Faculty

Derek Buckaloo

William R. and Winifred Shuttleworth Professor of History, Chair

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

Dr. Buckaloo teaches American history, with special interests in twentieth-century politics and culture, foreign relations, particularly the Cold War and the Vietnam War, and Native American history. His present research is on the "Vietnam Syndrome."

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Bruce Nesmith

James and Abbott Lipsky Professor of Political Science

B.A., North Central College
M.A., Ph.D., University of Illinois 

Dr. Nesmith is Joan and Abbott Lipsky Professor and Chair of political science. He teaches courses on American political institutions, religion and U.S. politics, and political philosophy. He is author of The New Republican Coalition: The Reagan Campaigns and White Evangelicals (Peter Lang, 1994). His current research deals with policy making by the President and Congress. He is the faculty adviser to Political Science Club. He is married with two children. In his spare time he writes and performs original folk songs; he has recorded two albums, "Mouth Full of Mustard" and "Almost Endless Fun".

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Amber Shaw

Assistant Professor of English

B.A., Rhodes College
M.A., Ph.D., The 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.

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Brie Swenson Arnold

Associate Professor of History

B.A., Concordia College - Moorhead, MN
M.A., Ph.D., University of Minnesota
 
Dr. Swenson Arnold teaches United States history, specializing in early American history, the Civil War, and women's and gender history. Her research focuses on gender, politics, and popular culture in the Civil War era.