CV-Montanelli, Dawna

Texarkana College (08/01/1987 to 08/01/1997)
None, 1997
History/Government

Texas A & M University - Texarkana (08/01/1997 to 12/01/2001)
Bachelor of Applied Arts & Sciences, 2001
History/Political Science

Texas A & M University - Texarkana (08/01/2000 to 12/01/2003)
Master of Interdisciplinary Science, 2003
History/Political Science

Louisiana State University - Shreveport (01/01/2005 to 06/01/2006)
None, 2006
Political Science (graduate coursework)

University of Oregon (06/01/2009 to 08/01/2009)
None, 2009
Geography (graduate coursework)

Texas State University - San Marcos (06/01/2009 to 07/01/2010)
None, 2010
Geography (graduate coursework)

Texarkana College (08/01/2009 to Present)
Professor of Geography/Government/History

SAGE Instructor of Biblical Geography (09/01/16 - 09/01/17) - Developing and instructing a 6-part course on the geography of the Holy Land. This course ranked highest in attendance in the program’s inaugural year.

Northpoint Bible College, Haverhill, MA (08/01/2019 to 05/20/2020                             Adjunct Faculty of History                                                                                                      Course Taught: Ancient Western Civilization

Cossatot Community College of UA (08/01/2007 to 05/12/2012)
Adjunct Faculty of Geography/Government/History

Texarkana College (01/01/2004 to 08/01/2009)
Adjunct Faculty of Government/History

Texarkana Texas Independent School District (08/01/2006 to 05/31/2007)
Social Studies Teacher (7th Grade)

Texarkana College (07/16/2001 – 08/01/2006)
Financial Aid Director

TC Dual Credit Federal Government Teacher of Record (08/01/2009 to 08/01/2019)
Developing curriculum and coordinating with proctors at five high school campuses to advance college credit opportunities in both federal and state government.

TC Road Scholars Coordinator (05/15/2013 – 08/01/2016)
Coordinating a program on campus that offers three distinct opportunities 1) student travel during the course of an academic class, 2) faculty-led travel abroad opportunities offered through the Continuing Education Division of Texarkana College, and 3) opportunities for both students and faculty to spend an entire semester abroad teaching and learning in colleges and universities located throughout the world. To date:

 TCCTA First Responder (09/01/2014 – Present)

Reporting legislative issues to TC faculty members and communicating their views to policymakers as events require.

Faculty Association Scholarship Committee (09/01/2018 – Present)

Co-Presenter of TC Distinguished Lecture Series (November 16 – 17, 2016)

Presented a public lecture at three different times on campus, along with Stephen Gass, on the history surrounding the first mass school shooting at the University of Texas in 1966 and the current campus carry gun law that began exactly 50 years later. TC was the first community college campus to view the documentary, Tower, and to host Claire Wilson James, a survivor of the tragedy.

Hosted Political Guest Series (09/15 and 10/13, 2016) - Hosted Cody Wommack, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress, on September 15^th and Karen Watson, author and political activist, on October 13, 2016 in Levi Hall. Both speaking engagements were well attended by TC students, faculty, and staff.

Texas Coordinating Board Geography Learning Outcomes Workgroup Member - Reviewing the course descriptions and learning outcomes for the Geography courses in the Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM). Beginning in the summer prior to Fall 2014, I worked independently researching geography course descriptions and learning outcomes already being used by my assigned Texas colleges and universities. I then met with other members in Austin from July 1-2 to develop the geography student learning objectives for the ACGM to be implemented Fall 2015.

Active member of the American Association of Geographers since 2008

Mayor Pro Tempore of the Maud, Texas City Council – Elected 6 May 2017.

Deputy Registrar for Bowie County, Texas – Verifying the identity of persons registering to vote, completing the registration cards, and returning completed cards to the office of George Stegall, Elections Officer of Bowie County.

Cultural Impact Team Member - Reporting legislative issues to my local church members and communicating their views to policymakers as events require.

Former board member of Partnership for the Pathway – a local organization instrumental in developing walking and hiking trails in the Texarkana area.

Former board member of the Texarkana, Texas Arts and Historic District Planning Board

Washington DC 2006 - I spent four weeks in the summer of 2006 living in Washington DC, while I was researching in the Library of Congress and the Belizean Embassy in preparation for my graduate paper on the influence of Abraham Lincoln abroad. While I was there, I used the METRO to get to other national information repositories to attain primary and secondary sources. I shared a hotel suite in the famous Hamilton Hotel with an Albanian refugee student from Louisiana State University – Shreveport. It was quite educational taking her throughout my nation's capital while learning of the horrors she endured while fleeing with her family from Bosnia.

West Texas/Mexico 2009 - I spent three weeks in the summer of 2009 living on the Texas – Mexico border, while researching border issues concentrating on the Rio Grande River for my graduate paper with Texas State University – San Marcos (TSU). As this was a vast desert region, I relied on the TSU van for transportation but spent many hours hiking the Chihuahuan Desert and the Chisos Mountains extending along the Rio Grande from southeast of Presidio to near Lajitas in both Brewster and Presidio counties. My camp was based out of Terlingua, a mining district located near the Rio Grande and the Texas villages of Lajitas and Study Butte, Texas, as well as the Mexican village of Santa Elena. My research involved gathering information from both American and Mexican government officials and area locals concerning issues such as historic Rio Grande course changes, immigration, and illicit activities along the longest border between the United States and Mexico.

Germany 2010 - I spent five weeks in the summer of 2010 living in Hannover, Germany as Dr. James Petersen's Teaching Assistant in TSU's Exchange Program with Professor Revilla Diez of Leibniz University - Hannover. This program partnered TSU students with German students to study geographic aspects of Germany and participate in field excursions. My task as TA was to facilitate transportation excursions, monitor student pairings, type Dr. Petersen's reports, and other tasks as assigned. While in Europe, I used various transportation – bus, rail, and ferry – systems throughout Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic to substantiate my graduate research of European transportation, land use, and sustainability. During my stay, I rented an apartment. I became acquainted with the grocer, the cyber-café manager, and other local shop and restaurant owners as well as other tenants in my building.

Belize 2011 - I spent three weeks in the summer of 2011 living within a nature preserve owned by the Programme for Belize, a non-profit organization as a guest instructor of Dr. Fred Valdez of University of Texas at Austin. Under the Programme for Belizean Archaeological Project, I brought along two Texarkana College students – Nick Barber and Thomas Leonard – to assist Dr. Valdez in different fields of study including epigraphy, mapping, and excavations, to gain as much data as possible about La Milpa, an archaeological site and an ancient Maya city within the Three River region of Northwest Belize bordering Mexico and Guatemala. La Milpa is located between the sites of Rio Azul and Lamanai. Following Caracol and Lamanai, La Milpa is the third largest site in Belize with the Main Plaza alone covering 18,000 square meters, making it one of the largest in the entire Maya region. While in Belize, I lived in an isolated camp facility maintained by local Mayans. Throughout the daily excavations, I worked alongside Mayan workers and students. Traditional Belizean dishes were prepared daily by Mayan cooks.

Romania (upcoming) June 18 - 29, 2024 - Mission trip to bring a women’s conference to Ukrainian refugee women in Cluj – Napoca, Romania. I will be assisting a local Cluj women’s group working with them in this time of crisis and war. I will travel to Sacueni, Romania, where I will work with missionaries to host women and children bussed in from Rivne, Ukraine.