“Ahoj!,” “Guten Tag!” and “Goedemorgen!” are foreign phrases many Americans mark off as oddities of international tongue.

For associate history professor Nancy Wingfield, these words bring back fond memories of European excursions.

The innovative professor has conducted dissertation research in Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and England. She works primarily in the Czech Republic and Austria during her summers.

“Doing research and working in the countries one writes about offers huge benefits that aid teaching and research – like getting to watch historical events [first-hand],” Wingfield said. “I’ve seen the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the end of World War II in Europe, German national elections, the French no-vote on the constitution, the Czech accession to the European Union, and European reaction to U.S. political events, simply because I’ve been in those places doing historical research. These experiences help me better know the cultures and politics I’m discussing.”

Graduate student Pontus Hiort values the knowledge Wingfield passes on.

“Professor Wingfield is a great mentor who is always willing to share her insights and expertise with me,” Hiort said. “She has been invaluable to my development as a historian.”

Wingfield has been lucky to have worked and lived close to the archives she needs for her research. However, Wingfield did not live alone in the capital of what is today the Czech Republic.

She smiled at the thought of her 15-year-old son David.

“At about 10 or 11, he complained to me, ‘Mom, I’ve been able to go all over Europe, but I’ve never gotten to go to Six Flags Great America.’” she said. “He really felt put upon that he hadn’t gotten to do this quite American thing.”

David is not just any ordinary American boy – he lives in France. He went to nursery school in Prague and started high school at the American School in Paris.

While maintaining contact with her family, Wingfield tackles learning other languages to better comprehend a country’s richness.

“My German’s quite good,” Wingfield said. “My French is OK, but in some countries, there is the concept of either you speak a language or you don’t. If you speak a little bit, all of a sudden, someone’s talking to you at lightning-fast pace. Living in France this past year helped with my French. I made great progress on my research, which is on prostitution in the Bohemian lands.”

“The time she has spent researching abroad reflects both in her publications as well as her teaching,” said Danielle Albracht, an NIU alumna. “Over the years, she has been my adviser, my mentor and my friend.”

Wingfield’s experiences abroad have expanded her capacity to project a more truthful concept of the world.

“The experiences are what you bring back to your students,” Wingfield said. “I have this ideal that if people get to know each other … they will find it much more difficult to be mean to one another.”