Click here to meet the Department of History's Administrative Staff!
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Current Faculty Members
History faculty are always ready to help students plan their academic programs, think about personal and career goals, and integrate their various experiences in order to make the most of their time at the University of Michigan-Flint. If we can’t answer your question, we can make the appropriate referrals if you need assistance outside our area of expertise. Look for the link to faculty office hours and contact info to find faculty member who can meet with you.

- Phone:
- (810) 762-3368
- Email:
- okuma@umich.edu
History
Dr. Roy Hanashiro
Degree: Ph.D., University of Hawaii, 1988; M.A., University of Hawaii, 1978; B.A., University of Hawaii, 1976.
Field: East Asia; Japan
Research Interest: Modern Japan; Asian economic history
Representative Publications:
- Thomas William Kinder and The Japanese Imperial Mint, 1868-1875. Leiden: Brill Academic Press, 1999.
- "In the Midst of Western Imperialism: Japanese-Hawaiian Relation during the Mid-nineteenth Century," Study of Economic History, 3 (1999): 143-167.
- "The Japanese Imperial Mint and the issue of Jurisdiction Over Foreign Employees, 1869-1875," Journal of Asian History, 30 (1996): 1-26.
- "Nagasaki beki-keibi ni kansuru ichi shiry [A Source Concerning the Nagasaki Trade and Defenses]," Seinan chiikishi kenKysh [Southwestern Area Historical Review], vol. 5. Edition by Hidemura Senz. Kyoto: Shibunkaku shuppan, 1988: 353-401.
- Pacific Affairs. Book Review: Foreign Employees in Nineteenth-Century Japan. 64, no. 4, 584-85.
- "In the Midst of Western Imperialism: Japanese-Hawaiian Relations during the Mid-nineteenth Century." Osaka University of Economics: 167(1)-43(25).
- Journal of Asian and African Studies 39(1/2). Book Reivew: Daily Life in Early Modern Japan. 154-156

- Phone:
- (810) 762-3204
- Email:
- ellisjs@umich.edu
History
Dr. John Ellis
Degree: Ph.D., Boston College, 1997; M.A., University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1995; B.S., Eastern Michigan University, 1990.
Field: Western Europe; British Isles and Empire
Research Interestes: Nationalism and national identity in the British Isles; Modern Wales and Ireland
Representative Publications:
- Owen Rhoscomyl, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2016
- "Making Owen Rhoscomyl (1863–1919): Biography, Welsh Identity and the British World ." The Welsh History Review / Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru WHR 26, no. 3 (2013): 482-511. doi:10.16922/whr.26.3.6.
- Outlaw Historian: Owen Rhoscomyl and Popular History in Edwardian Wales, in Neil Evans and Huw Pryce, eds. Writing a Small Notion's Past: Wales in Comparative Perspective, 1850-1950. Farnham: Ashgate, 2013: 111-125
- "A Pacific People- A Martial Race; Pacifism, Militarism and Welsh National Identity" in Matthew Cragoe and Chris Williams, eds. Wales and War: Society, Politics and Religion in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centureies. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2007: 15-37
- "The Degenerate and the Martyr: Nationalist Propaganda and the Contestation of Irishness, 1914-1918," Eire-Ireland (Fall/Winter 2001): 7-33.
- "The Methods of Barbarism' and the 'Rights of Small Nations'; Ware Propaganda and British Pluralism," Albion 30, 1 (Spring 1998): 49-75.
- Investiture: Royal Ceremony and National Identity in Wales, 1911-1969, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2007
- "Reconciling the Celt: Identity, Empire and the 1911 Investiture of the Prince of Wales," Journal of British Studies 37 (Oct. 1998): 391-418.
- "The Prince and the Dragon; Welsh National Identity and the 1911 Investiture of the Prince of Wales," Welsh History Review 18 (December 1996): 272-294.

- Phone:
- 810-762-3211
- Email:
- dknerr@umich.edu
History
Dr. Douglas Knerr
Degrees: Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, 1996; M.A., University of Cincinnati, 1984; B.A., University of Cincinnati, 1982.
Field: U.S. Business and Industrial History; Housing; Domestic Culture
Research Interests: Vernacular Architecture; Capital Formation and Regional Markets; Industrial Archeology
Representative Publications:
- Suburban Steel: The Magnificent Failure of the Lustron Corporation, 1945-1951. Ohio State University Press, 2004. Urban Life and Urban Landscape Series.
- Eagle-Picher Industries: Strategies for Survival in the Industrial Marketplace, 1840-1980. Ohio State University Press, 1992. Historical Perspectives on Business Enterprise Series.
- "Lustron: How an Ohio Company Almost Changed American Housing." The Ohio Historical Society's Timeline 22 (April/June 2005): 18-33
- "Moral Sport: Cincinnati's Young Men's Gymnastic Association." The Ohio Historical Society's Timeline 14 (July/August 1997): 28-41.
- "Through the 'Golden Mist': A Brief Overview of Armada Historiography." The American Neptune 49 (Winter 1989): 5-13.

- Phone:
- (810) 762-3206
- Email:
- henthorn@umich.edu
History
Dr. Thomas Henthorn, Department Chair
Degrees: Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2009; B.A. Saginaw Valley State University, 2004.
Field: Modern U.S.; Urban History; Public History
Research Interests: Progressive Era, Urban History, Charities and Philanthropy
Representative Publications:
- "Building A Moral Metropolis: Philanthropy and City Buidling In Progressive-Era Houston," Journal of Urban History (2015).
- "Experiencing the City: Experiential Larning in Urban Environments," Journal of Urban History (2014)
- "A Nation's Need--Good and Well Trained Mothers:" Gender, Charity and The New Urban South, Frontier: A Journal of Women's Studies 32, no. 1 (January 2011)
- "A Catholic Dilemma: White Flight in Northwest Flint, Michigan," Michigan Historical Review, 31, no. 2 (Fall 2005).

- Phone:
- (810) 762-3207
- Email:
- chrismol@umich.edu
History
Dr. Christopher A. Molnar
Degrees: Ph.D., Indiana University, 2013; M.A., Purdue University, 2005; B.A., Indiana University Northwest, 2002
Field: Germany, France, Eastern European History
Research Interests: Modern Germany; race and immigration in German and European history; the memory of World War II in postwar Europe.
Representative Publications:
- "Imagining Yugoslavs: Migration and the Cold War in Postwar West Germany," Central European History 47 no. 1 (March 2014)
- "On the Move and Putting Down Roots: Transnationalism and Integration among Yugoslav Guest Workers in West Germany," in Migration in the German Lands, 1500-2000, edited by Jason Coy, Jared Poley, and Alexander Schunka (Berghahn Books, 2016.)
- "The Radicalization of the Croatian Emigre Community in West Germany, 1955-1970," in Anti-communist Resistance in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Peter Jasek. Bratislava: Ustav Pamati Narodna, 2012.
- Memory, Politics, and Yugoslav Migrations to Postwar Germany (Indiana University Press, 2018).

- Phone:
- (810) 762-3205
- Email:
- greghav@umich.edu
History
Mr. Gregory M. Havrilcsak
Degrees: Post-Graduate- University of Virginia, International Center for Jefferson Studies. M.A., Oakland University; B.A. University of Michigan Flint.
Field: Colonial America and the Young Republic, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Eras, the Progressive Era and American Military History

- Phone:
- (810) 424-5490
- Email:
- daassa@umich.edu
History
Dr. Mohamed Daassa
Degrees: Ph.D., University of Paris-Sorbonne, 1998; M.A., University of Avignon, 1988; M.A., University of Avignon, 1986; B.A., University of Bourgogne, 1987; B.A., University of Avignon, 1984
Field: Modern U.S.; Urban History; Immigration; Ethnicity; Race
Research Interests: U.S. minorities, Identity Issues, Assimilation, Religious Integration, Islam and Muslims in Non-Muslim Majority Societies
Representative Publications:
- "What they Say: About Expatriate Workers in the United Arab Emirates". A chapter in a book entitled The Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies: Secularization, Economy, and Politics. Ithaca Press, Berkshire, UK. 2010.
- "Urban Violence in France and the Failure to Integrate French Youth of North African and African Origin". The Michigan Academy Annual Meeting. March 2009.
- "The Absence of Peace. Understanding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". Author: Nicolas Guyatt. London & New York: Zed Books, 1998. Book Review published in Qiraat. Ann Arbor, MI. Feb. 2008.
- "Secularism and Islam in France". The Michigan Academy Annual Meeting. March 2006.
- "Islam and Muslims in France: Issues of Political Representation" The Michigan Academician. (Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, & Letters). May 2002.
- "French Yough of North African Descent: Conflicts of Identity and Culture". The Michigan Academician. (Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, & Leters). Vol. XXXII. Number 2. Ann Arbor, MI. May 2000.

- Phone:
- 810-762-3366
- Email:
- wmerrill@umich.edu
History
Wade Merrill
Degrees: PhD candidate, Wayne State University; M.A., University of Michigan-Flint, 2010; B.A., University of Michigan-Flint, 2007
Field: Modern American and Modern World history
Research Interests:
- American political development
- World history
- Cultural history
- LGBT history
- Sports history
- Public history and archival administration

- Email:
- mthick@umich.edu
History
Matthew Thick
Degree: M.A., Wayne State University, 2013; B.A., University of Michigan-Flint 2009; A.A., Mott Community College, 2004
Field: American Indian History, Michigan History, World History
Research Interests: Great Lakes American Indians, Nineteenth Century Michigan
Representative Publications:
- The Great Water: A Documentary History of Michigan (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2018).
- “The Exploded Humbug": Antebellum Michigan, Personal Liberty Laws, and States' Rights, Michigan Historical Review, 42.2 (Fall 2016).
- "Confederate Flag Represents Treason, Racial Subjugation, and White Power," Saginaw News, Mlive, 31 July 2015.
Click here to read the article - "I have been a great looser': John R. Williams and the War of 1812." in Border Crossings: The Detroit River Region in the War of 1812, ed. Denver Brunsman, Joel Stone, and Douglas D. Fisher, Detroit Historical Society, 2012
- "Tales of Michigan's Tenth Infantry," Chronicle vol 35, no. 3 (Fall 2012), Membership Magazine of the Historical Society of Michigan

- Email:
- mkassel@umich.edu
History
Dr. Michael B. Kassel
Degrees: Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2004; M.A., University of Michigan Horace H. Rackham, 1991; B.A., University of Michigan-Flint, 1989.
Representative Publications:
- Baby, If You've Ever Wondered ...: The History & Significance of WKRP in Cincinnati. 1991.