History of the Division of Social Sciences
Marion College to Indiana Wesleyan University
In 1920 the Wesleyan Methodist Church, currently The Wesleyan Church, moved Fairmount Bible School (1906-1920), a Wesleyan Methodist ministerial training school, into buildings which had housed Marion Normal College (1890-1918), a teacher training institute, bringing into existence Marion College--renamed Indiana Wesleyan University in 1988. From its inception in 1920 Indiana Wesleyan University featured ministerial and teacher education with a liberal arts foundation.
History became a key discipline in the liberal arts curriculum of the university. The department of history provided leadership in liberal arts and in secondary education, offering both a major in history and certification in social studies education. This department leadership was largely a consequence of the highly effective and scholarly teaching of Dr. Allen Bowman.
Dr. Allen Bowman
Dr. Bowman (Ph.D. University of Michigan, 1941) taught history and social science at Indiana Wesleyan University for more than half a century, from 1931 to 1983. He served as chair of the department of history from 1937 to 1970 and after the university divisionalized in 1948 also chaired the Division of Social Studies--renamed the Division of Social Sciences in 1972--which was based in and developed from the department of history. Dr. Bowman also served ably as academic dean of Indiana Wesleyan University from 1937 to 1962, thereby strengthening the unique commitment of the university and the Division of Social Sciences to liberal-arts-based professional education.
Dr. Bowman's consistent Christian commitment, teaching excellence, scholarly leadership and sacrificial leadership are deeply appreciated and remembered by thousands of former Indiana Wesleyan University students and hundreds of history and social studies/social studies education graduates. In recognition of his outstanding service Dr. Bowman was named Distinguished Service Professor of History and Political Science in 1965. His life and work established the durable foundation upon which the Division of Social Sciences is based and constitutes a legacy which continues to permeate the division and university.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Bowman kept a personal diary throughout his more than 50 years of teaching. Dr. Marj Elder drew heavily and quotes extensively from this diary in her 75th anniversary history of the university, The Lord, The Landmarks, The Life, 1994. He also wrote a brief autobiography, This is the Lord’s Doing: My Life Story, 1978, which is in the IWU library. Dr. Bowman’s love for God, for his family, his country, his students and for the university as an institution are evident in his writings as they were to everyone who knew him.
Base Department
The Division of Social Sciences gradually developed from the department of history. Initially the division offered majors in history and social studies/social studies education and was staffed by Dr. Bowman and other university faculty who taught part-time in the division. One university faculty member, Professor John Reed, taught a variety of social science courses, including sociology, and gradually came to teach full-time in the division. Sadly, Professor Reed died in an automobile accident in 1963. He had taught in the university and division, and ably assisted Dr. Bowman for 11 years.
In 1967 the number of division programs and faculty was increased significantly. Two additional faculty were employed to teach history and political science, one full-time, Dr. Glenn Martin, and another half-time. Professor Jerry Showalter was employed full-time to institute an economics business major, having taught part-time in the university the previous year. Additionally, a sociologist was employed full-time to initiate a sociology major. This major was discontinued when the sociologist left and was only revived briefly several years later after which it was permanently discontinued.
Dr. Glenn Martin
After Dr. Bowman retired as social science division chair in 1970 and upon returning from a leave-of-absence to complete his doctoral studies, Dr. Glenn Martin, professor of history and political sScience, was named division chair in 1972. Dr. Martin who, like Dr. Bowman, has served as chair for decades, has sought to carry on the tradition established by Dr. Bowman, providing leadership for the base department as coordinator of the department of history and political science, and maintaining a division characterized by Christian commitment, teaching excellence, scholarly leadership, and sacrificial service.
Departmentalization and Growth
The number of division programs and faculty continued to expand significantly during the 1970s. A political science major and prelaw program were instituted in 1972 and, as a consequence, the number of full-time history and political science faculty was increased to three in 1972 and the department of history was renamed the department of history and political science
In 1972, the division formally departmentalized into the departments of economics and business, history and political science, and sociology--which was renamed sociology and social work when a social work major was instituted in 1979. Dr. Martin worked closely with the department coordinators to enhance and expand the majors of the departments.
Two full-time social work faculty members were added to the department of sociology and social sork, including Dr. Stephen Stahlman who joined the faculty in 1979 and was named director of social work in 1981. Under his leadership, in coordination with Dr. Martin, the social work program was accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) in 1982 and accreditation was reaffirmed in 1990.
Under the leadership of Professor Jerry Showalter, in coordination with Dr. Martin, separate accounting, business and economics majors were added to the department of business studies in 1979, and the number of full-time department faculty was increased to four by 1981. The business major was renamed business administration in 1990 and the department developed three additional pre-professional majors--finance, management and marketing.
During the 1980s the Division of Social Sciences became the largest academic division of the university, both in terms of the number of students majoring in the division and the number of division majors graduating from the university. One unique contributing factor to this was Dr. Martin’s liberating teaching on the applicability of God to all of life as a base for biblical Christian leadership, which gained wide exposure through his extensive national and international lecturing during summers and breaks, which was influential in attracting hundreds of students to Indiana Wesleyan, most of whom completed a major in the division.
Serving the General Welfare
The Division of Social Sciences has a long established tradition of striving to serve the general welfare and success of the university. Diligent efforts are made to maintain a collegial and supportive relationship with all academic divisions, departments and with the administrative leadership of the university. This tradition was instituted by the first division chair, Dr. Bowman, who served for a quarter century as academic dean of the university. Dr. Bowman also contributed to the general welfare by speaking in chapel and in innumerable other ways.
Dr. Martin has continued this tradition, meeting regularly during the 1980s with the other uniquely committed division chairs to discuss and make decisions relative to the general welfare of the university. For 30 years, the chairs have elected him to serve on the Faculty Relations Committee, which he has chaired. Division faculty have been encouraged to speak in chapel and to serve the university. In 1983, Dr. Martin was asked to present his vision for biblical Christian education to the faculty at the university faculty conference. Dr. Jerry Pattengale, inspired to institute a university core course to be taken by all university students, asked Dr. Martin to write a chapter in the course book on the
the biblical Christian worldview. Present division faculty are committed to long-time service and university leadership.
Dr. Robert Mitchell (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1969), who taught in the department of history and political science from 1969 to his retirement in 2001, deserves recognition for his long-term dedication to the division, the university and the local community. He taught courses in world civilization and geography, coordinated a European travel course, chaired a general education committee and served the city of Marion as judge and as mayor (1988-91). His investment in the division will be remembered appreciatively for years to come.
University Restructuring
Throughout the 1990s, division major programs continued to expand. When, in 2000-01, the university administration and board of trustees reviewed and reorganized the university structure, they decided to divide the division into two divisions, to take effect in fall 2001.
Economics, as a theoretical social science, remained within the Division of Social Sciences and a new department of economics was initiated in 2001. However,
the department of business studies was separated from the Division of Social Sciences to inaugurate a new division: the Division of Business. The Division of Business is largely the legacy of Prof. Showalter, who initiated the first business department major in 1967 and worked for 35 years with Dr. Martin to establish the program on a solid foundation.
During the restructuring, the social work major and program, under the able leadership of Dr. S. D. Stahlman, who has directed the program for 20 years, was also shifted out of the division to be housed within the Division of Behavioral Studies.
Consequently, the Division of Social Sciences now consists of two departments and six majors: the department of economics, offering a major in economics, and the base department of history and political science, offering majors in history, political science, political science pre-law, social studies and social studies education.
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