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Musselwhite makes history an interesting endeavor for students

By Andrea Loveless
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Staff Writer

Dr. Laura Musselwhite, a professor of history at Georgia Highland College's Floyd campus, is a lively woman who seems to have no trouble engaging anyone in conversation.

She knew from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher, but it was not until her sophomore year at Roswell High School that she learned she wanted to teach history.

Musselwhite received her bachelors degree in history at Berry College and began teaching part time here, at what used to be Floyd College, in 1991. After a year, the administrators asked her to become a full-time teacher.

She decided in 1999 that she was going to get her doctorate and began the grueling process of teaching and going back to school simultaneously.

After six years of hard work, in 2005 she was awarded her PhD. in history.

Musselwhite's teaching interest focuses mainly on early modern European history such as the Renaissance Era.

She enjoys traveling and has not only been to several locations within the United States, but also Europe.

"It helps in class to have some real life experiences. I can tell them what something really looks like, how big it is, and it really seems to help the students relate," says Musselwhite.

Musselwhite enjoys making history interesting and easy to understand. "I like teaching in a small two-year college. I feel like the students here need more than kids at a place like Harvard would. Many of the students that go here are first generation college students, and I like to help push and ease them to the point where they are ready to go to a four-year college."

In her spare time, Mussel-white enjoys cooking, singing in the choir at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Rome, gardening and, as she lovingly put it: "Dragging my 13-year-old son around with me everywhere I go."

Her husband is the choir director at Berry College and after retirement, they hope to move to the culturally rich and provocative Santa Fe, New Mexico, for some open skies and inviting atmosphere.