Faculty and Staff

Newcomb Hall

Faculty 

Molly Michelmore

Molly Michelmore

Department Head, History; Professor of History

Michelmore teaches courses on race, class and politics in postwar America, the age of Reagan, the 1960s, and the Cold War. She has researched fiscal policy and welfare state formation, as well as American political development.

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Kameliya N. Atanasova

Kameliya N. Atanasova

Assistant Professor of Religion

Atanasova researches the intersection of religion, law and politics by studying the social role of Sufism in the early-modern Ottoman Empire. She teaches Islamic Civilization, Sufism, Islam in America, and Muslims in the Movies.

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Henryatta Ballah

Henryatta Ballah

Assistant Professor of History

Ballah’s teaching and research focus on 19th and 20th century Africa. Her book project explores the political activism of Liberian youth from 1950 to 2010.

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David Bello

David Bello

Director of East Asian Studies; Professor of History

Sabbatical for the 2024-2025 Academic Year

Bello teaches courses in Chinese and Japanese history. His research focuses on Qing China and borderland environmental history. He has published a number of notable scholarly works on the subject.

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Michelle D. (Mikki) Brock

Michelle D. (Mikki) Brock

Professor of History

Brock teaches courses on British and Atlantic history, the Reformation, witchcraft and the devil, and the history of poverty. Her research focuses on the supernatural and religious beliefs and identities in early modern Scotland.

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Matthew Chalmers

Matthew Chalmers

Visiting Assistant Professor of History

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Nneka Dennie

Nneka Dennie

Assistant Professor of History

Professor Dennie is a Black feminist scholar specializing in African American intellectual history. Her courses examine race and gender in the United States and the Caribbean. She is currently writing two books about 19th century Black women thinkers.

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Leticia Fernández-Fontecha

Leticia Fernández-Fontecha

Visiting Assistant Professor of History

Romina Green

Romina Green

Assistant Professor of History

Professor Green Rioja’s research interests include examining structural racism in modern Chilean history and identifying settler-colonial policies that displaced the Indigenous Mapuche.

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Alana Holland

Alana Holland

Assistant Professor of History

Sarah Horowitz

Sarah Horowitz

Professor of History

Horowitz teaches courses on modern European history and specializes in French history and the history of gender in Europe. She is writing a book on the politics of gender and sexuality in the Steinheil Affair of 1908-1909.

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Barton A. Myers

Barton A. Myers

Class of 1960 Professor of Ethics and History (Term 2019-2022) and Associate Professor of Civil War History

Myers teaches courses on the American Civil War, war and society, the U.S. South, and public history. His research interests are irregular warfare, soldiers and atrocity, and political dissent.

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Samantha Rosenthal

Visiting Assistant Professor of History

Nicolaas A. Rupke

Nicolaas A. Rupke

Johnson Professor of History

Rupke teaches courses in the history of “science, politics and the public good,” dealing with animal behavior as it relates to human morality, with Darwin and his critics, scientists as political leaders, and medical history.

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Franklin Sammons

Franklin Sammons

Assistant Professor of History

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Melissa Vise

Melissa Vise

Associate Professor of History, Head of the Italian Studies Faculty Cohort

On Leave 2024-2025

Professor Vise teaches courses on Medieval European history, violence, crime and punishment, law, and religion and culture. Her research interests are Medieval European intellectual, cultural, and religious history with special attention to the Italian peninsula.

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Affiliated Faculty 

Alison Bell

Alison Bell

Professor of Anthropology

Bell teaches courses on the anthropology of American history. Her research interests include historical archaeology, material culture, social stratification, and the 18th and 19th century in the eastern United States.

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Jonathan Eastwood

Jonathan Eastwood

Department Head, Sociology and Anthropology; Professor of Sociology

Professor Eastwood is a social theorist who also has a strong interest in quantitative methods. He teaches seminars on classical and contemporary theory as well as a series of courses that train students how to use quantitative and computational tools to answer sociological questions.

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Emeritus Faculty 

Richard Bidlack

Richard Bidlack

Martin and Brooke Stein Professor of History, Emeritus

Bidlack taught courses on imperial Russia, Soviet Russia, Central Asia, and a study abroad course in Kyrgyzstan. He has researched Russia and Central Asia extensively and is the author of an annually updated textbook.

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Roger B. Jeans

Elizabeth Lewis Otey Professor of History, Emeritus

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Barry Machado

Professor of History, Emeritus

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J. Holt Merchant

Professor of History, Emeritus

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William Patch

William Patch

Kenan Professor of History

Patch teaches courses on modern Europe, Germany history and international relations. His research focuses on the Weimar Republic, the German Federal Republic and Christian social movements.

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Henry P. Porter, Jr.

Professor of History, Emeritus

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Roberta Senechal

Roberta Senechal

Professor of History, Emeritus

Senechal taught courses on the American gilded age, the history of violence in America, the history of women in America, and a seminar on modern terrorism. Her research focuses on social history, theory and violence.

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Staff 

Amanda Smith

Amanda Smith

Administrative Assistant

Department Info

  • Newcomb Hall
    204 West Washington Street
    Washington and Lee University
    Lexington, Virginia 24450

Molly Michelmore

Department Head

Amanda Smith

Administrative Assistant