Dr. Christopher Strain

Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley
Professor

Areas of Expertise 

American Studies

Email: cstrain@fau.edu
Office Phone: (561) 799-8017

strain

Christopher Strain is Professor of American Studies at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida   Atlantic University. A historian by training, Dr. Strain specializes in recent U.S. history and African   American studies. His research interests include civil righ ts, hate crime, violence, and the 1960s.

 He is   the author of four books: Pure Fire: Self-Defense as Activism in the Civil Rights Era (Athens:   University   of Georgia Press, 2005); Burning Faith: Church Arson in the American South   (Gainesville:    University of   Flo rida Press, 2008); Reload: Rethinking Violence in American Life (Nashville: Vanderbilt   University   Press, 2010); and The Long Sixties: America, 1955-1973 (New York: Wiley-Blackwell,    2016). In addition to his books, he has published work in several edited volumes and journals, including The American Historical Review, The Journal of American History, The Journal of Southern History, The Journal of African American History, The Journal of Civil and Human Rights, The Journal of Hate Studies, The Florida Historical Quarterly , and The Journal of Florida Studies . He has presented papers at numerous regional, national, and international conferences, including one at Centre de Recherches sur l’Histoire des Etats-Unis (CRHEU) at the University of Paris. In both 2006 and 2011 he was named Researcher of the Year at FAU.

Courses

Undergraduate Courses

  • U.S. History to 1877
  • U.S. History from 1877
  • African American History
  • American Environmental History
  • Special Topics in U.S. History: The 1960s
  • Colloquium in American Studies: The American Dream
  • Special Topics in American Studies: Violence in American Life
  • Freshman Seminar in U.S. History: The Civil Rights Movement
  • Historiography: Methods & Theory

Curriculum Vitae (Available upon request)