Who is Dr. Slatta?

Glad that you asked! Richard W. Slatta is professor of history at North Carolina State University. He has taught at NC State since completing doctoral work at The University of Texas at Austin in 1980. Promoted to full professor in 1990, he has since won the NCSU College of Humanities and Social Sciences Lonnie and Carol Poole Award for Teaching Excellence for 1999-2000. Thinking about taking one of his classes? Read about his Inquiry-Guided Approach to History.

He participated as a teaching fellow in the Hewlett Continuation Project for 1999-2001 and as a member of the Campus Writing and Speaking Program seminar for 2000-01. In 1999, he designed, created, and taught the history department's first online course, HI 216, Latin American since 1826. During the spring 2003 semester he added another online offering--HI 453, US-Latin American Relations.

Brief bio: Born on a cold October night in Powers Lake, North Dakota [is there any other kind? Get out your atlas], Slatta spent his first ten years in the ND metropolises of Wildrose, Upham, Gackle, and Enderlin. Thereafter he enjoyed stints in Manderson, Wyoming, Turlock, California [famous then for turkeys and watermelons], and Hillsboro, Oregon [next to Nike.com in Beaverton]. Yes, the West is Best! In 1969, he earned his BA in history at Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, Washington (Go Lutes).

Two weeks after graduating from PLU, he hopped a flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico [dressed in a wool blazer and slacks! Yes, he had some things to learn about tropical climates] to train as a Peace Corps volunteer. Yes, some people think of others--not a bad thing to do. He served as an urban community development volunteer for the Peace Corps in a squatter settlement near Panama City, solving most of that nation's pressing problems. Unfortunately, the effect was only temporary. He returned to the US to find that he'd won the lottery-- the draft lottery-- There was, after all, a war going on in Vietnam. Too valuable to be shot at, he spent two years with the Second Armored Division ("Hell on Wheels") at Ft. Hood, Texas. During his illustrious military career as a bandsman, he marched and played in most rodeo parades held in the state of Texas. The most important military skill developed was to watch where he stepped VERY carefully when marching behind horses. Long live John Phillips Souza! In keeping with local Texas culture, he consumed beer and barbecue on each occasion. On days off [many] he stalked the wily bass of several Hill Country lakes. Let history record that Mexico did not attempt to retake Texas with Slatta on watch. Supposedly, George W. Bush "served" in the Air National Guard at the same time. Odd that Slatta never met him in a bar! [This was Bush's pre-Jesus days.]

Having saved Panama and the US, at least temporarily, he returned to graduate school: MA at Portland (OR) State University in 1974; PhD at The University of Texas at Austin in 1980. He has traveled and researched widely throughout the Western Hemisphere from Tandil, Argentina to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and more recently Kona, Hawaii (western hemisphere??).

In Oct. 2003, he lectured in Austria for ten days, sponsored by the American Embassy in Vienna--one of the Bush administration's few intelligent funding decisions. He hones his snorkeling skills in the islands of the Caribbean and in Hawaii. His wife Maxine and son JD share his passion for reefs, tropical fish, and snorkeling. One of his life goals is to sell just one percent as many books as that other North Dakota-born writer of things Western, Louis L'Amour. Although musical, he never got to play in the band led by that other famous Dakotan, Lawrence Welk. "Ah vun an' a two. . . " When time permits, he lectures aboard cruise ships in the Caribbean. Here's a brief report on his Spring 2005 cruise aboard the ms Volendam. Yes, it's onerous duty, but someone has to step up and do it! Even tourists need education.

He lectures often at major western museums, universities and other sites, including the National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, TX, the Ranching Heritage Festival in Kingsville, Texas, the Albuquerque Art Museum, Autry Museum of Western Heritage (Los Angeles), Buffalo Bill Historical Center (Cody, WY), Duke University, Glenbow Museum (Calgary, Alberta, Canada), Loyola University (Baltimore), South Dakota Historical Society (Pierre), South Dakota Festival of Books (Deadwood), Texas Tech University, University of Arizona, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, University of Tulsa, the American Embassy in Vienna, Austria, and elsewhere. Slatta served as historical consultant for the video documentary "Cowboys of the Americas" (Disney Channel, Warner Western, 1993). He appeared onscreen in "The Columbian Exchange" (WGBH-TV/PBS, 1991), "America's Horse" (ESPN, 1992), and "Cowboy Tech (History Channel, 2004).

Honors and Awards: The American Library Association and Library Journal selected The Cowboy Encyclopedia as a Best Reference Source. Cowboys of the Americas won the 1991 Western Heritage Award for Nonfiction Literature, given by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. The Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies awarded his first book, Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier the 1984 Hubert Herring Book Prize as the best book on Latin American history. Other honors include Outstanding Intellectuals of the Twentieth Century, Outstanding People of the Twentieth Century, Who's Who in the World, and Who's Who in American Education.

Teaching: Slatta teaches classes on Latin American history, and US-Latin American relations. Dr. Slatta often asks his students on their first day of class to identify what they like most and least in life. In the interest of honest self-disclosure, here are his answers: Like most: Snorkeling along a beautiful tropical reef. Remember to keep breathing, no matter how breath-taking the views. Like least: Ideologues: Whether hate-mongers, religious fanatics, or political hacks, ideologues insult the intelligence. Somebody whose mind is already made up is incapable of learning, so don't waste the precious time of teachers. I'm affronted to belong to the same species, although I suspect that some ideologues simply haven't evolved. Is your "mind" (I'm being generous) made up BEFORE you even confront the evidence on an issue? If so, don't talk to me. I have too many thinking, inquisitive, inductive students, ready to learn, and I'm ready to teach. Read more about ideologues versus intellectual inquirers. I have strong opinions on lots of things, such as fashion Nazis. See What real men wear.

Books by Dr. Slatta]

Mottos:
1. Take your work, not yourself, seriously.
2. YOU dress for success; I'll dress for the beach.

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