Student Success

Graduate successes

Our graduates occupy tenure-track positions in various institutions, ranging from liberal arts colleges to Research-1 and respected foreign universities. In addition to the universities highlighted below, some of our PhDs are in positions at University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Erika Edwards), High Point University (Renzo Honores), Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Germán Palacios), Jacksonville University (Jesse Hingson), and the University of West Georgia (Colleen Vasconsellos). In addition to these academic appointments, our graduates also occupy prominent positions at various governmental agencies demonstrating the competitive preparation that our students receive in the course of their studies. Here are some recent examples of successful scholars who graduated from our Atlantic History PhD program.

Maureen Thompson (Ph.D. 2023), who works as a historian for the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System, appears in Tuskegee: Where a Hospital Became a Battleground, a documentary about the first black VA hospital.

Rodney Walton (Ph.D. 2009), released the paperback edition of his book Big Guns, Brave Men: Mobile Artillery Observers and the Battle for Okinawa (Naval Institute Press of Annapolis) in September 2024, just ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Battle for Okinawa. The book was originally published in 2013 in hard cover and Kindle editions only. The book grew out of his 2009 dissertation, advised by Dr. Darden Pyron (dissertation committee chiar), Dr. Ralph Clem, Dr. Gwynn Davies, and Dr. Kenneth Lipartito.

Chris Davis (Ph.D. 2018), has been appointed as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in African American History at Adelphi University, NY where he joins another alumnus, Dr. Micah Oelze. 

Erika Edwards (Ph.D. 2011), Associate Professor of Latin American History, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has recently published her monograph Hiding in Plain Sight: Black Women, the Law, and the Making of a White Argentine Republic, a gendered analysis of black erasure in Argentina.  It has won the Association of Black Women Historians 2020 Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize and was named one of Black Perspectives best Black History books in 2020.   

"Having joined the FIU community from out of state, the best thing about FIU's Department of History was the instant feeling of belonging. Faculty and staff made me feel welcome from day one, and many professors emphasize the building of personal and professional relations that outlast a student's time in the program. The graduate students, rather than merely competing with each other, also have a strong sense of community and celebrate each others' successes."

Jordan Malfoy (PhD 2018), has accepted the position of Historian at the major Air Force base of Ramstein, Germany. Since graduating with a Ph.D. from the Department in 2018, Dr. Malfoy has been working at the Marine Corps History Division in Quantico and her move to Germany is marked by a promotion to GS12 level.

Richard Rodriguez (PhD 2017) has been appointed to the District Department of Social Sciences as a Curriculum Support Specialist tasked with helping Civics teachers throughout Miami-Dade Public Schools.

Micah Oelze (PhD. 2016), Visiting Professor at the Franklin and Marshall College, has his article "#hashtag pedagogies" published in The Magazine of Higher Learning as the cover article on the latest issue.

Adam M. Silvia (PhD 2016) has published in journals such as Social History of Medicine and The Americas. He has worked with the Digital Library of the Caribbean to build the online encyclopedia Haiti: An Island Luminous. Silvia also processed TIME journalist Bernard Diederich’s collection, and published the biography Diederich & the Americas: The Story In-Between the Lines. Upon graduation, Silvia moved to Washington, D.C., where he now works at the Library of Congress in the Division of Prints and Photographs.

"Ideally situated at the crossroads between Latin America and the United States, Florida International University provides an excellent environment to study Atlantic and World History. The Department of History's doctoral program in Atlantic History includes top experts who are very knowledgeable about the region. In the process of producing my dissertation on American-Haitian relations, I received generous funding from several of the school's institutions."

Paula de la Cruz Fernández (PhD 2013) received a "Work and Human Life Cycle in Global History" Postdoctoral Fellowship from the International Research Center at Humboldt University in Berlin to turn her dissertation ("Atlantic Threads: Singer in Spain and Mexico, 1860–1940") into a monograph.

Amanda Snyder (PhD 2013) held an Ahmason-Getty Fellowship at the Clark Library of the University of California, Los Angeles, where she started turning her dissertation ("Pirates, Exiles, and Empire: English Seamen, Atlantic Expansion, and Jamaica Settlement, 1569–1659") into a monograph.

Julio Capó (PhD 2011) formerly Assistant Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has returned to his alma mater as an Associate Professor with interests in Latina/o studies and inter-American relations with a focus on sexuality, gender, ethnicity, and immigration.

"FIU's graduate program was a perfect fit for me and molded my training to match the needs and gaps in the field. My professors honed and developed all the professional skills I needed along the way, from presenting a conference paper to applying for an academic job. Of course, the benefits of studying history in a culturally diverse city like Miami with countless—and often untapped—resources cannot be overstated."

Rodney Walton (PhD 2009) published Big Guns, Brave Men in 2013. His first monograph is based on his dissertation on the history of the forward artillery observers in the Pacific theater of World War II. Read more in FIU News.

Postdoc successes

This is what alumni of the department's postdoctoral programs say about their experience:

Peter Ferdinando held a Writing in History Postdoctoral Fellowship during the 2015/16 cycle. Subsequently, he accepted an appointment as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. At UNC, Peter teaches courses on Native Americans and Caribbean history, including a popular course titled "Pirates of the Caribbean: Privateers, Buccaneers and Pirates, 1562-1720."

"The postdoc position represented a vital link between my graduation and my ventures into the job market. Hiring committees questioned me about the strategies and skills I could bring to their students. Being able to talk at length about strategies to assist students with the writing process was a tremendous benefit. The chance to develop two courses, including both an introductory course and an advanced history seminar, also gave my portfolio of syllabi a boost."

Greg Weimer worked as a Writing in History Postdoctoral Fellow in 2015/16 as well. After his postdoc year, Greg went on to accept a job as Academic Designer with McGraw-Hill Education.

"The fellowship gave me various opportunities to focus on the teaching of writing and a wide array of pedagogical approaches. As I completed the tasks of the Writing in History Postdoctoral Fellowship (e.g. managing the tutoring program, leading writing workshops, and working with the faculty to integrate writing training in undergraduate teaching), I developed my own ideas of how to structure lectures and courses. As a result, my approaches to teaching have become much more effective."

Amanda Snyder held a Writing in History Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2014/15. After a year in a visiting post, she officially joined the faculty at the University of Central Florida. At UCF she is the primary and full-time online professor, teaching American and Caribbean history with a thematic focus on borderlands and frontiers.

"Every school I interviewed with wanted me to talk about my time as a Fellow. My interdisciplinary work in that position proved fruitful for my efforts at UCF in bringing the ideas and principles behind the Writing in History Postdoctoral Fellowship to my current institution. As a Fellow, I strengthened my approach to the teaching of academic writing as a result of experimenting with many assignment types to form the ideal approach to helping students develop professional communication skills."

Carolina Zumaglini was a Writing in History Postdoctoral Fellow in the 2014/15 academic year. She is now based in Buenos Aires, where she works as an independent content editor for W. W. Norton & Company.

"The Writing in History Postdoc appointment gave me the opportunity to advance in my career as a researcher, teacher, and writing tutor. Besides being an editor, I also work as a freelancing career coach, advising Latin American students who desire to study abroad. The postdoc program has provided me invaluable insight in the practical aspects of teaching at the university level that I now apply in my efforts to prepare future international students as best as I can."