Faculty, Staff, & Advisory Board

headshot of Dr. Stephen  Brauer
Visiting Associate Professor of English
Interdisciplinary Program Coordinator, American Studies

Specialties:
  • American Literature
  • American Culture
  • American Studies
Contact:
(804) 289-8309
headshot of Dr. Mia Reinoso  Genoni
Dean of Westhampton College
Associate Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences
Affiliated Faculty, Art and Art History; Gender & Sexuality Studies; American Studies
Contact:
804-289-8468
headshot of Dr. Laura  Browder
Tyler and Alice Haynes Professor of American Studies
American Studies Advisory Board Member

Specialties:
  • Women in combat
  • American autobiography
  • Women and guns
  • American Communist Party (Earl Browder)
  • Civil rights in Richmond
Contact:
(804) 289-8312
headshot of  Alicia  Díaz
Associate Professor of Dance
Africana Studies Advisory Board Member
American Studies Advisory Board Member
Inclusive Community Council (ICC) Member

Specialties:
  • Contemporary Dance
  • Improvisation
  • Choreography
  • Dance and Social Justice
Contact:
(804) 287-6350
headshot of Dr. Jennifer  Erkulwater
Professor of Political Science
American Studies Advisory Board Member

Specialties:
  • Social Welfare Politics
  • Public Policy
  • American Politics
Contact:
(804) 287-6457
headshot of Dr. Laura M. Fernández
Assistant Professor of Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies
American Studies Advisory Board Member

Specialties:
  • Latinx Studies
  • Latinx Popular Culture
  • Border Studies
Contact:
(804) 289-8490
headshot of  Andrew  Grace
Assistant Professor of Journalism
American Studies Advisory Board Member
Contact:
(804) 287-6409
headshot of  Lynn  Hardwicke
Academic Administrative Coordinator
Contact:
(804) 662-3008
headshot of Dr. Patricia  Herrera
Professor of Theatre
Affiliate faculty in the American Studies and Gender & Sexualities Studies Programs
American Studies Advisory Board Member
Gender & Sexuality Studies Advisory Board Member
Associate Dean, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB)

Specialties:
  • Theatre for Social Change
  • Late 20th & 21st American Theatre and Performance
  • Latinx Cultural Production
  • Solo Performance
  • Documentary Theatre
  • Feminist Performance
  • Hip Hop Theatre
  • Devised Theatre
Contact:
(804) 287-6352
headshot of Dr. Joanna K. Love
Associate Professor of Music
American Studies Advisory Board Member

Specialties:
  • 20th and 21st century American popular music
  • Music's role in advertising, video, and film
Contact:
headshot of Dr. Nicole  Sackley
Associate Professor of History and American Studies
American Studies Advisory Board Member

Specialties:
  • United States and the World
  • U.S. Cultural and Intellectual History
  • History of International Development
  • History of Philanthropy
  • History of Cooperatives and Capitalism
Contact:
(804) 289-8338
headshot of Dr. Lauren Craig Tilton
Professor of Digital Humanities
E. Claiborne Robins Professor of Liberal Arts
Data Science Advisory Board Member
American Studies Advisory Board Member

Specialties:
  • Computational/Digital Humanities
  • Visual Culture
  • Community Media
  • Politics of Representation
Contact:
headshot of Dr. Douglas L. Winiarski
Prof of Religion & American Studies

Specialties:
  • Religion in early America
  • Native American religions
  • Religion and popular/material culture
Contact:
(804) 289-8329

Emeriti Faculty

headshot of Dr. Bertram  Ashe
Professor of English, Emeritus
Africana Studies Advisory Board Member, Emeritus

Specialties:
  • African American Literature and Culture
  • 20th Century American Literature
  • Black Vernacular Tradition
  • Post-Blackness
Contact:
(804) 289-8292
headshot of Dr. Edward L. Ayers
Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities and President Emeritus

Specialties:
  • The Civil War
  • Digital Humanities
Contact:
(804) 334-5554