Full-Time Faculty

Dr. Kevin Murphy (Chair) is a transplanted easterner, born and raised in Baltimore. He has four daughters. He came to Millikin in 1994 and has been chair of the department since 2000. He received his M.A. (1988) and Ph.D. (1994) degrees from the University of Maryland. He has published two books, The Civil War Letters of Joseph K. Taylor and The American Merchant Experience in Nineteenth Century Japan and a number of articles and reviews.

He lived in Japan for four years and continues to make regular trips to that country. He has widened his teaching interests by attending extensive faculty development seminars in China and India, and has gone around the world as a faculty member on the semester at sea program twice, spring 2003 and fall 2005.  His ever-expanding teaching interests include Japan since 1600 and since 1945, India under British Rule, and the contemporary Developing World. On the American side, he teaches or has taught U.S. history to and since 1865, the American Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Age of Jackson, and the American Frontier in film and history. He also teaches the Vietnam war in film and history and Hiroshima in film and history. He is currently working on a course on the Pacific War that will emphasize the clash of Japanese and American cultural values.

Dr. Murphy is passionately committed to international studies, and has visited more than thirty countries, many in Asia. Recently he spent a month in Vietnam as part of an ASIANetwork grant that brought a visiting scholar to Millikin from Ho Chi Minh City. In the spring of 2008 he taught SE Asian history at Webster University's campus in Hua Hin, Thailand. He is now working on an article dealing with the Bataan Death March. In his spare time, he plans his next trip abroad.

Dr. Timothy Kovalcik bleeds blue.  He graduated from Millikin in 1996, where he received departmental honors and the Albert T. Mills history student of the year award.  He returned to Millikin in 2001 as an adjunct for the History and Religion departments, and was hired full time in 2005. In all, Dr. Kovalcik has spent 10 years at Millikin University.  His qualifications include a Master of Arts in Theology from Asbury Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom.  At the University of Bristol Dr. Kovalcik was the only American to receive the distinguished Overseas Research Scholarship. His academic interests include medieval anti-Semitism, Holocaust and genocide studies, modern European studies and African history.  He teaches a wide variety of subjects, including Historiography, Modern Church History and Global Christianity. He is also currently serving as the supervisor for history/social science secondary education majors.

Teaching and research at Millikin are really hobbies.  Dr. Kovalcik’s full-time job is helping his wife Helene (also a Millikin graduate) take care of four beautiful children--Kaley, Emmery, Isaiah and Sara Beth. When there is time, Dr. Kovalcik loves sports, especially Steelers football, and he maintains a ten handicap in golf.

Dr. Dan Monroe earned a doctorate in history from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he worked with Professor Robert W. Johannsen.  He received the Heiligenstein Award for Teaching Excellence and was a fellow at the Virginia Historical Society and Lincoln Legal Papers.  Monroe is the author of three books:  The Republican Vision of John Tyler (2003), At Home with Illinois’ Governors: A Social History of the Illinois Executive Mansion (2002), and Shapers of the Great Debate on the Civil War: A Biographical Dictionary (2005), with co-author Dr. Bruce Tap. He is currently working on his fourth book, a study of every day life in the antebellum U.S.

He teaches a variety of courses, including his new course, "Abraham Lincoln in History and Film," offered in the January anmd May immersion format.

Dr. William Keagle comes to Millikin with a varied background.  Born in Denver, he grew up in Wyoming, worked as a cowboy, a mechanic, a truck and bus driver, learned to fly, and has been involved in music and the theater since childhood. He has two degrees in religion and two degrees in History, including a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. As an ordained Presbyterian minister, Dr. Keagle was a pastor for many years. He also has clinical training in counseling and served a professional counselor. He has been married for over forty years,  has two grown daughters and one grandchild. Dr. Keagle has traveled extensively, including all fifty states and more than forty countries.  He continues to teach at Millikin because he loves it and thoroughly enjoys interacting with students.

Adjunct Faculty

Mary E. Jessup teaches "World religions in the U.S." and "Comparative World Religions." She was raised on a farm outside of Divernon. She has been an ordained Church of the Brethren minister for nearly thirty years and has served as pastor of Buffalo Hart Presbyterian Church for the past fourteen years. She earned a Master's of Divinity from Bethany Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry from Eden Theological Seminary. She is married to Fletcher Farrar, owner and president of the Illinois Times, a newsweekly in Springfield. Mary and Fletcher have traveled extensively, most recently to Vietnam. Mary has been teaching at Millikin since the early 1990s.

Dr. William Grieve received his B.A. from Wabash College and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Chinese History.  He studied for a semester at Taiwan University. He was one of the original members of Richland Community College's Administration and served as Dean of Social and Natural Science and Professor of History.  He has taught Chinese History, American History, Military History and International Relations at Richland.  He has traveled to thirty countries including eight trips to China. Dr. Grieve served in the Marine Corps as a platoon, company and battalion commander, and for three years as an intelligence officer.  He taught at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College and retired with the rank of Colonel. He retired from Richland and has taught part-time at Millikin for five years.

John Johns received his Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and his Master's of Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He teaches "Cultural Geography" every other semester, a required course for students seeking secondary education certification. He is employed full time at Monticello Middle School, where he has been teaching for eleven years. He lives in Monticello with his wife and three young children.

Julie Jones received her B.A. from Missouri Southern State University, 1992 and her M.A. from Pittsburg State University in 1994. Her teaching interests include U.S. 20th Century Diplomacy, the American West and Gender Studies. She is a native of Ireland and has been living in the U.S. off and on for 30 years. In her spare time, she enjoys horseback riding, theatre and Celtic music. She began teaching at Millikin in 2005 and usually offers her course, “Women in America,” in the evenings.

Mark W. Sorensen is the vice president of the Illinois State Historical Society and has had numerous articles and reviews published in Illinois periodicals.  He taught social science for 13 years in the Decatur public schools and recently retired after 24 years of service as the assistant director of the Illinois State Archives in Springfield.  He has taught history classes at Richland Community College and Millikin University and has made over 200 presentations across the state. Professor Sorensen received a B.S. in Education from Eastern Illinois University; an M.A. in History from the University of Illinois Springfield and an M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana.  He is a charter member of the Academy of Certified Archivists and was named Official County Historian by the Macon County Board.  He has maintained the Illinois History Resource website for over a decade and is currently preparing to write a book about the Illinois State Capitol. He has received several education and community awards and is a recipient of the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award.

Kathryn Warnick graduated in 1999 with a B.A. from Millikin University in Social Science Secondary Education. Upon receipt of a teaching job at Meridian High School, she began her M.A. from Illinois State University in Curriculum and Instruction, finishing in 2002. She taught for seven years at Meridian High School, offering U.S. History, World Religions, English I, English IV and Senior Composition.  Currently, she supervises Social Science Education student teachers and teaches the Methods of Teaching Social Science course.  When not teaching she loves to travel, cook and spend time with her family.