Julie Charlip, associate professor of history, joined the Whitman faculty in 1993. She has received two Louis B. Perry awards to conduct student-faculty collaborative research.

Julie Charlip, History

by Valarie Hamm, '01

The day I became a full-fledged fan of history professor Julie Charlip was the day she told my Mexican history class that it was time to overcome the Pacific Northwest “culture of niceness.” As far as she was concerned, the following day’s class debate could entail everything except throwing chairs and name-calling.

“Sometimes I think it gets interpreted by students that it’s not polite to debate,” the New Jersey-born Charlip later told me, “but I’ve always tried to get students to be assertive.”

A native of the Pacific Northwest, I’m not certain I was ever able to entirely overcome my “culture of niceness,” but I did come to appreciate Charlip’s frankness and her ability to make students examine issues from multiple angles. Charlip was the first professor who encouraged me to take risks with my papers, to present a historical thesis in a creative essay, and to broaden my understanding of an issue by playing the devil’s advocate.

Charlip also emphasized the importance of applying theory to “real life.” From historical textbooks to class lectures, Charlip balanced broad themes with local conditions. She encouraged us to study concepts and ideas within the contexts of our own lives and discuss them outside of the Whitman community.

“I want students to have a sense of what the hard issues are in terms of continuity and changes in society,” she once explained. “I want students to go home at Thanksgiving and have fights

Amidst the rice cakes and book shelves of her office and the chairs and chalkboard of a classroom, Charlip helped me become a more efficient learner and a more perceptive thinker. Her genuine character and dedication to learning will continue to challenge students to be real and active — in their homes, in their workplace, in the world.