Faculty

Derek Buckaloo

Professor of History

B.A. Stanford University
M.A. Emory University
Ph.D. Emory University

Dr. Buckaloo teaches United States history, with special focus on 20th century politics and culture, including the 1960s and the African American social justice movements associated with that era.

Christopher Johnson

Administrative Coordinator of African American Studies
 

Associate Professor of Education and African American Studies

B.S., Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University
M.Ed., University of Georgia
Ph.D., University of Georgia

Dr. Johnson teaches Sport and Black Culture, Interracial Communication and an Advanced Topics course. His research focuses on racial identity, representation and interracial interactions. He is the program coordinator for  African American Studies.

Amber Shaw

Henry and Margaret Haegg Associate Professor of English

B.A., Rhodes College
M.A., University of Georgia
Ph.D., University of Georgia

Dr. Shaw studies 19th century American and transatlantic literature and is particularly interested in the history of the novel, material culture and gender studies. She teaches courses in early and 19th century American literature, 19th century fiction, American women writers, the Black Atlantic and transnationalism across the long 19th century.

Brie Swenson Arnold

William P. and Gayle S. Professor of History

B.A., Concordia College — Moorhead, MN
M.A., University of Minnesota
Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Dr. Swenson Armold teaches United States history, specializing in early American, Civil War, African American, women's and gender, and public history. Her research focuses on race and gender in the nineteeth century. Her work on the African American history of the Midwest has appeared in numerous scholarly publications and in public history projects with the City of Cedar Rapids and the African American Museum of Iowa.

Matt Thomas

Visiting Assistant Professor of English

B.A., University of Southern California

Ph.D., University of Iowa

Dr. Thomas teaches American literature courses with an emphasis on understanding written works in their broader historical contexts. His research interests concern the shift in contemporary U.S. culture from print to screens and its implications.