Faculty and Staff

Dr. Parks is the Chair of the Department. A native of Georgia, she did her PhD at Emory University, and joined the department in 1996. Her specialty is Medieval Europe and she is particularly interested in women's history and in the role of hostages in the Middle Ages. She has recently developed a very popular course on 'The West and Islam in the Middle Ages.'

Dr. Byrne joined the Department in 2005 and has been an extremely active member of the faculty ever since. He studies the history of US foreign policy in all periods but is especially interested in U.S. relations with the Arab world, particularly Algeria in the 1950s and 1960s. His PhD is from Georgetown University, where he worked under some of the most eminent scholars in the area of American foreign policy, and his BA is from Notre Dame.

Dr. Gahan is from Ireland and joined the department in 1986. He teaches courses in eighteenth and nineteenth-century European and American history. Dr. Gahan is an award-winning scholar and teacher. His specialty is Ireland in this period, and he is particularly focused on agrarian history. His degrees are from the National University of Ireland and the University of Kansas.

Dr. MacLeod taught History at Harlaxton College from 1994 to 1999, when he moved to Evansville. He is a very effective teacher, receiving the United Methodist Institutions outstanding teacher award in 2003, and the University’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 2009. Dr. MacLeod’s MA and PhD are from Edinburgh University, one of the premier universities in Europe, and he teaches stimulating courses on the World Wars and British history. His research is on war memorials.