History - Faculty Profiles

John Ashbrook, Associate Professor, joined the Department of History in Fall 2019. He earned his B.A. from Radford University, his M.A. from Michigan State University, and his PhD from the University of Florida, Gainesville.  A specialist in Eastern Europe, his interests include neo-imperialism, identity politics, borderland studies, and institutional history.  He is the author of Buying and Selling the Istrian Goat: Istrian Regionalism, Croatian Nationalism and EU Enlargement, Regional and Federalism Series (Press interuniversitaires europeennes-Peter Lang).  He is currently working on two books, EU and NATO Expansion: Identity Politics and Russian Reaction; and The War of the Moles: Tunneling and the Underground War in World War I.  His work has also been published in journals like Small Wars & Insurgencies; East European Quarterly; and East European Politics and Societies.

See Dr. Ashbrook's profile in the MSU Directory for more information.

Brandon Blakeslee, Assistant Professor, was born in Dallas, Texas but he grew up abroad. Dr. Brandon received his B.A. from Calvin University in sunny Grand Rapids, Michigan and a M.A. and PhD from the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Brandon’s teaching style emphasizes the interconnectedness of people, places and events, challenging students to think more globally about history. His research interests are in Modern Latin America in the early twentieth century, specifically on the development and popularization of sport as a tool of identity creation and state centralization. His dissertation was on how politicians and enthusiasts used Colombian soccer to foster nationalism and state cohesion.

See Dr. Blakeslee's profile in the MSU Directory for more information.

Mary Draper, Associate Professor and Interim Chair & Graduate Coordinator, is a historian of Early America and the Atlantic world. She is currently writing a book on the environmental history of the maritime British Caribbean. It considers how residents of the British sugar islands—and officials in London—made sense of the region’s maritime environs, from sandy shorelines to ocean currents to prevailing winds. Articles based on this project been published in the Fall 2017 and Fall 2022 editions of Early American Studies. In both her research and teaching, Draper reconstructs how early Americans lived in an entangled world that spanned empires, continents, ecosystems, and cultures. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from Rice University, she earned both her master's and doctorate from the University of Virginia.

See Dr. Draper's profile in the MSU Directory for more information.

Mike Rattanasengchanh, Assistant Professor, was born and raised in Ithaca, New York.  He received a B.A. at Brigham Young University, a M.A. at the University of Washington, and a PhD at Ohio University.  His research and teaching interests are U.S. and Asian History, specifically Southeast and East Asia, U.S. foreign relations, right-wing governments, public diplomacy and propaganda, Vietnam War, Cold War, and counterinsurgency.  

See Dr. Rattanasengchanh's profile in the MSU Directory for more information.

Whitney Snow, Associate Professor, specializes in the U.S. South.  Her main interests are agricultural, environmental, and labor history although she does have a penchant for pop culture.  After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, she received her doctorate from Mississippi State University.  Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals ranging from The Alabama Review and The Southwestern Historical Quarterly to Textile: The Journal of Cloth and Culture and Forests, Trees and Livelihoods.  She is the author of the book Cathedral Caverns (Arcadia, 2017) and co-author of both Lake Guntersville (Arcadia, 2018) and Guntersville (Arcadia, 2021). She edited The Civil War Diaries of Cassie Fennell: A Young Confederate Woman in North Alabama, 1859-1865 (University of Tennessee Press, 2020) and Alabama Bill and the Bowery (Sunbury, 2020).  She is currently editing the World War II diaries of Alabama sailor Carlos Jackson McGowin.

See Dr. Snow's profile in the MSU Directory for more information. 

Leland Turner, Associate Professor, specializes in the history of the American West, Texas, Australia, and cattle ranching cultures. A 2007 Fulbright Fellowship to Australia allowed Turner to consider the international effect of American ranching culture through a transnational study of the cattle cultures and economies in Queensland, Australia and Texas. The resulting manuscript, “Outback by Southwest: King Ranch Cattle in the Australian Grasslands” is under review with the University of Oklahoma Press. His work on cattle ranching in Trans-Pecos Texas and Northern Mexico expands on that interest in borderlands and transnational studies. He is co-editor of the forthcoming Conflict on the Border: Mexico’s Revolution of 1910 and the Big Bend Country. The bulk of Turner’s research considers the livestock industry and its attendant themes such as arid land environments, the diffusion of agricultural science and technology, and the influence of cattle raisers associations. Nonetheless, his research interests meander into the field of popular culture. As a result of his Australian research Turner developed an interest in widespread representations of American Wild West imagery in Australian popular entertainment. Such research eventually led to his present work considering the indigenous roots of Australian country music. Turner holds a BA from the University of Tulsa and the PhD in History from Texas Tech University.

See Dr. Turner's profile in the MSU Directory for more information. 

Tiffany A. Ziegler, Associate Professor and Interim Dean of McAda Graduate School, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hastings College, a Master of Arts degree from Texas Tech University and a doctorate from the University of Missouri.  Dr. Ziegler's expertise is in medieval history with additional interest in the Crusades, Greece and Rome, Vikings, the histories of Renaissance and Reformation Europe, and world history.  Her research interests include Saint John hospital in Brussels, urban society, medieval health care, the history of charity, and women.  She is the author of Medieval Healthcare and Charitable Institutions: The History of the Municipal Hospital (Palgrave, 2018) and is currently working on a book on the sisters of Saint John hospital and communal identity.

See Dr. Ziegler's profile in the MSU Directory for more information.