NWOSU Institute for Citizenship Studies

A GENEROUS DONATION PROVIDED BY THE MASONIC CHARITY FOUNDATION OF OKLAHOMA CREATED THIS INSTITUTE IN SPRING 2010.

The Institute’s specific tasks include:

1. to foster an ethos of constructive patriotism, public service, and civic engagement;

2. to assist the NWOSU Department of Social Sciences with the promotion of its annual departmental related events such as Constitution Day, the Cultural Heritage Lecture Series, the Presidential Lecture Series and other related innovative programs;

3. to defray the costs associated with guest speakers on campus who present on historical, social, economic and political matters;

4. to assist in the promotion of University-sponsored conferences concerning United States politics, economics, sociology and history;

5. to assist with the costs associated with various student-run organizations such as Pi Sigma Alpha, Phi Alpha Theta and the Leviathan Society;

6. to promote the NWOSU Department of Social Science’s research efforts, including publishing activities and other initiatives designed to further the dissemination of knowledge within its respective departmental disciplines;

7. to serve as a depository of archival records and materials in digital and print formats; and

8. to engage in collaborative scholarship and other activities with other academic forums.

One such effort involves the Germans from Russia Heritage Society’s quarterly journal Heritage Review edited by Executive Director Dr. Eric J. Schmaltz within the Institute.

In addition, the Institute’s “Dr. J. Otto Pohl Collection” is named after a fellow member and contains a significant number of Germans from Russia documents and publications of a primary and secondary nature in the English, German and Russian languages in both print and digital formats.

The Institute also maintains the “Mr. George D. Coyan Collection,” a growing body of original historic American newspapers and magazines named in honor of the late World War II veteran and educator.