SMITHSONIAN JOURNEYS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director for the Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park
Ahmad Ward is the Executive Director for the Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park located on Hilton Head Island, SC. The mission of the Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park is to preserve, promote and honor Historic Mitchelville, the first self-governed town of formerly enslaved people in the United States. Ward is responsible for implementing the Mitchelville master plan, that will recreate this historic town as an interpretative site. The Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park will convey this important story of freedom and citizenship to visitors from around the country.
Prior to this position, Ward spent fifteen years leading the Education Department at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham Alabama. It is there where he honed his expertise in telling the story of civil and human rights in America, with a focus on historic analysis and application to current social justice issues. With Masters-level training and years of experience in exhibition design, he brings a strong understanding of storytelling and the importance of technology in interpretation. He has been responsible for creating programming partnerships with local schools, universities and organizations; teacher and student resources; written articles, blogs and essays for local, national and international platforms as well as the development of public programming for community-at-large in the areas of civil and human rights movements, multiculturalism and contemporary human rights issues.
Ward is a native of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He received a BA in Art from Elizabeth City State University and a MA in Museum Studies from Hampton University. He is a Board member of the Association of African American Museums, a member of Rotary of Hilton Head Island Club and the Southeastern Museums Conference Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI) Selection Board. He is a former member of the Smithsonian Affiliates Advisory Board. His hobbies include drawing, watching sports, cooking, sleep (when possible) and fantasy football. He and his wife, Dafina have two brilliant daughters, Masani Ashiya and Aminah Elon.
Amy Butner received a PhD in Ancient Egyptian Art from Emory University and a Master's in Egy…
Since 2008 Ana Afzali has led several Smithsonian Journeys groups through Spain and Portugal. She is a Medievalist who specializes in the history and literature of both Spain and Portugal. She is a tenured Professor at Citrus College in Southern California teaching Spanish culture, literature and language courses.
Ashley Arico received her PhD in Near Eastern Studies with a focus in Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology from the Johns Hopkins University, where her research examined Egyptian statues as evidence for interactions between Egypt and the Levant in ancient times. She is currently the Associate Curator of Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. Ashley participated in excavations at the temple of the lioness-headed goddess Mut in Luxor, Egypt for several years, and she has previously held positions at the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum, the Walters Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Her interests include tracing how Egyptian artifacts have moved and been interpreted over time from antiquity to today, and particularly in how tourism to Egypt in the late 19th century influenced the formation of Egyptian museum collections throughout the world, including in Chicago.
Aziz Abu Sarah is an author, peacemaker, and entrepreneur. In the past, Aziz also served as the Executive Director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. He is a National Geographic Explorer and Cultural Educator, and a TED Fellow. Aziz has worked in over 60 countries around the world on conflict resolution, development, and tourism projects including Colombia, Egypt, Afghanistan, Syrian, and Northern Ireland.
He is the author of Crossing Boundaries - A Traveler's Guide To World Peace and the Co-Author of Strangers, Neighbors, Friends: Muslim-Christian-Jewish reflections on compassion and peace. Aziz's work has been covered by international media including CNN, FOX, National Geographic, The New York Times, Aljazeera and others.
Aziz has been honored to receive numerous awards, including the Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East from the Institute of International Education, the Eisenhower Medallion from People to People International, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recognized Aziz Abu Sarah's work during his speech at the 5th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in February 2013, and the UNAOC and BMW Group awarded him the intercultural innovation award in 2011. He was named one of the "500 Most Influential Muslims" by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre.
Barbara J. Whitehead is the A. W. Crandall Professor of History at DePauw University and former Chair of the History Department. She earned her AB in History at Harvard University and her PhD in History from Bryn Mawr College. This educational background fostered a love of early modern Europe that has been the focus of her teaching and writing for over thirty years. At DePauw, Barbara has developed a broad spectrum of courses centered on European history ranging from the Viking Age and Crusades to the European witch hunts, the French Revolution, and the history of happiness. Her research in intellectual history has led to an edited volume on early modern women's education and publications on forgotten figures of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. In addition to leading over fifteen academic tours of Europe, Barbara has served as the on-site director of the American Colleges of the Midwest Central European Studies Program in the Czech Republic, where she taught European history. She also taught in the Danish International Studies Program in Copenhagen as a visiting professor. In addition to living in the Czech Republic and Denmark, Barbara has also lived in Rome and Paris.
Beebe Bahrami is an award-winning writer and anthropologist who specializes in the intersecting wor…
Job Titles:
- Professor Emerita of Classics
Bella Vivante, Professor Emerita of Classics, University of Arizona, has eagerly led college age an…
Brian A. Catlos earned a PhD in Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, and currently holds …
Job Titles:
- Member of the Pueblo of Acoma
Brian Vallo is a member of the Pueblo of Acoma tribe in New Mexico. With 30 years' experience working in areas of museum development, cultural resources management, historic preservation, the arts, and tourism, Brian has dedicated his career to promoting Native American arts and culture as well as advocating for the protection of sacred sites and repatriation of ancestors and items of cultural patrimony held in museums and private, federal, and state institutions. He recently completed a 3-year term as Governor of his tribe. A self-taught painter, Brian is inspired by his culture and the landscape of Acoma which influence his multimedia paintings.
Bryan Bates has explored and led wilderness trips in the mountains and canyons of the West for 40 years. Following a B.A. Degree in Native American Studies and M.S. in Environmental Science, he and a friend backpacked 21 days through the Grand Canyon. Bryan has led canyoneering backpacks, been a river guide, and conducted archaeological & archaeoastronomical research across the Colorado Plateau, including the Grand Canyon. He has published on archaeoastronomy and was Chair of the Oxford International Conference on Cultural Astronomy. Bryan is currently President of the Society for Cultural Astronomy. Bryan taught biology, environmental science and natural history at Coconino Community College, until retiring as Professor Emeritus, Science, at CCC.
In addition to his research and teaching, Bryan works as an interpretive naturalist with a number of different organizations including the American Association for Advancement of Science, the National Parks Conservation Association and numerous Natural History Museums.
Bryce Beemer has lived, worked, and researched in Southeast Asia for more than seven years, primari…
Originally from the UK, but having traveled extensively all over the world from an early age with his family, Cameron Watson is a writer, translator, copyeditor, and teacher. He went to graduate school in the United States and has a PhD in Basque Studies, with an emphasis in History. He taught Basque and Spanish history as well as that of modern Europe at the University of Nevada, Reno, and he has also been a visiting professor at several universities in Spain. He currently lives in the Basque Country, where he divides his time between freelance work in academic publishing and teaching on studies abroad programs for different US universities. He is the author of the definitive text in English on modern Basque history as well as several other books and articles. He speaks Spanish, Basque, and French and his interests include Basque history and culture and, more broadly, the complex issue of diverse Iberian identities through history.
Carrie Weaver is a Mediterranean archaeologist and research affiliate of the University of Pittsbur…
Charlie Urbanowicz has been traveling throughout the Pacific for more than 50 years. In 1972, after completing his research in the Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga, he received the Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Oregon and began his teaching career at the University of Minnesota. In 1973 Dr. Urbanowicz joined the Department of Anthropology at California State University, Chico, and retired in December 2009. During his tenure at Chico he was recognized as one of the five "Master teachers" of the university. Charlie has published several items in numerous professional journals and has chapters in all three volumes of the pioneering publication entitled Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism (1977, 1989, & 2001). In addition to on-going Pacific research on Peoples and Cultures of the Pacific as well as World War II, since 2004 Charlie has made presentations on forty Pacific cruises including two Smithsonian Journeys through French Polynesia.
Charlie holds life membership in The Polynesian Society (University of Auckland) and is also a member of the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania. His Pacific travels and research has taken him to numerous island nations, as well as Australia, China, Chile, Ecuador, Japan, New Zealand, and Peru.
Job Titles:
- Expert
- Expert Colleen Batey, Recently Retired from the University of Glasgow, Scotlan
Smithsonian Journeys Expert Colleen Batey, recently retired from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She now holds honorary positions at the University of the Highlands and Islands, University of Durham and Hunter College, New York. For the past 40 years she has been involved in research on the Viking Age in Scotland, Scandinavia, and the North Atlantic, both as director of excavations and teacher. Since 2004, Colleen has combined her research interests with expedition cruising, both as expedition team member and guest lecturer - travelling extensively throughout the world of the Vikings from the Black Sea to Canada! This has included a number of SJ-sponsored voyages in the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. Colleen was the British coordinator of Viking loan material for the highly successful Smithsonian exhibition Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, which toured widely in the U.S. starting in 2000 and attracted several million visitors throughout its run. More recently she was an academic advisor for a PBS/BBC programme "Uncovering the Vikings," which aired in early 2016. Colleen has published extensively both books and journal articles. She is now based in Orkney, her 18th century home has stunning views of Scapa Flow!
Daniel Warne is a Ph.D. candidate in Egyptology at the University of Memphis. The focus of hi…
A naturalist, astronomer, author and space artist, David's expertise is in communicating the wonder of science. He is the past Director of Science Information and Public Outreach at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA. In 2015, he left Harvard to join NASAs New Horizons special media team on the Pluto flyby mission. He is a Random House/Smithsonian and National Geographic author and illustrator of 7 books on astronomy including "Cosmic Catastrophes - 7 Ways to Destroy a Planet Like Earth"; "ALIEN WORLDS"- a look at how bizarre alien life may be throughout the Universe; "13 Planets", and "Space Encyclopedia". He is past Director of Fiske Planetarium and Science Center, and the founder of the Science Discovery Program at University of Colorado Boulder; past Marketing Communications Director at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation and member of the Hubble Space Telescope repair team; past Marketing Director of "Evolution", PBS's Emmy-winning 7-part NOVA series.
Douglas Ambrose is the Carolyn C. and David M. Ellis '38 Distinguished Teaching Professor of History at Hamilton College. His teaching and research interests include early America, the Old South and American religious history. His publications include Henry Hughes and Proslavery Thought in the Old South (LSU 1996) and The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton: The Life and Legacy of America's Most Elusive Founding Father (NYU 2006), a volume he co-edited with Hamilton colleague Robert W. T. Martin. He has also written numerous articles, book reviews and encyclopedia entries about Southern slavery and Southern intellectual life. Ambrose is a recipient of the Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award and of the Student Assembly's Sidney Wertimer Award for Excellence in Teaching. He holds a doctorate in history from the State University of New York at Binghamton, M.A., from University of Rochester and B.A., from Rutgers University.
Dr. Andrew Becker (Andy) was born in Burma (now Myanmar), spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, and has continued to travel ever since (mostly Europe and Asia). He has been lecturing in Italy since 1997, first as a professor teaching students abroad, then since 2015 with Smithsonian Journeys. His degrees are from the University Michigan (BA), Cambridge University (BA/MA), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Ph.D.). Andy teaches at Virginia Tech (with stints teaching in Switzerland and London), and has won numerous local and national awards for teaching.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor and Department Chair
- Positions of Associate Professor and Department Chair for the Space Studies Department at the American Public University
Dr. Ed Albin holds the positions of Associate Professor and Department Chair for the Space Studies department at the American Public University. With an enduring passion for astronomy and planetary science, Ed has actively engaged in the field for more than 35 years. A significant portion of Dr. Albin's career was at the Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta, where he presented captivating planetarium programs and held a key position in overseeing the Zeiss planetarium and its associated observatory. Inspired by the historic Apollo Moon landings in the 1960s and 1970s, Ed acquired a master's degree in planetary geology from Arizona State University and went on to complete his Ph.D. at the University of Georgia. In addition to his academic pursuits, Dr. Albin is an accomplished astrophotographer, capturing images of celestial objects and phenomena. Throughout his career, Ed's dedication to educating and inspiring others in the field of astronomy has remained a prominent aspect of his work.
Dr. James Zimbelman is Senior Geologist Emeritus at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum (NASM), where he served as the chairman of the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies. During his 32 years at NASM, he was involved in the analysis of high-resolution spacecraft imaging and geophysical data of the Earth and terrestrial planets, geologic mapping of Mars and Venus, and other geologic studies of terrestrial planets. He holds a Ph.D in geology from Arizona State University and also has degrees in mathematics, geophysics, and space physics. Jim co-edited the book, Environmental Effects on Volcanic Eruptions: From Deep Oceans to Deep Space, and co-authored Dunes Worlds (2014) and The Volcanoes of Mars (2021). He has written more than 110 papers and maps for various peer-reviewed scientific journals and books.
Dr. Michael Tucker earned his B.A. in Education, British and World History at Dominican College with a study abroad in England and Ireland for a senior research paper. He earned his Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in the African Diaspora in Mexico. His Ph.D. is in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in history, anthropology, social science and teacher education at the University of Wisconsin Madison. As a graduate student in a teacher exchange program between the University of Wisconsin and Umea University in Sweden, he specifically researched teacher training in history and language as it related to the Indigenous Sami of Northern Scandinavia. Michael studied the Swedish language in order to be able to communicate with the Sami of Northern Sweden.
Michael has been a world history enthusiast since his youth. He decided to pursue history in college and became an historian and educator with special expertise in teaching social science methods' to future teachers. He has held appointments at UW Stephens Point and Illinois State University; worked in research and educational administration in Sweden, England, Ireland, Myanmar and the UAE. Michael was also awarded a Fulbright-Hayes scholarship to Ghana collaborating with the University of Cape Coast on Teacher Training in history.
Michael is currently an educational researcher and consultant and has been a dissertation advisor for graduate students with the Education Doctoral Program at Edgewood College School of Education in Madison, Wisconsin.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Assistant Curator of the Smithsonian Institution 's Special Traveling Exhibition, Vikings
Assistant Curator of the Smithsonian Institution's special traveling exhibition, Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, from 2000 to 2004, Elisabeth Ward went on to complete her Ph.D. in Scandinavian Languages and Literature from the University of California at Berkeley, and continues to lecture for Smithsonian Journeys. Dr. Ward has a long-term passionate interest in all things Icelandic. Listening to her mother, speak to her grandparents in the Icelandic language, Elisabeth became fluent over many years while growing up in Southern California and traveling to Iceland during the summer. As part of her Ph.D. research, Dr. Ward lived in Iceland from 2006 to 2010, receiving Icelandic citizenship. Her dissertation focuses on the medieval Icelandic narratives called the Sagas of Icelanders; Dr. Ward's research reveals the relationship between those stories and the actual physical landscape of Iceland. She argues they are "co-constituted", meaning one cannot be read without the other.
In addition to appearing on documentaries for the Smithsonian Channel and others, she also worked as the Program Director for Vikingaheimar Museum in Reykjanesbær, Iceland, and as the Director of the Scandinavian Cultural Center at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington. Since 2005, she has served as a consultant for Walt Disney World's Epcot Center helping to create exhibitions for their Norway Pavilion about the Vikings, Norwegian folk culture, and Norse mythology. She recently returned to California to take a position as Executive Director of the Los Altos History Museum. The daughter of an American serviceman who met his wife while stationed in Iceland in the 1960s, Elisabeth is the mother of a 16-year-old son who also has Icelandic citizenship.
Heidi Applegate is an independent art historian who specializes in nineteenth-century art, world's fairs, and the history of museums. Her lectures for the Smithsonian Associates include an ongoing series on Art and Fiction, in which she analyzes historical novels that are inspired by artists and their work. She has also presented lecture series on Unusual Figures in Western Paintings, Women in Art, a condensed survey of Western Art, and American Art for private groups in the Washington area. Heidi has held several positions at the National Gallery of Art, most recently as a contract lecturer, presenting over 300 gallery talks and programs on a wide range of topics relating to the permanent collection and special exhibitions (beginning with Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting in 2017). Her teaching experience includes undergraduate courses for Lewis & Clark College, George Mason University, and Columbia University. She has published essays in catalogs for the centennial exhibition of the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair, and for exhibitions on a number of Hudson River School artists. Heidi has a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University, an M.A. in art history from the University of Maryland, and a bachelor's degree in Russian Literature from Haverford College. She has traveled widely in Europe and throughout the former Soviet Union, and she has biked in every U.S. state.
Heidi Applegate is an independent art historian who specializes in nineteenth-century art, world&rs…
Hugh Agnew has been fascinated by the lands and peoples of Russia and Eastern Europe since he first walked into a Russian language class in 10th grade. Having decided as an undergraduate to major in History and focus on the region, he pursued doctoral study at Stanford and became a history professor. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses on the history of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, the Russian Revolution, Europe from Cold War to Detente, the Habsburg Empire, and nationalism at Queen's University in Canada, the National University of Singapore, and (since 1988) at the George Washington University, where he is a member of the Institute for Russian, European, and Eurasian Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs. He has also served as Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs at the Elliott School. Agnew has published books on Czech history and many articles on aspects of East European history, the Habsburg Empire, and European history. His insightful talks on past Smithsonian Journeys throughout Eastern Europe have made him a favorite with Smithsonian travelers.
James Anderson is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A historian of premodern China and Vietnam, Anderson's first book was The Rebel Den of Nung Tri Cao: Loyalty and Identity Along the Sino-Vietnamese Frontier (University of Washington Press, 2007). He is co-editor with Nola Cooke and Li Tana of The Tongking Gulf Through History (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011) and co-editor with John Whitmore of China's Encounters on the South and Southwest: Reforging the Fiery Frontier Over Two Millennia (Leiden: Brill, 2014, forthcoming). His recent articles include "Distinguishing between China and Vietnam: three relational equilibriums in Sino-Vietnamese Relations" in Journal of East Asian Studies (2013). Professor Anderson served as Executive Director of the academic consortium Southern Atlantic States Association for Asian and African Studies (SASASAAS) from 2007 to 2010. He has been active for many years in promoting international education and study abroad opportunities at his home university in North Carolina.
A deep love of wildlife and ecological relationships has inspired Jamie Walton's development …
Kaiama L. Glover is Ann Whitney Olin Professor of French and Africana Studies at Yale University. S…
Kurt traveled much of the United States before finally settling in Montana in 1970. He attended Mon…
Lindsay Whaley received a PhD in Linguistics in the State University of New York, Buffalo. He is an…
Maya Wei-Haas is an award-winning science reporter who writes about all things science with a parti…
Natasha Ayers received her PhD in Egyptian Archaeology from the University of Chicago. She has almo…
Patrick Wen Patrick Wen is a Senior Lecturer in the Scandinavian Section at the UCLA. He studied Outdoor …
Patty became enamored with the West on a cross country bicycle tour, after which she packed up and …
Richard Wainscoat is an astronomer at the University of Hawaii. He grew up in Australia, studying p…
Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer received her PhD in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. She now divides her time between teaching in the Department of Anthropology at SUNY Brockport and being the curator of the Morgan-Manning House, a Victorian dwelling and museum located in the heart of Western New York. After studying Chemical Engineering in Lille, France, and completing a MA in Greek & Latin at the University of Vermont, Rozenn has lately centered her research on the ancient Egyptians' relationship with their environment, most especially with the animals that shared their lives. Her book on ancient Egyptian aviculture and poultry husbandry is scheduled to be released in the Fall. She has also worked as a consultant for the Art Institute of Chicago and the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago, where she curated the exhibit Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt. Most recently, her move to the Victorian village of Brockport has motivated her to read the many letters and diaries that European and American travelers of the Victorian era wrote during their journeys through Egypt. She is eager to discover how these privileged members of western society described the people they met, as well as the sites, monuments, and landscapes that have since vanished. Finally, she simply loves sharing her passion for Egypt with fellow travelers and cannot wait to do so with you. Be prepared to admire birds along the way! She will have her binoculars and bird books!
Samuel Amago (Ph.D. University of Virginia) teaches courses on modern and contemporary Spanish literary history, cinema, and culture at the University of Virginia. He has served as Chair of the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese at UVA and, previously, of the Department of Romance Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 2003 to 2010 he taught at the University of Notre Dame. His current scholarship centers on waste and space, memory and modernity in post-dictatorship Spanish culture, with a focus on photography, documentary, literature, comics, film and television. He is a native of Madrid, Spain, and grew up in Pasadena, California.
Sarah Baitzel is an archaeologist investigating the ritual and social lives of prehispanic And…
Professor Ullman is a professor of American history at Bryn Mawr College. She received her PhD at t…
Solange Ashby received her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago with a specialization…
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of History at the University of Colorado
Timothy Weston is associate professor of history at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he…