Department of History

Jenny L. Devine is a Senior Appellate Attorney with the Office of the Federal Defender, Middle District of Florida. Since 2003, Ms. Devine has dedicated her legal career to ensuring marginalized people receive equal justice under the law. She specializes in federal criminal appeals, but her experience spans federal and state criminal defense litigation from arrest through post-conviction relief. Ms. Devine handles a wide variety of cases, including complex fraud, internet offenses, international drug smuggling …

Dr. Sara Awartani is an Assistant Professor in the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Before joining Michigan, she was a Global American Studies Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University's Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History and a Lecturer on Harvard’s Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights. An interdisciplinary U.S. social movement historian, her research, publications, and teaching interrogate twentieth century Latinx and Arab American radicalisms, interracial solidarities, policing, and …

Mike is a strategic global marketer with a proven track record of delivering winning development and launch strategies. His commercial leadership is marked by uncovering and leveraging actionable customer insights which create powerful brands. Mike has experience in leading US and Global teams for brands in development, launching and in market. Mike is currently the Director of Pipeline Commercialization and Strategy for Solid Tumors at AbbVie where he leads commercial development of the c-MET Franchise. …

Josh Holtzman is a Corporate Practice Specialist at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. Previously, he worked as a corporate associate at Akerman LLP and as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Sharon L. Gleason, U.S. District Judge for the District of Alaska. Josh earned his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School and his B.A. summa cum laude from UF, where he majored in History and Political Science. At UF, Josh chaired ACCENT Speakers …

Adam Howard is the chief historian of the U.S. Department of State where he is responsible for the publication of the congressionally-mandated Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series, the official documentary history of U.S. foreign relations. He also oversees the preparation of historical studies on U.S. foreign affairs and institutional history for use by policymakers. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor of history and international relations at George Washington University. Previously, he earned …

Matt Howland serves as a Trip Lead for the White House. In this role, Matt travels in advance to prepare trips and public engagements for President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. Matt has led over 30 domestic and international trips, including President Biden’s unprecedented wartime visit to Israel, Vice President Harris’ visit to Zambia, and Second Gentleman Emhoff’s historic visit to Samoa. As Trip Lead, Matt is responsible for …

Ashley Oliva Mayor is a public historian and museum professional with almost a decade of experience working with cultural institutions. She currently works as a curatorial associate of Latinx music and culture in the Division of Culture and the Arts at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. She is part of the curatorial team for the landmark bilingual exhibition, Entertainment Nation/Nación del espectáculo, which opened in December 2022. Her research interests include Latinx, Afro-Latinx, …

Sujaya Rajguru graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida in 2019 as the History Department’s Lead Major. At UF, she learned about how racial and gender disparities systematically disadvantage groups with effects that persist today. This education took place during her classes, study abroad research at the University of Cambridge on racial ideologies in the Caribbean, internship at the Matheson History Museum where she researched the controversial song “Dixie”, and honor’s thesis on …

Kelly Schindler is a historic preservationist based in Richmond, Virginia, where she works as a writer for the Southern Environmental Law Center. She previously served as the director of education and partnerships with Georgetown Heritage and spent eight years with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where she worked collaboratively and creatively with historic sites and nonprofits across the United States. She earned her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Florida and completed …

Alecia graduated from the University of Florida with a B.A in history in 2011. She obtained her Masters in Education with an emphasis on social science in 2012. She spent 9 years in the public school classroom as a highly effective social studies teacher at the middle school level. She has held numerous leadership roles including serving as curriculum lead teacher, leading trainings and serving as a mentor to first-year teachers. She helped develop the …