Monica Kristin Blair

Field & Specialties

20th Century American History
Public and Digital Humanities
History of Education
Southern History

Education

PhD, History, University of Virginia, 2021

M.A, History, University of Georgia, 2015

B.A., History, University of Florida, 2013

Biography

Blair recently defended her dissertatioin entitled, “From Segregation Academies to School Choice: The Post-Brown History of School Privatization." In addition to her doctoral research, Blair has also collaborated on several digital and public history projects, including Jefferson’s University—Early Life Project (JUEL), Participatory MediaUVA Reveal, and the American history podcast Backstory

Current Research

Monica's dissertation, “From Segregation Academies to School Choice: The Post-Brown History of School Privatization” examines the role of race, region, religion, and politics in the post-war movement to provide public funding for private education in America. 

Awards & Honors

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Presidential History, Southern Methodist University, 2021-2023

National Fellow, Jefferson Scholars Foundation, 2020-2021

Jefferson Scholars Foundation Fellowship, 2018-2020

Remaking American Political History Conference Honorarium, 2019

Corcoran Department of History Conference Travel Grant, University of Virginia, 2019

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Research Travel Grant, 2018

Bordin-Gillette Fellowship, Bentley Historical Library, 2018

Raven Fellowship, University of Virginia, 2018

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Summer Research Fellowship, University of Virginia, 2018

Co-Author, First Prize, Huskey Research Exhibition, University of Virginia, 2018

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Student Council Research Grant, University of Virginia, 2018

Corcoran Department of History Conference Travel Grant, University of Virginia, 2018

Praxis Program in the Digital Humanities Fellowship, Digital Scholars’ Lab, University of Virginia, 2017-2018

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Summer Research Fellowship, University of Virginia, 2017

Gregory Travel Grant, University of Georgia, 2014

Gregory Grant for Civil War and Southern Studies, University of Georgia, 2013-2015

Graduate Fellowship, University of Georgia, 2013-2015

Courses Taught

Instructor

US Since WWII: People, Politics Power

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Whiteness: History of a Racial Category

Intro to American Studies

US Foreign Policy Since 1914

American History to 1865

American History Since 1865

Guest Lectures and Workshops

“Podcasts and Public History in the Classroom” workshop leader for BackStory’s “How to Podcast” boot camp for grades 9-12 teachers, Virginia Institute for the Humanities, 2019

“Academics and Social Media,” Forum for Interdisciplinary Dialogue, Jefferson Scholars Foundation, 2019

“Using Community Digital Archives in Historical Research,” invited talk, Washington and Lee University, 2018

“The Korean War in Global Perspective” for U.S. Foreign Policy Since 1914, University of Virginia, 2017

“Civil Religion in the American South” for Intro to American Studies, University of Virginia, 2016

Media Appearances

Interview for VoicEd Radio's In Converstaion with Stephen Hurley, "A Primer on School Privatization," February 19, 2020

Interview for the BackStory history podcast, Episode 263, "The BackStory Prize: Our Choice For The Best Public History Project in America," January 11, 2019

Interview for the documentary Albemarle's Black Classrooms (ABCs), 2017