Areas of Study & Research
Mitch Axness is a Master’s of Science student in History with emphasis on public history and mid-19th to mid-20th century (1850-1950) American history. He has worked in the IT field for 25 years, currently providing IT support for the NDSU Libraries. At age 41, seeking a career change, he decided to return to college and completed his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Public History in May 2024. Desiring to do archival work with occasional writing and maybe short documentary films, he’s continuing his education at NDSU and enjoying the learning of how to “do history” from the wonderful faculty of the NDSU History department. As a multi-generational, lifelong North Dakota resident (he doesn’t count that 5 year stint living in Moorhead), Axness wants to preserve the history of the region so future generations can tell our stories.
When he’s not binging history documentaries on YouTube or other streaming services, he’s either reading history, indulging in entertainment featuring lightsabers or capes and cowls, or, as the father of 2, scrolling through the latest TikTok videos they’ve sent him. Axness also enjoys visiting historic sites that fall into his historic period of interest, such as Civil War and Indian War battlefields, frontier forts, and classic buildings.
“History is not the past but a map of the past, drawn from a particular point of view, to be useful to the modern traveler.”
Henry Glassie, US historian