History professor takes U of A's highest research honour

John-Paul Himka is animated as he talks about the importance of bringing research in the field into the classroom.

06 March 2011

John-Paul Himka is animated as he talks about the importance of bringing research in the field into the classroom. The professor in the Department of History and Classics says the reasons are plenty but he is most passionate about the ones that benefit his students.

"I find that when you're working on something, trying to figure out answers by yourself, students can see when the light goes on in your eyes, when the dots connect. Nothing is as good for teaching as having students genuinely see you figure something out before their eyes," he said.

While researching his latest book looking into iconography of the Eastern church, Himka was holding one of his seminars outlining his research topic, complete with religious icons.

"A young man-he's now a professor-said to me, 'why is everybody in Hell naked in these icons, except for the tavern maid. Why is the tavern maid clothed?'

"That question tortured me for a very long time," Himka said. "I remember driving through many long roads in Romania thinking, 'why is the tavern maid clothed?' (The maid was copied directly from a Gothic fresco.) And it was something I only solved just as I was writing the book. But I did not feel I understood the book until I figured out his question. That student's question proved to be a key element in identifying the local Gothic origins of some elements in these last judgment icons."

He adds, "What's the point of having a professor teach you if they can't bring things to you that they know that hardly anybody else knows?"

In recognition of this passion for inspiring his students, Himka was awarded the J. Gordin Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research in 2010. The purpose of the award is to recognize and honour faculty members who research contributions are significant, and who sets a standard for excellence for other University of Alberta faculty and students. Himka's body of work, as a professor and a researcher, fits both those criteria well.

Himka measures the time he has been at the U of A in decades. For example, he says for a couple of them, much of his work was concerned with the genealogical history of Western Ukraine. His research also includes a social history of Eastern Europe, the Holocaust, the history of the world in the last 10 years and the iconography of the Eastern church.

Himka's most recent book, Last Judgment Iconography in the Carpathians, is also his favourite. It's also one that saw Himka criss-cross Europe for more than 10 years, searching for and photographing religious icons.

"It's by far the most original book I've ever written," says Himka. "It takes about 100 images, which were produced in a small region, and compares them with images in neighbouring regions over the centuries. Just by doing so, it tells stories about the people who created the images. So instead of being textually based, like most history books, is shows a history based largely on images and what images tell us and what they imply. It is a pretty innovative book."