DR. JONATHAN SPIRO
Dean of Humanities & Social Sciences
Castleton University
Castleton, VT 05735
(802) 468-1285
Jonathan.Spiro@Castleton.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D., History University of California, Berkeley 2000
M.A., American Studies Pepperdine University 1994
Teaching Credential University of California, Los Angeles 1983
B.A., History University of California, Los Angeles 1982 (Magna Cum Laude)
PUBLICATIONS
•“Feminist Eugenics” (review of Cornelia James Cannon and the Future American Race, by Maria Diedrich), American Historical Review
(pending, 2012)
•“From Old Dominion to New South: Eugenics in Virginia” (review of Segregation’s Science: Eugenics and Society in Virginia, by Gregory
Michael Dorr), The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (October, 2010)
•“Race and Science” (review of Race and Science: Scientific Challenges to Racism in Modern America, by Paul Farber and Hamilton
Cravens), Isis (December, 2010)
•“Inventing America's ‘Worst’ Family” (review of Inventing America's "Worst" Family: Eugenics, Islam, and the Fall and Rise of the Tribe of
Ishmael, by Nathaniel Deutsch), American Historical Review (February, 2010).
•Defending the Master Race: Conservation, Eugenics, and the Legacy of Madison Grant (University Press of New England, 2008)
•“Eugenic State” (review of Eugenic Nation, by Alexandra Minna Stern), H-Net Book Reviews (November, 2007)
•“The Scopes Trial” (review of The Scopes Trial, by Jeffrey P. Moran), Teaching History: A Journal of Methods (Fall 2004)
•“A Committed Life,” Connection: The Journal of the New England Board of Higher Education (Summer 2004)
•“American Museum of Natural History,” Dictionary of American History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2002)
•“Conservation,” Dictionary of American History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2002)
•“Nordic vs. anti-Nordic: The Galton Society and the American Anthropological Association,” Patterns of Prejudice (January 2002)
•"Eco-Wars," (review of Eco-Wars: Political Campaigns and Social Movements, by Ronald T. Libby), H-Net Book Reviews (June, 2000)
•“Conversation in a Sculpture Garden: The Evolution of Mahayana Buddhism,” Epoche: Journal of the History of Religions (1980)
•Student Handbook for History Majors (75-page pamphlet distributed to History majors at Castleton University, 2008-12)
CONFERENCES and PRESENTATIONS
•Presentation: “We Stand at Armageddon: The Centenary of the Election of 1912,” Manchester Historical Society (2012)
•Presentation: “When Nature Was Supreme,” Friends of the Castleton Library (2012)
•Panel Chair: "Creating History: Recollections and Remembrance,” New England Historical Association (University of Vermont, 2009)
•Presentation: “Happy Days: The Artist in History,” Postmodernism Lecture Series (Castleton University, 2009)
•Keynote Address: “,” Phi Alpha Theta (Castleton University, 2009)
•Keynote Address: “Good vs. Evil: The United States in the Twentieth Century,” Teaching American History conference (Castleton University, 2006)
•Capstone Lecture: “Who was Our Greatest President?” Vermont Humanities Council Lecture Series (Manchester, 2006)
•Commencement Address: Castleton University (2004)
•Judge for the Vermont Women’s Studies Conference (Castleton University, 2003)
•Conference paper: “From Conservation to Preservation: Madison Grant and the Role of Elite Organizations in American Environmentalism,”
Annual Meeting of the American Society for Environmental History (Tacoma, 2000)
•Panel Organizer: “Environmental Life-Writing: International Perspectives and Prospects,” Annual Meeting of the American Society for
Environmental History (Tacoma, 2000)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Castleton University (2002-2010)
Voted “Outstanding Faculty” (2004)
•E Pluribus Unum (the U.S. from 1607-1815)
•First Year Seminar
•From Sambo to Nat Turner: The Nature of Slavery in the U.S.
•American Renaissances
•History of the Nature-Nurture Debate
•History Research Seminar
•History Thesis Seminar
•Honors Survey of U.S. History
•Intermarriage in the U.S.: Race, Sex, and Power in a Multicultural Society
•Reaction and Reform (the U.S. from 1877-1939)
•Survey of U.S. History
•The Collapse of a Civilization: The Environment, History, and Science of the Maya
•The Conservation Movement in the U.S.
•The Evolution of Whiteness
•The Superpower (the U.S. from 1940 to today)
•The Union Torn Asunder (the U.S. from 1815-1877)
•U.S. History from the Beginning to Reconstruction
•U.S. History from the Gilded Age to Today
University of California, Berkeley (Visiting Professor: 2000-2002 and summers 2005-2009)
Voted “Outstanding Graduate Instructor” (1996)
•America from World War II to the Millennium
•America in the Early Twentieth Century
•Antebellum America: The Advent of Mass Society
•History of the Nature-Nurture Debate
•Intermarriage in America: Race, Sex, and Power in a Multicultural Society
•Scientific Racism in America: From Eugenics to the Bell Curve
•The Evolution of Whiteness
•The Forging of the U.S.: Expansion and Interaction among American People
•The Nature-Nurture Debate in American Academia
•The U.S. from Reconstruction to the Present
St. Mary’s College (Adjunct: 2000)
•History of the United States to 1877
El Camino Real High School (Los Angeles, CA, 1983-1994)
Voted “Best Teacher” (1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991)
Athletic Director
Student Council Director
Academic Decathlon Coach(“Astronomy, ” “History of Jazz,” “History of Socialism”)
Social Studies Teacher (“A.P. U.S. History,” “Honors World History,” “California History,” “Comparative Government,”
“Introduction to Social Science,” “European History,” “Economics”)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Faculty Committees
•Curriculum Committee (chair) (2003-2008)
•Environmental Studies Committee (secretary) (2004-2007)
•Executive Council of the Faculty Assembly (2003-2005)
•Multi-Disciplinary Studies Committee (2003-2005)
•Women's Studies Committee (secretary) (2003-2004)
Administrative Committees
•Honors Program Committee
•Lecture Fund Committee
•Teaching American History Grant (2004-2007)
(Exploratory Committee, Search Committee, Advisory Board, Teacher Evaluation Team)
•Center for the Schools Committee (2006)
•American Democracy Project (pilot team) (2004)
•Faculty Fellow Advisory Committee (2004, 2008)
•Campus Center Advisory Board (2002)
Service to the Department
•Chair of the Department of History, Geography, Economics, and Political Science
•Secretary of the Department of History, Geography, Economics, and Political Science
•Liaison to the Education Department
•Internship Coordinator
•Faculty sponsor of the Truman Scholarship
•Faculty sponsor of the James Madison Fellowships program
•Faculty sponsor of the New Leadership, New England program
•Department Representative at Open House
•Chair of the Search Committee to fill the faculty position in Political Science (2011)
•Global Studies Committee (2010)
•Chair of the Committee to Revise the Social Studies Major (2008)
•Search Committee to fill the faculty position in European History (vice-chair) (2007)
•Search Committee to fill the faculty position in Latin American History (2005)
•Director of the Graduate Program in History (2004-2005)
•Search Committee to fill the faculty position in African History (2003, 2004)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
•American Historical Association
•American Society for Environmental History
•American Studies Association
•Forest History Society
•National Council for History Education
•National Council for the Social Studies
•New England Historical Association
•Organization of American Historians
•Phi Alpha Theta
•Society for Historians of the Gilded Age & Progressive Era
•Vermont Alliance for the Social Studies
DISSERTATION
“Patrician Racist: The Evolution of Madison Grant”
committee: David Hollinger (chair), Leon Litwack, Michael Rogin
Dean of Humanities & Social Sciences
Castleton University
Castleton, VT 05735
(802) 468-1285
Jonathan.Spiro@Castleton.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D., History University of California, Berkeley 2000
M.A., American Studies Pepperdine University 1994
Teaching Credential University of California, Los Angeles 1983
B.A., History University of California, Los Angeles 1982 (Magna Cum Laude)
PUBLICATIONS
•“Feminist Eugenics” (review of Cornelia James Cannon and the Future American Race, by Maria Diedrich), American Historical Review
(pending, 2012)
•“From Old Dominion to New South: Eugenics in Virginia” (review of Segregation’s Science: Eugenics and Society in Virginia, by Gregory
Michael Dorr), The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (October, 2010)
•“Race and Science” (review of Race and Science: Scientific Challenges to Racism in Modern America, by Paul Farber and Hamilton
Cravens), Isis (December, 2010)
•“Inventing America's ‘Worst’ Family” (review of Inventing America's "Worst" Family: Eugenics, Islam, and the Fall and Rise of the Tribe of
Ishmael, by Nathaniel Deutsch), American Historical Review (February, 2010).
•Defending the Master Race: Conservation, Eugenics, and the Legacy of Madison Grant (University Press of New England, 2008)
•“Eugenic State” (review of Eugenic Nation, by Alexandra Minna Stern), H-Net Book Reviews (November, 2007)
•“The Scopes Trial” (review of The Scopes Trial, by Jeffrey P. Moran), Teaching History: A Journal of Methods (Fall 2004)
•“A Committed Life,” Connection: The Journal of the New England Board of Higher Education (Summer 2004)
•“American Museum of Natural History,” Dictionary of American History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2002)
•“Conservation,” Dictionary of American History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2002)
•“Nordic vs. anti-Nordic: The Galton Society and the American Anthropological Association,” Patterns of Prejudice (January 2002)
•"Eco-Wars," (review of Eco-Wars: Political Campaigns and Social Movements, by Ronald T. Libby), H-Net Book Reviews (June, 2000)
•“Conversation in a Sculpture Garden: The Evolution of Mahayana Buddhism,” Epoche: Journal of the History of Religions (1980)
•Student Handbook for History Majors (75-page pamphlet distributed to History majors at Castleton University, 2008-12)
CONFERENCES and PRESENTATIONS
•Presentation: “We Stand at Armageddon: The Centenary of the Election of 1912,” Manchester Historical Society (2012)
•Presentation: “When Nature Was Supreme,” Friends of the Castleton Library (2012)
•Panel Chair: "Creating History: Recollections and Remembrance,” New England Historical Association (University of Vermont, 2009)
•Presentation: “Happy Days: The Artist in History,” Postmodernism Lecture Series (Castleton University, 2009)
•Keynote Address: “,” Phi Alpha Theta (Castleton University, 2009)
•Keynote Address: “Good vs. Evil: The United States in the Twentieth Century,” Teaching American History conference (Castleton University, 2006)
•Capstone Lecture: “Who was Our Greatest President?” Vermont Humanities Council Lecture Series (Manchester, 2006)
•Commencement Address: Castleton University (2004)
•Judge for the Vermont Women’s Studies Conference (Castleton University, 2003)
•Conference paper: “From Conservation to Preservation: Madison Grant and the Role of Elite Organizations in American Environmentalism,”
Annual Meeting of the American Society for Environmental History (Tacoma, 2000)
•Panel Organizer: “Environmental Life-Writing: International Perspectives and Prospects,” Annual Meeting of the American Society for
Environmental History (Tacoma, 2000)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Castleton University (2002-2010)
Voted “Outstanding Faculty” (2004)
•E Pluribus Unum (the U.S. from 1607-1815)
•First Year Seminar
•From Sambo to Nat Turner: The Nature of Slavery in the U.S.
•American Renaissances
•History of the Nature-Nurture Debate
•History Research Seminar
•History Thesis Seminar
•Honors Survey of U.S. History
•Intermarriage in the U.S.: Race, Sex, and Power in a Multicultural Society
•Reaction and Reform (the U.S. from 1877-1939)
•Survey of U.S. History
•The Collapse of a Civilization: The Environment, History, and Science of the Maya
•The Conservation Movement in the U.S.
•The Evolution of Whiteness
•The Superpower (the U.S. from 1940 to today)
•The Union Torn Asunder (the U.S. from 1815-1877)
•U.S. History from the Beginning to Reconstruction
•U.S. History from the Gilded Age to Today
University of California, Berkeley (Visiting Professor: 2000-2002 and summers 2005-2009)
Voted “Outstanding Graduate Instructor” (1996)
•America from World War II to the Millennium
•America in the Early Twentieth Century
•Antebellum America: The Advent of Mass Society
•History of the Nature-Nurture Debate
•Intermarriage in America: Race, Sex, and Power in a Multicultural Society
•Scientific Racism in America: From Eugenics to the Bell Curve
•The Evolution of Whiteness
•The Forging of the U.S.: Expansion and Interaction among American People
•The Nature-Nurture Debate in American Academia
•The U.S. from Reconstruction to the Present
St. Mary’s College (Adjunct: 2000)
•History of the United States to 1877
El Camino Real High School (Los Angeles, CA, 1983-1994)
Voted “Best Teacher” (1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991)
Athletic Director
Student Council Director
Academic Decathlon Coach(“Astronomy, ” “History of Jazz,” “History of Socialism”)
Social Studies Teacher (“A.P. U.S. History,” “Honors World History,” “California History,” “Comparative Government,”
“Introduction to Social Science,” “European History,” “Economics”)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Faculty Committees
•Curriculum Committee (chair) (2003-2008)
•Environmental Studies Committee (secretary) (2004-2007)
•Executive Council of the Faculty Assembly (2003-2005)
•Multi-Disciplinary Studies Committee (2003-2005)
•Women's Studies Committee (secretary) (2003-2004)
Administrative Committees
•Honors Program Committee
•Lecture Fund Committee
•Teaching American History Grant (2004-2007)
(Exploratory Committee, Search Committee, Advisory Board, Teacher Evaluation Team)
•Center for the Schools Committee (2006)
•American Democracy Project (pilot team) (2004)
•Faculty Fellow Advisory Committee (2004, 2008)
•Campus Center Advisory Board (2002)
Service to the Department
•Chair of the Department of History, Geography, Economics, and Political Science
•Secretary of the Department of History, Geography, Economics, and Political Science
•Liaison to the Education Department
•Internship Coordinator
•Faculty sponsor of the Truman Scholarship
•Faculty sponsor of the James Madison Fellowships program
•Faculty sponsor of the New Leadership, New England program
•Department Representative at Open House
•Chair of the Search Committee to fill the faculty position in Political Science (2011)
•Global Studies Committee (2010)
•Chair of the Committee to Revise the Social Studies Major (2008)
•Search Committee to fill the faculty position in European History (vice-chair) (2007)
•Search Committee to fill the faculty position in Latin American History (2005)
•Director of the Graduate Program in History (2004-2005)
•Search Committee to fill the faculty position in African History (2003, 2004)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
•American Historical Association
•American Society for Environmental History
•American Studies Association
•Forest History Society
•National Council for History Education
•National Council for the Social Studies
•New England Historical Association
•Organization of American Historians
•Phi Alpha Theta
•Society for Historians of the Gilded Age & Progressive Era
•Vermont Alliance for the Social Studies
DISSERTATION
“Patrician Racist: The Evolution of Madison Grant”
committee: David Hollinger (chair), Leon Litwack, Michael Rogin
