professor Sheila M. Williams attended California State University, Northridge, where she received a B.A. degree in History (Summa Cum Laude) in 1981, and a M.A. in History (with Distinction) in 1983. She earned a California teaching credential in social studies and English in 1994, and subsequently taught Advanced Placement American history at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California, and where she coached the Academic Decathlon team. In 1988 Professor Williams began her college teaching career at Los Angeles Southwest College, transferring to Pierce College in 1990, where she has taught courses in American history, western civilization, Latin America, and women's history. She served as Chair of the History Department from 1995 to 1998. Professor Williams received the Outstanding Teaching Award from the Pierce Emeriti Professors Association in June 2000.

• Voice Mail: 818-710-4134

ADJUNCT FACULTY

 

• KATHLEEN ADDISON

  • Kathleen Addison is a Pierce alumna who earned a double bachelor's in History and Russian Studies at UCLA, and the MA and C.Phil in History at UCLA.  She is currently completing her Ph.D., entitled "Solotchinskii monastyr': Secular-Ecclesiastic Relations in 17th Century Riazan' Province, Russia."   She has taught at a number of campuses in LACCD and CSU in Southern California since 1997, while doing graduate work including applications of technology in education, as well as being distracted by myriad shiny things. She is impervious to the need for sleep and other puny mortal weaknesses, save the fellowship of her cats and dogs.  

  • Voice Mail:  818-389-7915; email kathleen.addison@csun.edu 

• Christine Armendariz

   

  • Christine Armendariz is undoubtedly a very nice person and a good teacher.  A nonconformist with a secret past that includes, we think, killing people for the CIA or those who ask too many questions about personal info for the sake of faculty bios.  She graduated from an accredited university and has worked at Pierce for a long time. 

   

• JAMES BLODGETT

  • James Blodgett is a community college product, having graduated from Los Angeles Pierce College.  He subsequently transferred and did his undergraduate and graduate work at California State University Northridge, where he received the Rena Vasser Fellowship.  His coursework emphasized the political and social history of the United States in the twentieth century.  His secondary field of study was in Modern Europe.  

   

• LAURA CARLONE-HARRIS

  • Laura Carlone-Harris started her academic career happily a part of the community college system, attending LAVC under the expert tutelage of the fabulous Gunar Friebergs, who also inspired her to teach.  After transferring to UCLA she completed her studies focusing on a broad variety of history as well as other disciplines in order to be a fully rounded teacher.  The last stop was CSUN for her masters where she focused on American history and Greece in the classical period.  While at CSUN she had the privilege of working on the Natchez project under the wonderful Dr. Ronald Davis, and also the pleasure of having Dr. Frank Vatai as her other mentor.   Laura has a great love of teaching, and also taught at mission college.  She loves her time at Pierce where she has taught western civilization, History 11 and 13...She lives alone with her cat and her books.

     

  • Email:  Jockmcgraw@aol.com

   

• FRANK CHARTRAND

  • Frank Chartrand has a very interesting and colorful professional history.   Following graduation from an accredited university, he spent 14 years studying the vocal calls of tree frogs in a remote area of Madagascar; several years as a silk weaver in Samarkand; hiked the Nile river to Lake Victoria; traded silver in Minas Gervais; and overthrew a Luddite commune in Canada before returning to Southern California to reprogram the space shuttle.  He enjoys stamp collecting while listening to music by Flock of Seagulls. 

  • Email available on his faculty webpage (link above)

   

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• ARLINE GOLKIN

• Arline Golkin took the PhD in East Asian history at the University of Southern California. She has been teaching part-time at Pierce College since 1990 where she has had the opportunity to teach a full range of offerings, including a course on contemporary China. Professor Golkin research into problems associated with famine in China and international efforts designed to prevent and halt famine conditions has been published in articles, books and encyclopedias devoted to Chinese history.

  Voice Mail: 818-710-4494 + Ext. 5185

  Email:  atgolkin@yahoo.com

 

• BARBARA HAMBLY

  • Barbara Hambly holds a Master’s Degree in History from the University of California, Riverside, and has attended classes both at CalState LA and at the University of Bordeaux, France, specializing in the Middle Ages and Colonial America. She has traveled widely, read widely, and has written some 45 novels, most of them in genre fiction and many of them involving intensive historical research into far-flung times and places.

  • email:  hamblyb@piercecollege.edu

   

• KATHLEEN HITT
  • Kathleen Hitt attended Glendale Community College before transferring to Occidental College where she earned her B.A. with distinction, with a minor in Art History. In 2000 she studied the History and Architecture of Oxford, at Merton College, Oxford, England through U.C. Berkeley. She received her M.A. in History with honors from CSUN in 2004. Kathleen teaches Western Civ I & II, U.S. History 11 and 12, and U.S. Twentieth Century history at Pierce, L.A. Harbor College & College of the Canyons. She recently published entries in ABC-CLIO World War II Encyclopedia on Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other World War II personages, with entries forthcoming for ABC-CLIO on the American Revolution and Medieval warfare. Kathleen was Film Researcher for Washington the Warrior and Washington’s Generals telecast on the History Channel.
  • Phone:  310-233-4698 ext. 4830;  email:  hittkatj@lahc.edu

   

•     JACK KACZOROWSKI

  • Jack Kaczorowski was born in Warsaw, Poland. After an adventurous early childhood in Europe he settled in the United Sates. He attended high school in the East and in California, and obtained an MA in Political Science at University of California, San Francisco. Feeling worn-out by the regiment of school, work, and a hand-to-mouth existence, he was attracted to a career in federal service. During this time he kept himself intellectually engaged in part by pursuing his lifelong love of European history, which led him to earn an MA in History at California State University, Northridge. Now retired from federal service, Jack Kaczorowski continues to cultivate a variety of interests, such as teaching Western Civilization at Pierce College , translating Polish text to English, and traveling. He is a member of the Plato Society, an organization dedicated to teaching and learning.  Teaching for him is an expression of his many years of interest in history and in particular in the Western tradition.

    • Phone: 818-710-4494; email: kaczorjm@piercecollege.edu

• BERNARD KLASS

• Dr. Bernard Klass, who came to Pierce in 1965, received his BA in History from Roosevelt University in Chicago and his MA and Ph.D. in economic history from UCLA. He is a native of Chicago and moved to Los Angeles in 1961. He started his graduate work in history and economics at UCLA and worked for two years as a teaching assistant in the History Department. He taught social studies in the Los Angeles School District from 1963 to 1965 and has been at Pierce College ever since. His special interest are economic and social history and he has published articles and books in both fields.

  Voice Mail: 818-710-4298

• REGINA LARK

• After twelve years as a Los Angeles Pierce College student, Regina Lark graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in history from California State University, Northridge, and earned her Master's degree two years later. Professor Lark was awarded a Ph.D. in history from the University of Southern California upon completing her dissertation, titled "They Challenged Two Nations: Marriages Between Japanese Women and American GIs, 1945 to the Present." Dr. Lark currently serves at the Program Director of the Humanities, Social Sciences and Languages at UCLA Extension. Since teaching is her passion, however, she continues her work at Pierce on Wednesday nights as an instructor for History 13. She can be reached at: rflark@yahoo.com

•     CHERYL MADISON
  • Cheryl Madison takes pride in the fact she returned to college in her mid-40s. She is a product of the Los Angeles Pierce College PACE program.  She also follows in the footsteps of many of her colleagues having done her undergraduate and graduate work with night courses at California State University at Northridge while working a full time job. This is why she feels a strong connection in teaching evening classes, she can identify with her students and be living example that you can work full time and attend college at any time, any age and succeed.

    Email:  sugarcher@msn.com    phone 818-895-3086
     

•     DAVID MILLER PARKER

  • David Miller Parker graduated magna cum laude in History from Cornell University in 1971 and was awarded the M.A. in History the following year.  He greeted the prospect of continuing toward the doctorate at Stanford by going into advertising as a media specialist, working at agencies in New York and Los Angeles, as Media Planning Officer for Bank of America in San Francisco, and in Spanish-language agencies in New York and Los Angeles.  He also wrote for Maine Antique Digest, which reminded him he liked doing research.  This realization led him to Claremont Graduate University, which granted him a Ph.D. in History in 2003.  He has taught at a number of CSU schools, and teaches courses in American History at Pierce College.
    

   

•     PATRICIA SIEVER

• Professor Patricia Siever has taught within the LACCD for twenty-five years. She came to Pierce in 1989 from L.A. Mission College, of which she is one of its founding members. She is faculty advisor to Pierce's United African American Student Association (UAASA), and has served in many leadership positions both local and statewide. In 1998, Professor Siever was selected to be included in Who's Who Among American's Teachers, 5th ed., and she was included in the 2001 edition of Who's Who in America. Currently she is a member of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. She was appointed to the board in 1997 by Governor Wilson, and reappointed by Governor Davis. She received her BA and MA from UCLA.

• Voice Mail: 818-710-6486

 

•     JAIME SOTO
  • Jaime Soto graduated from UCLA, earning double B.A.(s) in History and Interdisciplinary Chicano Studies. While earning his Masters at Cal State Northridge, Soto worked several years as a non-public school teacher in Special Education for grades 7-12. He has long been committed in working with marginalized and disadvantaged youth in diverse environments. His interests are Globalization and Neoliberalism in Modern Latin America, the subject of his graduate thesis. He has visited Cuba several times and earned a recognition award in U.S./Cuban relations from the University of La Habana.   In addition to teaching History 13: United States in the 20th Century at Pierce College, Soto has taught History 11: Political and Social History of the United States I and History 1: Western Civilization I at Los Angeles City College.
     
•     BARBARA STITES   
  • Barbara R. Stites received her A.A. from Los Angeles Valley College in 1973 She completed her education at CSU Northridge with a B.A. (1990) and M.A. (1992) in History. Her very first teaching job was at Pierce in 1993, but she later migrated down the road to ACC where she has been teaching since the Fall of 1993, and where she received an Outstanding Professor award for 2002-2003. She has taught History 1, History 11 and 12. Professor Stites has a particular passion for Southern U.S. History, Women's History, and Contemporary Social History. She has authored or co-authored 2 Instructor's Manuals for U.S. History textbooks. She is very happy to be back at Pierce.

•     TRISTAN TRAVIOLIA

  • Mr. Traviolia began his education in the California Community College system at Santa Monica, transferred to UCLA, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1995. Tristan completed a master’s degree at Cal State, Northridge before entering UCLA’s doctoral program in 1999. He has taught at CSUN as well as Pierce. His doctoral research focuses on United States social and economic history during the Early Republic. “I want to provide my students more history for their hard earned tuition dollars than they ever expected to receive!”

     

•     RANDY TRICKEY

  • Randy Trickey is a former Pierce student who returned as an adjunct professor to the history department after earning his bachelor's degree (1996) and master's (1999) from California State University Northridge.  He has been teaching Western Civilization and United States History since summer 2000.  He is a native to the Southern California area.

   

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