Faculty

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William H. Bergmann

Dr. William H. Bergmann William H. Bergmann, Ph.D. - University of Cincinnati
303 D Spotts World Culture Building
724.738.4655
william.bergmann@sru.edu

Dr. Bergmann grew up in New Hampshire before moving to Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree. After completing his Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati, he spent seven years teaching in northern Michigan before returning to Pennsylvania to work at SRU.

Bergmann's historical interest is in the relationship between the federal government and the development of the early American West, particularly in the Ohio Valley. His dissertation, "Commerce and Arms: The Federal Government, Native Americans, and the Economy of the Old Northwest, 1783-1807," won the Allan Nevins Prize from the Economic History Association in 2005.

His first book, The American National State and the Early West, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2012. In it, he shows that the federal government contributed to western expansionism and economic development in the trans-Appalachian West prior to the War of 1812. Bergmann also has published articles in Ohio Valley History and Early American Studies.

His current book project is a biography of Isaac Shelby, the first and fifth governor of Kentucky. He is also working on an article about masculinity and credit reporting prior to the Civil War. In addition to his teaching, Bergmann is currently serving as interim Co-Editor of Ohio Valley History, a peer-reviewed, quarterly journal.

Research Fields: Early Republic, Ohio Valley, American government

Teaching Fields: Colonial America, the Early Republic, Native American, Masculinity, Pennsylvania History

Aaron Cowan

Dr. Aaron Cowan, Ph.D. Aaron Cowan, Ph.D. - University of Cincinnati
303 C Spotts World Culture Building
724.738.2409
aaron.cowan@sru.edu

A native of southwest Virginia, Aaron Cowan has been teaching at Slippery Rock University since 2008. He is the author of A Nice Place to Visit: Tourism and Urban Revitalization in the Postwar Rustbelt, published in 2016 by Temple University Press. The book examines the rise of tourism as a revitalization strategy in struggling "Rustbelt" cities, and the effects of that development on cities' political, economic, and social dynamics.

Dr. Cowan is also founder and director of SRU's Stone House Center for Public Humanities, an initiative that seeks to build partnerships between university and community that expand public appreciation of the humanities. For more information visit stonehouseCPH.org.

Dr. Cowan lives in Grove City with his wife and three children. When not teaching, writing, or buried under a pile of grading, he enjoys reading fiction, playing tennis, and cheering for the Cincinnati Reds.

Research Fields: 20th century U.S. urban history, tourism, public history

Teaching Fields: Modern United States, urban history, environmental history, public history

Melissa Ford

Melissa Ford, Ph.D. - Saint Louis University
303 I Spotts World Culture Building
724.738.4744
melissa.ford@sru.edu

Melissa Ford is an Associate Professor in the History Department. She joined Slippery Rock faculty in 2017 after receiving her PhD in American Studies from Saint Louis University. Her undergraduate degree is from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She teaches classes on United States History, African American history, women’s history, social movements, and popular culture.

A native of St. Louis, her research interests include Midwestern social movements that intersect with race, class, and gender. Her first book was published in 2022 by Southern Illinois University Press, titled A Brick and a Bible: Black Women’s Radical Activism in the Midwest. She is currently working on a book of biographies of Black communist women for International Publishers. She is also working on a book chapter about Thyra Edwards, a radical social worker in Chicago, and an article on radical labor organizing in Pittsburgh. She has been interviewed on several podcasts regarding her research. More information can be found at https://melissafordphd.com/.

Outside of the classroom, Dr. Ford is advisor of Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honorary Society, and the Improv Club at SRU. She is a member of the Gender Studies Committee and is the editor of Black History Matters, an annual journal of student essays celebrating Black History Month. Volume 3 is available here. She also serves as the director of the History MA program.

Dr. Ford lives in Pittsburgh with her son, husband, dog, and cat. When not teaching, she enjoys cooking (and eating), hiking, and rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Research Fields: 20^th century social movements, radical history, labor history, Black women’s history

Teaching Fields: US history, popular culture, women’s history, African American history

Alan Levy

Dr. Alan Levy Alan Levy, Ph.D. - University of Wisconsin-Madison
303 H Spotts World Culture Building
724.738.2405
alan.levy@sru.edu

Professor Levy has been teaching at Slippery Rock for over thirty years. He is the author of several books on topics in American History covering such areas as music, sports, politics and education. His most recent work is a two-volume biography of the New York Congresswoman and political activist Bella Abzug. Professor Levy received his undergraduate degree from Washington and Jefferson College and his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He teaches courses in American, European, and Russian History.

Research Fields: American Music, Sports, Politics and Education

Teaching Fields: U.S. History, Civil War, 19^th-Century Europe, Russia

Lia Paradis

Dr. Lia Paradis Lia Paradis, Ph.D. - Rutgers University
303 J Spotts World Culture Building
724.738.2403
lia.paradis@sru.edu

I was born and raised in Vancouver but spent most of my adult life in New York City and in England before began teaching at SRU in 2007.

My research projects have been varied, but they always focus on questions of identity in late 19th and 20th Century Britain and its Empire. I continue to expand on the subject of my dissertation: "Return Ticket: The Anglo-Sudanese and the Negotiation of Identity, 1920-1965," in a larger project that examines the expectations of individuals prior to their initial journey to the Sudan, and the strategies used to bridge the gap between their lived experiences in the Sudan and their metropolitan counterparts' assumptions about what a colonial life entails. Along the way, I've also written about the Olympics, pensions for colonial administrators, and the emotional and psychological processes of moving house and home from one country to another.

Recently, my interests have turned towards the role of the Humanities in the health and success of a modern democracy. As Co-coordinator of the Stone House Center for Public Humanities, my current focus has been on establishing a third space between the university and the community where the Humanities can help create informed and empowered citizens.

Research Fields: nationalism and Identity, Imperialism and de-colonization; and public humanities.

Teaching Fields: Modern Europe, including British and French national histories; violence and nationalism; western popular culture; and historical methods.

Thomas L. Pearcy

Dr. Thomas L. Pearcy Thomas L. Pearcy, Ph.D. - University of Miami, Coral Gables
303 E Spotts World Culture Building
724.738.2407
thomas.pearcy@sru.edu

I completed a BA (Political Science) and an MA (American History) at Purdue University and earned a Ph.D. (Latin American History) from the University of Miami in Coral Gables. I have an established record of scholarly excellence including a half-dozen research monographs published by university presses in the US and Panama, a coauthored US History textbook, and more than one dozen articles published in professional journals. I have also served as Director of Latin American Studies at BYU (where I established the Rey L. Pratt Center for the Study of Latin America online), served as a senior Fulbright Scholar, and taught at six universities throughout North and Central America. Fellowships, teaching awards, and serving as Joint Historian for the US Department of State and Central Intelligence Agency round out my C.V.

Research fields: Panamanian history, including the barriadas brujas; US-Central American relations.

Teaching fields: Latin American history, US Diplomacy, US history since 1930, the Kennedy assassination, and contemporary world history

Eric E. Tuten

Dr. Eric E. Tuten Eric E. Tuten, Ph.D., University of Utah
303 B Spotts World Culture Building
724.738.4913
eric.tuten@sru.edu

I worked for the US government before taking my current position at Slippery Rock University in 2006. Related to my work, I have visited Egypt, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Jordan, and England. I was working for the US government during my six-month stay in Iraq in 2005. My main area of specialty is modern Middle East history, with an emphasis on the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I live with my two boys in Slippery Rock, PA. Along with spending time with my family and friends, I love music (eclectic, but deeply into jazz), reading (including outside my field when I have time), sports (all racquet/paddle sports, football, baseball, basketball), and anything that flies (from paper airplanes to RCs).

Research fields: land tenure in the Middle East and Palestine/Israel; nationalism in the Middle East, particularly Zionism and Palestinian Arab nationalism; meanings of land in the Israeli-Palestinian experience and in world history.

Teaching fields: the history of the modern Middle East, Jewish history, Israel, and mass killing and genocide in the modern world.

Carlis C. White

Dr. Carlis C. White Carlis C. White, Ph.D. - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
303 F Spotts World Culture Building
724.738.4912
carlis.white@sru.edu

Since before he could read, Dr. White developed an interest in ancient civilizations (starting with an obsession for the pictures in a book about Tutankhamun that was in his childhood home). Despite growing up in rural Indiana, he had access to ancient artifacts - including two of three Egyptian mummies in the entire state held at small local museums - that encouraged his interests in antiquities further.

The formal education that he received (BA, Johnson University, MDiv from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, AM and PhD from University of Illinois) allowed him to progress towards his current profession as a historian and educator. He joined the faculty at Slippery Rock University in 2002, following stints as an adjunct professor at University of Illinois and Millikin University. He maintains professional affiliations with the wider scholarly community through his memberships in the Association of Ancient Historians, the Society for the Study of Egyptians Antiquities, and The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.

Research fields: Ancient Greece and Rome (with particular interest in constitutional development and legal tradition), the Ancient Near East including Egypt, and Biblical studies.

Teaching fields: Ancient and Medieval World, Greece, Rome, Egyptology, History and the Bible, and History and Film

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