Eric S. Estes
I earned my B.A. with honors in History from Trinity College in 1991 and my M.A. in History, C.A.S. in Women’s Studies, and Ph.D. in History from Syracuse University in 1993, 1999, and 2001 respectively. Receiving Fulbright, Ebert, and GHI doctoral fellowships, I spent 1995 and 1996 conducting my dissertation research at numerous archives in both the United States and Germany. I spent the next several years writing my dissertation, teaching at Syracuse University and Le Moyne College, and working as a Teaching Consultant and Fellow on professional development programs focused on teaching for graduate students and junior faculty at Syracuse University. Escaping the harsh Syracuse winters, I accepted a faculty position as a Mellon Lecturing Fellow at Duke University from 2000 to 2004 where I taught writing intensive first-year seminar courses like “Women and War in the 20th-Century” and “The Politics of Sexuality.” I also had the great experience of co-constructing and co-teaching a course titled “The Holocaust” with Claudia Koonz. Reading her book, Mothers in the Fatherland, my second year in college was one of the main reasons I decided to major in history and later go to graduate school.

While at Duke, I also focused on social justice issues outside of the classroom chairing a presidential task force on LGBT matters, serving on a presidential commission to address the needs and concerns of women, and working as a faculty affiliate of the Center for LGBT Life. I also had the opportunity to construct and then direct a mentorship program that partnered Duke undergraduates who were integrating civic engagement into their programs of study with high school students who were conducting year long service projects in their own communities as an extension of their participation in a summer leadership institute at Duke. As a member of the local community, I attended the first reconciling United Methodist Church in North Carolina and substitute taught the adult Bible study class. I also worked as a special events volunteer for the Alliance of AIDS Services based in Raleigh.

Continuing my tour of states that I never thought I would live in, I moved to Ohio and joined the Oberlin College community as an Associate Dean of Students and Director of the MRC in 2004. In 2009, my position was restructured to be a part of both the College of Arts and Sciences and the Division of Student Life. In the role of Associate Dean of Academic Diversity in the College of Arts and Sciences and Director of the MRC, I work on a range of curricular and faculty diversity initiatives as well as student diversity and inclusion issues and concerns. I am a faculty member in Comparative American Studies (CAST) and History as well as affiliated faculty in r Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (GSFS). I teach several courses each year, serve as a pre-major and major academic advisor, read honors projects, and serve on and, in a number of cases, chair a range of faculty committees, advisory boards, task forces, grant and prize awarding committees, and conference and symposium planning groups. As a certified affirmative action professional (CAAP) and certified mediator, I also collaborate around equity concerns especially as faculty chair of the Committee on Equity and Diversity and as a member of the Oberlin College Dialogue Center. Beyond Oberlin, I am a reviewer for Fulbright's Senior and U.S. Specialists fellowship programs, and serve on the Oberlin Shansi Board of Trustees and the GLCA Committee for Institutional Commitment to Educational Equity. I am also a mentor for the National Consortium of LGBT Professionals in Higher Education Mentorship Program and serve as Oberlin's representative to the Consortium for Faculty Diversity (CFD) and the Consortium for High Achievement and Success (CHAS).

Away from work, I enjoy reading, cooking, keeping up with friends, and participating in and watching sports especially swimming and water polo—the two sports I competed in at Trinity—and college football and basketball—two sports I love to watch but have absolutely no talent for whatsoever.

My door is always open so please feel free to make an appointment or just drop in and visit with me anytime. I also try to meet with 2-3 students for coffee and to eat lunch in the MRC a couple of times each week to keep in close touch with all of the happenings on campus. So if you are interested please feel free to send me an email.

For more information please see Eric's curriculum vitae.

email: eric.estes@oberlin.edu

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