Virginia Tech® home

Faculty

Core Faculty

Name Department Research Area Available for Committee Service
Danna Agmon History
  • French Empire in India and the Indian Ocean
  • 17th-20th centuries
Yes
Mauro Caraccioli Political Science
  • Political Theory
  • International Relations
  • Latin American Studies/Politics
  • Postcolonial Theory
  • Critical Ecology
No
François Debrix Political Science
  • Contemporary Political Theory
  • Biopolitics/Necropolitics
  • Critical International Relations Theory
  • Critical Geopolitics
  • Critical Approaches to Neoliberalism
  • Critical World Order Studies
No
Bikrum Gill
Political Science
  • Global Political Economy
  • Political Ecology
  • Decolonial Theory
  • Critical Race Theory
  • Colonialism/Imperialism
 
Bettina Koch Political Science
  • Political Theory
  • History of Political Thought 
  • (Cross-Cultural) Comparative Political Theory
  • Islamic Political Thought
Yes
Douglas Lind Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Law
  • Pragmatism
  • Later Philosophy of Wittgenstein
  • Indigenous Law
  • Environmental Ethics & Law
Yes
Zhange Ni Religion and Culture
  • Religion and literature
  • Critical theory and cultural criticism
  • Secularism and religion-making in East Asia
  • Transnational youth culture
  • Women and gender studies 
Yes
Desirée Poets
Political Science
  • Postcolonial, Decolonial, and Settler Colonial Theories
  • Race, Ethnicity, Class and Gender 
  •  (De-)Militarization, Carcerality and Abolitionism
  • Arts and Community Change (especially Social/New Museology)
  • Collaborative and Critical Methods
Yes
Audrey Reeves
Political Science
  • World politics 
  • Affect, emotion, embodiment
  • Difficult heritage at museums and memorials
  • Gender, feminism and security governance 
  • Conflict, peace and knowledge
Yes
Rachel M. Scott Religion and Culture
  • Islamic Law and Personal Status Law
  • Religion, Law, and Constitutions
  • Modern Islamic Political Thought: Citizenship, Religious Minorities, Religious Authority, and Religion and State
  • Islamism (Particularly the Muslim Brotherhood) in Egypt
  • Religion and Secularism
Yes

Affiliate Faculty

Name Department Research Area Available for Committee Service
Onwubiko Agozino Sociology
  • Law and Society
  • Sociology
  • Africana Studies
  • Decolonization of Social Sciences
Yes
Aaron Ansell Religion and Culture
  • Sociocultural anthropology
  • Northeast Brazil
  • Alternative democracy
  • Political discourse
  • anti-poverty policy
Yes
Amaryah Shaye Armstrong Religion and Culture
  • Black Studies
  • Political Theology
  • Black Feminist Theory 
  • Religion and Culture
  • Continental Philosophy of Religion
No
Sweta Baniya English
  • Professional and Technical Writing
  • Non-Western Rhetorics 
  • Cultural and Digital Rhetoric 
  • Transnational Disaster Rhetorics and Risk/Crisis Communication 
  • Community and Civic Engagement 
Yes
Shannon Elizabeth Bell Sociology
  • Environmental Justice and Environmental Sociology
  • Energy and Climate Change
  • Gender
  • Social Movements
  • Photovoice and Participatory Action Research
No
Daniel Breslau Science, Technology, and Society
  • Economic sociology
  • Sociology of the social sciences
  • Politics of energy markets
  • STS studies of economics
Yes
Brian Britt Religion and Culture
  • Religion and Literature
  • Theory of Religion and Culture
  • Hebrew Bible
  • Modern Jewish Thought
Yes
Chris Brown Computer Science
  • digital education
  • human-computer interaction
  • software engineering
Yes
Candace Buckner Religion and Culture   Yes
Christopher Campo-Bowen Performing Arts
  • Czech Music
  • Opera Studies
  • Music and Empire
  • Music and Race/Ethnicity
  • Music and Queerness
Yes
S. Moon Cassinelli English
  • The Korean diaspora
  • Transnational adoption studies
  • Queer kinship
No
Gena E. Chandler English
  • Black Studies
  • Black Feminist Theory
  • Literary Theory
  • African American Literature
  • American Literature
  • Postcolonial Literature and Theory
Yes
Danille Christensen Religion and Culture
  • Gendered/domestic labor
  • Material culture (foodways, craft)
  • Performance studies/Ethnography of communication
  • Cultural and environmental sustainability
  • Local knowledge
Yes
Carolyn D. Commer English
  • Classical and Modern Rhetorical Theory
  • Rhetoric and Public Policy
  • Critical Theory
  • Argumentation Theory
  • Critical University Studies
  • Professional and Technical Writing
Yes
Samuel R. Cook History
  • Indigenous Natural Resource Management among Virginia Indian Nations
  • Understanding Anthropology within the Context of Indigenous Agency
  • Creating Linkages Between African Slave Descendant Communities and Cultural Sites in Southwest Virginia
No
Nicholas Copeland History
  • Political Imaginaries
  • Governance
  • Indigenous Politics
  • Guatemala and Latin America
  • Democracy
  • Social Theory
Yes
Mercedes Maria Corredor Philosophy   No
Cara Daggett
Political Science
  • Energy Studies
  • Political Ecology
  • Environmental Politics
  • Feminist Political Thought
  • Global Studies/ International Relations
No
Giselle Datz GIA
  • Sovereign debt restructuring
  • Pension funds
  • Financial crises and regulation
  • Financial technology and banking
  • Latin American politics
Yes
Priya Dixit Political Science
  • U.S. Foreign Policy
  •  Terrorism and Counterterrorism 
  • Global Security and Critical Security Studies
Yes
Megan Duncan Communication
  • Political communication
  • Partisan news
  • Public opinion formation and expression
  • Quantitative research and experiments
Yes
Tom Ewing History and Office of the Dean
  • History of Information, Knowledge, and Data
  • History of Medicine (Influenza Epidemics)
  • Russian/Soviet History
  • World History
  • Digital History
No
Brandy S. Faulkner Political Science
  • Constitutional and Administrative Law
  • Race and Public Policy
  • Critical Organization Theory
Yes
Jessica Folkart Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
  • Contemporary Spanish Fiction           
  • Identity
  • Gender
  • Immigration
  • The Body
No
Matthew R. Gabriele Religion and Culture
  • Medieval Studies
  • Crusades
  • Apocalypse
  • Intellectual History
  • Christianity 
Yes
Carmen Gitre History
  • Modern Egyptian History
  • Popular Culture
  • Theater and Performance
No
Edward J. K. Gitre History
  • Transatlantic Modern U.S. Cultural and Intellectual History
  • History of the Interdisciplinary Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • War and Society
  • World War II
No
Nicholas Goedert Political Science
  • American Politics
  • Legislative Elections
  • Election Law
  • Congress
  • Gerrymandering
No
Liora O'Donnell Goldensher Sociology
  • Reproduction
  • Expertise and Professions
  • Science, Technology, and Knowledge
  • Ethnography
  • Medicine and Health
Yes
Monamie Bhadra Haines Science, Technology, and Society
  • Postcolonial Theory
  • Democratic Politics (broadly construed)
  • Science and Technology Policy
  • Critical International Development
Yes
Saul Halfon Science, Technology, and Society
  • Political sociology of technoscience
  • Technical practices of policy institutions
  • Food studies
  • Reproductive health
  • Public engagement with science and technology
No
Anthony K. Harrison Sociology
  • Race
  • Popular Music Studies
  • Qualitative Research Methodologies
  • Racialized Social Spaces
  • Hip Hop Historiography
  • Higher Education Pedagogy
No
Jennifer Hart History
  • Middle Eastern and African Theory
  • History and Philosophy of Engineering and Technology
  • Urban and Regional Planning
No
Matthew Heaton History
  • African Studies - Global Perspective
  • Transnational
  • Health and Migration
Yes
Rebecca Hester Science, Technology, and Society
  • Global Health
  • Latin American Migration
  • Socio-cultural Studies of Health and Medicine
  • Critical Security Studies
  • Critical race and gender studies
Yes
Javiera Jaque Hidalgo Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
  • Colonial Latin American literature and culture 
  • Border Studies
  • Religious Studies
  • Performance Studies
  • Indigenous Migrations
No
Karen Hult Political Science
  • Organization and institutional theories
  • U.S. presidency
  • U.S. national executive branch departments and agencies, policy
  • U.S. state politics, policy, and governance
  • Social science methodologies
Yes
James Ivory English
  • Social Dimensions of Digital Games
  • Media Portrayals of Character Demographics
  • Research Methods and Meta-Science
Yes
Sharon P. Johnson Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures

 

  • 19th-century Literature and Painting
  • Paris in the 19th-Century
  • Flaubert, Maupassant, Zola
  • Rape in 19th-century Penny Presses, French Jurisprudence and Medical Reports
No
Melanie Kiechle History
  • 19th Century United States
  • Environmental History
  • Urban History
  • Smells and Smelling
Yes
Bryan Klausmeyer Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
  • German Literature and Thought (18th-19th century)
  • History of Science and Technology
  • Media History and Theory
  • Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
Yes
Christine Labuski Science, Technology, and Society
  • Feminist energy systems
  • Ecofeminisms and queer ecologies
  • Gender and labor in extractive zones
  • Genital pain and medicalized sexualities
  • Feminist and queer science studies
Yes
Robert (Bob) Leonard Performing Arts
  • Directing and Performance
  • Production/ Research Area: Directing, Community Arts Making
  • Teaching Areas: Acting, Shakespeare, Improvisation, Directing
  • Head of the MFA in Applied Theatre and Public Dialogue program
Yes
Timothy W. Luke Political Science
  • History of political thought
  • Contemporary political theory
  • Comparative and international politics
No  
Natalia Mielczarek Communication
  • Visual communication
  • Iconic images
  • Digital participatory culture & viral content
  • Internet memes
  • Editorial cartoons
  • Image appropriation
Yes
Rachel Midura History
  • Digital History
  • History of Information/Communication
  • Early Modern Europe
  • Italy
  • Habsburg Empire
Yes
Michael Moehler PPE
  • Ethics and Political Philosophy
  • Social Contract Theory
  • Public Reason Theory
  • Political Economy
  • Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
No
Marian Mollin History
  • 20th-Century U.S. Social and Political History
  • Women and Gender in U.S. History
  • History of Social Movements
  • History of American Women Religious
  • Oral History
No
Wayne D. Moore Political Science
  • Constitutional Law and Politics
  • Constitutional and Political Development
  • Political Theory
  • Judicial Politics
  • Comparative Constitutional Studies
No
Scott G. Nelson Political Science
  • Global Governance
  • Political Economy
  • Contemporary Political Theory
  • International Relations Theory
  • International Law and Organizations
Yes
Su Fang Ng English   No
Kim L. Niewolny Community Education and Development
  • Action Research and Community-based Participatory Research
  • Participatory and Cultural Community Development
  • Critical Pedagogy for Social Justice
  • Ontological Politics
  • Praxis of Community Food Work
  • Appalachian Community Food Security
  • New Farmer Sustainability
  • Farmworkers, Technology, and Disability
Yes
Shaily Patel Religion and Culture
  • Early Christianity
  • Ancient Mediterranean Religions
  • Ancient Magic
  • Graeco-Roman Religions
  • Christian Apocrypha
Yes
Lydia Patton Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Science
  • History of Science
  • History of Philosophy of Science
  • Philosophy of Mathematics
  • Kant and Neo-Kantianism
Yes
Katrina M. Powell English   No
Karl Precoda Performing Arts
  • Cinema History
  • Critical Theory
  • The Culture Industry
  • Dramaturgy
Yes
Besnik Pula Political Science
  • Global and Comparative Political Economy
  • Post-Communist Transformations
  • Social and Political Theory
  • Qualitative and multi-method research
No
Khadijah Queen English   No
Ashley Reichelmann Sociology
  • Memorialization
  • Racial Threat
  • Social Psychology (Modern Identity and Intergroup Relations)
  • Race and Ethnic Relations
  • Conflict and Violence (Collective Violence and Hate Crimes)
  • White Racial Identity
No
Patrick Roberts SPIA
  • Disaster and Security Governance
  • Technology and Public Managerial Thinking and Decision-making
  • Homeland Security
Yes
Fernanda Rosa Science, Technology, and Society
  • Global Communication
  • Internet Governance & Policy
  • Indigenous Design
  • Design Justice
  • Infrastructure Studies
  • Global South
No
Emily M. Satterwhite Religion and Culture
  • Appalachian studies
  • Reception/audience studies
  • Horror studies
  • Politics of culture
  • Public scholarship
Yes
Paula Seniors Religion and Culture
  • U.S. History
  • Ethnic and African American Studies
  • African American and Multi-Racial Radical Movements
  • African American and Multiracial Theater, Film, and Dance
  • Gender Studies
Yes
Brett Shadle
History
  • Kenya
  • Ethiopia
  • Race
  • Refugees
  • Colonialism
Yes
Ashley Shew Science, Technology, and Society
  • Philosophy of Technology
  • Technological Knowledge
  • Disability and Technology
  • Non-Human Animal Tool Use
  • Ethics and the Body
Yes
Sean Sidky Religion and Culture
  • American Judaism
  • Jewish literatures in Yiddish and English
  • the Holocaust
Yes
Max Stephenson Urban Affairs and Planning
  • Nonprofit/nongovernmental organizations, governance, leadership, management, and civil society
  • Peacebuilding, international development and democratization
  • Community change processes
  • Higher education: policy and practice
  • Humanitarian and refugee relief and disaster risk mitigation
  • Public policy and policy theory
  • Environmental politics, policy and planning
Yes
Yannis Stivachtis SPIA
  • European Union’s strategy, Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security & Defense Policy (CSDP)
  • EU-great powers relations and world order
  • EU Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy (ENP)
  • European and transatlantic organizations
  • European security
  • The evolution of international society
  • The study of regional international system/society in Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East
Yes
Jessica Taylor History
  • Oral History
  • Early American History
  • Historic Preservation
  • Native American History
Yes
Tyechia Thompson English
  • Africana Studies
  • Digital Humanities
  • Experiential Learning
  • Manuscripts and Archives
  • Rhetoric and Composition
No
Sharone L. Tomer Architecture
  • Urbanism
  • Housing
  • Social Justice
  • Race and Gender
  • Climate Change
Yes
Kelly Trogdon Philosophy
  • Metaphysics
  • Philosophy of Mind
No
Vinodh Venkatesh Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
  • Latin American Literature and Cinema
  • Spanish Literature and Cinema
  • Masculinity Studies
  • Urban Studies
  • Queer Theory
Yes
Andrew Wadoski
English
  • Spenser
  • Milton
  • Premodern poetics
  • History of moral philosophy
  • History of capitalism
No
Janell Watson Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
  • Nineteenth-Century French Literature
  • Collecting
  • Gilles Deleuze
  • Félix Guattari
  • Michel Serres
No
Fabian Wendt Political Science
  • Property rights
  • Compromise
  • Distributive justice
  • Political authority
  • Legitimacy
No
Trevor Wilson
Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
  • Russo-Soviet philosophy
  • Russian diaspora studies
  • Marxism
  • Critical theory
  • Contemporary Russian cinema
No
Philip Yaure Philosophy
  • Social and Political Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Race
  • Early Modern Philosophy
  • Feminist Philosophy
  • Ethics
No
Laura Zanotti Political Science
  • Critical Political Theory
  • International Ethics
  • International Organizations
  • UN Peacekeeping
  • NGOs
Yes
Bonnie Zare Sociology
  • Women Writers in India
  • Dalit Literature
  • Issues of Women in India
  • Girls’ Empowerment
  • Son Preference/Daughter Devaluation
Yes
Anna Zeide History
  • Food Studies
  • Environmental History 
  • Consumer & Business History
  • 20th-century United States
  • History of Agriculture
No

 


 

Emeritus

Name Position Office Phone Email
Elizabeth Fine Professor     bfine@vt.edu
Thomas Gardner Professor     tom.gardner@vt.edu
James Garrison Professor     wesley@vt.edu
Ann Laberge Associate Professor
    alaberge@vt.edu
Amy Nelson Associate Professor     anelson@vt.edu
Joseph C. Pitt
Professor     jcpitt@vt.edu
Anita Puckett Associate Professor     apuckett@vt.edu
Richard Rich Professor
    rrich@vt.edu
Michael Saffle Professor     msaffle@vt.edu
Bob Siegle Professor
    bob.siegle@vt.edu
Richard Shingles Associate Professor
    shingles@vt.edu
Barbara E. Smith Professor     smithbe@vt.edu