Jenifer Parks

Contact Information

Associate Professor of History
B.A. Oglethorpe University
M.A., Ph.D. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Phone: 406.238.7373
Office: Morledge-Kimball Hall 204
Email: jenifer.parks@rocky.edu

Biography

Jenifer Parks came to RMC in 2009 after finishing her Ph.D. in Russian and Soviet History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She enjoys teaching a wide variety of European and world history courses, including the world civilization survey that covers ancient, medieval, and modern societies in every region of the globe. Her favorite subjects include medieval Europe, European imperialism, the post-colonial developing world, and Russian history. Her primary research focus is on sport and politics in the Soviet Union and just published her first book, "The Olympic Games, the Soviet Sports Bureaucracy, and the Cold War: Red Sport, Red Tape" (Lexington Books, 2017), which traces the work of Soviet sports administrators from the USSR’s 1952 Olympic entrance through the 1980 Moscow Games.

parksIn addition to several articles and book chapters on Soviet Olympic sport, Dr. Parks was interviewed and quoted in Sports Illustrated about former all-time Olympic medal holder, Larisa Latynina, prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is also in the beginning stages of a second project which will examine Soviet sports diplomacy in the developing world during the Cold War.

When not in the classroom, Dr. Parks enjoys hiking, singing, sewing, reading, acting, and especially traveling. In addition to traveling around the U.S., she has visited Europe several times, including a nine-month stay in Moscow, Russia.

Courses Taught

  • HST 103/104: History of Civilization I & II
  • HST 232: The World Since 1945
  • HST 303: Reformation, Absolutism, and Enlightenment Europe, 1500-1789
  • HST 304: The Age of Revolution Europe, 1789-1914
  • HST 313: Europe Since 1914
  • HST 324: History of Russia to 1861 
  • HST 325: History of Russia and the Soviet Union since 1861
  • HST 370: Medieval History

Contact

Rocky Mountain College
1511 Poly Drive
Billings, MT 59102