History Department at Virginia Tech

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Blacksburg, VA
History Department at Virginia Tech

Please check "Historically Speaking," Volume 16, Fall, 2003 for the history of the History Department.http://www.history.vt.edu/newsletter/newsletter_16.pdf

Our Department of History publishes cutting-edge historical research, trains students to become critical thinkers and strong researchers, and shares our passion for history with the community.

10/09/2026

Our next Front Office Fridays introduction is Heath Furrow! 🎉

Heath has been an academic advisor for 7 years and plays a key role in helping our students succeed. 🧡

He advises students on the history curriculum, university policies, campus resources, and career opportunities. He also helps the department stay informed about the needs and experiences of our history majors.

Quick facts:
📍From: New River Valley
📺 Favorite shows: The Office, Parks and Recreation, and The Good Place
📖 Favorite books: 19th century horror and science fiction
⭐ Fun Fact: he earned his degrees from Virginia Tech
📨 Contact: [email protected] or drop by his office, 405 Major Williams

10/08/2026

Congratulations to Aaliyah Cooke on her new job as the Visitor Experiences Coordinator at Historic Smithfield! 🎉

Aaliyah is no stranger to Historic Smithfield. She previously interned there while working on her history degree at Virginia Tech, graduating with honors last spring. She also served as president of the History Club and worked with Professor Tom Ewing on the "Influenza in WWI" research project, tracing the lives of Virginia soldiers lost during World War I. 📖

Her previous internship experience at Historic Smithfield means she arrives with meaningful institutional knowledge of how the museum operates and understands a great deal of what her new role entails. We are so excited to see all the amazing things she does in her new role! 🧡

10/07/2026

We asked some graduate students: what are your research topics? Find out what they had to say!

10/06/2026

Congratulations to Kamille Simon, recipient of the 2026 Excellence in Student Community Engagement Award from the Engagement Scholarship Consortium, a national organization that recognizes students whose scholarship creates meaningful community impact.

Now a graduate student in Virginia Tech's Department of History, Kamille earned her bachelor's degree in history and social sciences education from Virginia Tech in 2025.

Through her work with the Calfee Community and Cultural Center's 23/54 Project, she helped preserve and share the stories of Black families whose fight for educational equity shaped local and state history.

"Talking to people who experienced a time that I've only studied through the historical record brought the past to life," she said. "The stories of descendants and community members made my understanding of this history more personal and more meaningful."

Read the story and learn more: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2026/09/outreach-kamille-simon-esc-engagement-award.html?utm_source=vtUnirelNewsDailyCMP_oct526-fs&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cmpgn_news&utm_content=2026-10-05

10/02/2026

Welcome back to Front Office Fridays! Next up: Dr. Jennifer Hart! 🎉

Dr. Hart has served as department chair for the past 3 years. She develops programs, organizes events, manages curriculum and courses, addresses student concerns, and works closely with faculty and staff to support student success.

She especially loves connecting with rural students and helping them navigate their academic journeys. 🧡

Dr. Hart became a historian because she was interested in the "how" and "why" behind the way things are. As an undergraduate, she began studying African history to better understand the experiences of friends from Africa.

Her research explores the history of mobility, technology, infrastructure, and urban space in 20th-century Ghana. She also works in world history, digital humanities, public history, oral history, and the scholarship of teaching and learning, often collaborating across disciplines.

Quick facts:
📍From: rural Kentucky
🌟 Fun fact: She once sang in a music video with Kristen Bell!
🧡 Loves: listening to cozy mystery audiobooks and watching British murder mysteries
🐶 Pet: Her beagle, Ella, can frequently be found around the main office. She’s shy, but very sweet! Swipe for a picture 🥰
📨 Contact: [email protected]

09/30/2026

Join us on October 5 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. at The Inn at Virginia Tech for the second annual Indigenous Studies Symposium!

This year, the symposium is guided by the theme of reciprocity. It is not uncommon that Indigenous communities have reciprocal relationships with ancestors, plants, the land, waterways, and other beings. Existing on earth is not about taking; it is about mutual care, support, and contribution. This symposium invites conversations on the ways in which mutual work and responsibilities shape, form, exemplify, or strengthen Indigenous communities.

We will have guests from various parts of the land, students, and faculty presenting in four panels:

- Data Sovereignty
- Indigeneity and Southern Identity
- Cross Generational Community Building
- Place Based Methodologies

Learn more: https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-history/liberalarts-indigenous-history-and-culture/liberalarts-indigenous-studies-symposium.html

09/25/2026

Welcome to Front Office Fridays! Each week, we're highlighting a member of the History Department team who helps support our students, faculty, and daily operations. 🧡

First up: Dr. Edward Polanco! 🎉

While Dr. Polanco has been with the department for 8 years, he started in a new role last month as our Associate Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies! He’s also the Director of Indigenous Studies and serves as the advisor for History Club and Phi Alpha Theta.

Dr. Polanco is an Ethnohistorian of Mesoamerica that specializes on the Nahua people of El Salvador and Mexico. His first book explored the history of Spanish settler colonialism in Mexico through the lens of devotional and healing practices.

In the classroom, you can find him teaching Latin American and Virginia Indigenous history! 📖

Quick facts:
📍 From: Los Angeles, CA and El Salvador
🎵 Favorite singers/bands: Fuerza Regida, Peso Pluma, & Kozmik Force
📚 Favorite book: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
📩 Contact info: [email protected]

09/24/2026

What can alligators teach us about American history?

GCC affiliate Dr. Mark Barrow Jr., History, explores that question and many others in Wild History, a new Substack featuring stories about the many ways people and wildlife have shaped one another’s lives.

Drawing on historical research, personal experiences, and his forthcoming book Gator!, Barrow examines how Americans have lived with, studied, feared, celebrated, and made meaning from wild animals across generations.

Read the Substack: https://markvbarrowjr.substack.com/about

Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences

09/22/2026

The Department of History will join communities across the country in We Want More History!, a nationwide celebration of history programming. We’ll be offering 4 exciting programs from September 24-26. These events are open to students, faculty, staff, and community members.

Programs include:
• Freedom Scholars Workshop
• A Walk Across the River
• Touch to Remember
• What’s your Story?

More information about each event can be found in the caption for each photo below!

We Want More History! is a nationwide celebration of history designed to strengthen civic health, build community trust, foster democratic dialogue, and showcase the essential role of history in public life. The initiative brings together libraries, parks, museums, historic sites, schools, and community organizations across the country to create opportunities for people to explore the stories of the places they call home.

https://www.wewantmorehistory.org

09/21/2026

Graduate student Nate Brother served as an interpretive intern this summer with Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. In this role, he gave tours of the Chancellorsville Battlefield, Chatham Plantation, and the Stonewall Jackson Death Site.

Through these experiences, he shared Civil War history with diverse audiences while exploring the many perspectives through which history can be understood and interpreted. 📜

One of Nate's favorite parts of the internship was helping visitors connect with their own family histories. Using troop movement maps, he showed guests where their ancestors served during Civil War battles and how they could get to that area, helping them build a deeper understanding of the people and places connected to the conflict.

We're inspired by the ways internships help students turn their passion for history into meaningful careers! 🧡

Address

431 Major Williams Hall
Blacksburg, VA
24061

Website

http://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-history.html

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