Faculty/Staff

Here at the top of the page, you will find a simple listing of our full-time faculty members, with their teaching/research interests and email addresses. See also profiles of faculty members teaching in our MA in History program. More information on full-time and adjunct faculty and staff, with photographs, further contact details and links to websites, can be found further below.

Full-time Faculty

Girish Bhat, Professor (Russia, legal history, Soviet Union), girish.bhat@cortland.edu

Laura Gathagan, Professor (Medieval Europe, gender, and Anglo-Norman history), laura.gathagan@cortland.edu

Tyson A. Luneau, Assistant Professor (Social Studies teacher education, France, North Africa, environmental history), tyson.luneau@cortland.edu

Scott Moranda, Professor and Coordinator of Social Studies Adolescent Education (Germany, central Europe, environmental history, history of tourism), scott.moranda@cortland.edu

Alena Pirok, Assistant Professor (public history, historical memory), alena.pirok@cortland.edu

Anisha Saxena, Associate Professor (South Asia, East Asia, religion, contested sacred geographies), anisha.saxena@cortland.edu

Kevin B. Sheets, Professor and Chair of the History Department (American cultural history, 19th century U.S.), kevin.sheets@cortland.edu

Bekeh Ukelina, Professor (modern Africa, history of economic development, world history), bekeh.ukelina@cortland.edu

Emeritus Faculty

Colleagues who have retired since 2005 include Sanford Gutman, Gigi A. Peterson, Amy Schutt, John Shedd, Judith Van Buskirk, Donald Wright, and Luo Xu. You can view a collection of oral history interviews with some of our emeritus faculty members.

Faculty/Staff

Kevin B. Sheets

607-753-2060 (Office Phone)
Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Chair
Professor

Department(s):

History Department

Additional Info:

Education: PhD and MA, University of Virginia BA, Gettysburg College
Email:: Kevin.sheets@cortland.edu

Karl Alexander

Title(s):

Adjunct Lecturer

Department(s):

History Department

Girish N Bhat

607-753-2059 (Office Phone)
Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Professor

Department(s):

History Department

Lynne R Cohen

Title(s):

Adjunct Lecturer

Department(s):

History Department

Arleen Garcia De Vera

607-753-2459 (Office Phone)
Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Lecturer (10 Month)

Department(s):

History Department

Robert Gambitta

Title(s):

Adjunct Lecturer

Department(s):

History Department

Laura L Gathagan (she, her, hers)

607-753-5622 (Office Phone)
Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Graduate Program Coordinator
Professor

Department(s):

History Department

Additional Info:

More Info

Caitlin Goodwin

Title(s):

Adjunct Lecturer

Department(s):

History Department

Kevin A Kreiner

607-753-5483 (Office Phone)
Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Lecturer (10 Month)

Department(s):

History Department

Tyson A Luneau

Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Assistant Professor

Department(s):

History Department

Additional Info:

Bio: I am a historian of modern North Africa and France, studying the intersections among environment, colonialism, urbanism, and technology. My work examines environmental knowledge and spatial perceptions, analyzing how these abstract notions translate into attempts to remake built and natural environments. In addition to my work in French colonial history, I also have backgrounds in Russian and Central Asian history, as well as an interest in the environmental history of the American West. My current book project, expanding on my doctoral dissertation, examines French efforts to remake the urban and rural landscapes of its North African colonies through the implementation of large-scale development projects. For this project, have conducted archival and field work across France and the Maghreb. As a historian with many years of secondary teaching experience in both public and private school settings, I teach courses and oversee candidates in the history department’s social studies teacher preparation program. I also currently serve as the Deputy Editor of Environment and History, a journal published by The White Horse Press.
Email: tyson.luneau@cortland.edu
Areas of interest: environmental history, colonialism, urban history, North Africa, Europe, social studies teacher education, secondary curriculum
Education: PhD, University at Albany; MA, University at Albany; BA & BS, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Website

James Miller

607-753-2723 (Office Phone)
Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Lecturer (10 Month)

Department(s):

History Department
Advisement and Transition

Additional Info:

Bio info: I taught Social Studies in the Syracuse City Schools from 1972-2004 and have been working with Social Studies candidates at Cortland since.

Scott A Moranda

607-753-2052 (Office Phone)
Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Professor

Department(s):

History Department

Additional Info:

CV
Scholarship: I am a historian of Germany and the German-speaking world, focusing on environmental history, the history of tourism, and ethnic/national identity formation. My current book project explores that transatlantic migration of conservation ideas among German-speakers. Subjects under investigation include German-American agricultural journalists and foresters whose promotion of land ethics contributed to the construction of a common German ethnic identity and offered opportunities to challenge Anglo-American cultural hegemony. In addition, travelers and scientific experts from Germany traveled to North America where they often collaborated with the aforementioned German-Americans. Together, their critiques of "Yankee plunder" also linked land ethics to nation building and imperialism in Germany. Even as these cultural exchanges proliferated, German-speaking conservationists, agronomists and foresters contributed to the intentional and unintentional exchange of plants, animals, fungi, and viruses that often disrupted their political and cultural projects.
Email: scott.moranda@cortland.edu
Areas of interest: environmental history, Germany, transatlantic migrations, Central Europe (19th and 20th centuries), history of nationalism, Modern Europe
Teaching: I teach courses such as World Environmental History, German History, The Holocaust, the history of tourism, 19th Century Central and Eastern Europe, and 20th Century Europe

Alena Pirok (she, her, hers)

Title(s):

Assistant Professor

Department(s):

History Department

Philip Ruggiero

Title(s):

Adjunct Lecturer

Department(s):

History Department

Anisha Saxena (She/her)

Title(s):

Associate Professor

Department(s):

History Department

Prof. Bekeh Ukelina (He, him)

607-753-5482 (Office Phone)
Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Director, Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies
Professor

Department(s):

Africana Studies Department
Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies (CGIS)
History Department

Additional Info:

More Info
Twitter: @bekeh

Thomas Wirth

607-753-5483 (Office Phone)
Email (Work Email)

Title(s):

Lecturer (10 Month)

Department(s):

History Department

Susan A Wood

607-753-2723 (Office Phone)

Title(s):

Administrative Assistant 1

Department(s):

History Department

Faculty/Staff

Full-time Faculty

Emeritus Faculty

Faculty/Staff

Kevin B. Sheets

Title(s):

Department(s):

Additional Info:

Karl Alexander

Title(s):

Department(s):

Girish N Bhat

Title(s):

Department(s):

Lynne R Cohen

Title(s):

Department(s):

Arleen Garcia De Vera

Title(s):

Department(s):

Robert Gambitta

Title(s):

Department(s):

Laura L Gathagan (she, her, hers)

Title(s):

Department(s):

Additional Info:

Caitlin Goodwin

Title(s):

Department(s):

Kevin A Kreiner

Title(s):

Department(s):

Tyson A Luneau

Title(s):

Department(s):

Additional Info:

James Miller

Title(s):

Department(s):

Additional Info:

Scott A Moranda

Title(s):

Department(s):

Additional Info:

Alena Pirok (she, her, hers)

Title(s):

Department(s):

Philip Ruggiero

Title(s):

Department(s):

Anisha Saxena (She/her)

Title(s):

Department(s):

Prof. Bekeh Ukelina (He, him)

Title(s):

Department(s):

Additional Info:

Thomas Wirth

Title(s):

Department(s):

Susan A Wood

Title(s):

Department(s):

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