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Michael Santos, Ph.D.
Professor of History
434/544-8458
Santos@lynchburg.edu


Experience/ Background

  • Instructor, Carnegie-Mellon University.
  • Director, Carnegie-Mellon University Teaching Center's Summer Program.
  • Involved in organization of local and campus chapters of Habitat for Humanity.
  • Mentoring programs for "At-Risk" children.
  • Founding Director of the LCSR program.
  • Founding Director of the Center for the History and Culture of Central Virginia.
  • Editorial Board, Lynch's Ferry: A Journal of Local History
  • Visiting Researcher, Mystic Seaport Museum

Degrees and Certifications

B.A. 1978 Stonehill College
M.A. 1979 Carnegie-Mellon University
Doctor of Arts 1984 Carnegie-Mellon University

Honors and Awards

2000: T. A. Abbott Award for Faculty Excellence
1999: Shirley Rosser Excellence in Teaching Award

Information on Courses Taught

  • World Civilizations
  • American Social History
  • America in the 1960s
  • United States Since 1877
  • Rise of the American City

The main focus in all these courses is legacies - how has the past shaped today?
Style - lots of discussion, debates and role-plays to make history come alive.

Recent Publications

A Beacon Through the Years: A History of Lynchburg College, 1903-2003 (Virginia Beach: Donning Publishing Company, 2005).

"Lynchburg College and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)," The Virginia Christian, May/June 2004.

"Stability, Growth, and Change: Lynchburg College, 1948-2003," Lynch's Ferry: A Journal of Local History, Fall/Winter 2003/2004.

"Dreams, Hopes, and Realities: Lynchburg College's First Half Century," Lynch's Ferry: A Journal of Local History, Spring/ Summer 2003.

"'Bucking the Inevitable': Industrial Capitalism and North Atlantic Fishermen in the Last Days of Sail," The Northern Mariner, January 2002.

Caught In Irons: North Atlantic Fishermen in the Last Days of Sail (Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania: Susquehanna University Press, 2002).

Professional/Research Interests

  • Labor, social, urban, southern labor, maritime and local history interests.
  • Book and articles on fisherman in the last days of sail and the history of Lynchburg College.
  • Articles on Pittsburgh iron workers.
  • Research on Central Virginia history and culture.

Personal Interests and Information

Married with one son, am into cycling, sailing, and old cars. Family is my first priority, with teaching and social service a close second.